BFC, blast-furnace cement

Ground granulated blast-furnace slag and its use in combination with normal Portland cement has been used successfully for many years throughout the world. Its development in Australia began in the mid sixties in New South Wales but it was not greatly used until the 1980s. The products are marketed as BFC, Blast-Furnace Cement, Slagment, Slagblend and others. Any Type GB under the new Australian Standard for Cement AS 3972-1991, may also contain slag. Although blast-furnace cements have been in use around the world for many years, it is vital that specifiers and users are aware of its nature, use and properties. Blast-furnace cements can be used with confidence in the general market areas as a straight out replacement for normal portland cement with or without the use of fly ash. In many situations the differences in properties are very minor. Blast-furnace cements offer certain technical advantages, generally in proportion to the percentages used and these are explained in the paper. We expect that practically all concrete in Australia will contain Blast- furnace cement in the future. Often this will be combined with fly ash, blended in at the concrete batching plant. This makes it even more important to know and understand its properties in order to make the best of the potential benefits.