Limestone filler cement in low w/c concrete:: A rational use of energy

The effect of limestone filler (up to 20%) on the degree of hydration, the volume of hydration products, and the optimal replacement of limestone filler in cement pastes at different w/cm ratios (0.25-0.50) were investigated by using a quadratic statistical model. The results show an increase in the degree of hydration in very low w/cm ratio paste when the limestone filler content is increased. However, the largest volume of hydration products occurs for high w/cm ratio pastes, for which the available space also increases with the limestone filler content. Finally, for a given cement, the optimum limestone filler content for different w/cm ratios can be obtained by using the gel-space ratio concept. In addition, concrete mixtures (w/cm=0.30 and 0.34) were made to determine the compressive strength. The results have shown that concretes containing limestone filler cements present a small reduction of strength at 28 days improving the hydration of clinker particles in the system. The strength of concrete depends on the gel-space ratio, which takes into account all of the effects produced by limestone filler addition: the increase of the degree of hydration, the dilution, and the increase of the effective w/c ratio. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.