INFLUENCE OF CEMENT FINENESS AND LIMESTONE CONTENT ON STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT AND DRYING SHRINKAGE OF PORTLAND LIMESTONE CEMENT

Abstract

The production of Limestone Portland Cement was proved to be an effective
approach to limit the carbon dioxide emission associated with cement clinker
firing promoting sustainability development. The addition of limestone to
some extent reduces the cement strength so the cement manufacturers try to
increase as high as possible the cement fineness to accommodate more
limestone content while maintaining its target strength at desired level. Some
problems may arise in the concrete made from such a kind of cement, namely
the threat of concrete cracks due to shrinkage when it is made from cement
having too fine and too fast in rate of hardening. There are not many research
publications available dealing with the strength development and shrinkage
of the Portland Limestone Cement with varying fineness and different
limestone content. This paper reports the influence of the Portland Limestone
Cement fineness and limestone content on its strength development and
shrinkage. Hence these research results could help to set the limits of Portland
Limestone Cement fineness for corresponding limestone content to minimize
the threat of the concrete cracks which may harm its durability in use.