High-Volume Slag-Blended Cement Concrete for High-Density Concrete at Mid-Range Temperatures

This paper will present an experimental that was a technical evaluation of an alternative cement and high-density (HD) concrete mixture design for HD concrete at mid-range temperature to meet specific target properties. The cement industry has moved away from manufacturing ‘special use’ portland cements, which were approved for some applications of mass HD concrete, for which temperature rise in the concrete is of importance. Potential replacement of these ‘special use’ portland cements by blending varying amounts of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) with ‘general use’ portland cement to provide ‘blended cements’ was investigated. The paper focuses on experimental results obtained in the laboratory showing the effect of the addition of high volume slag blended cement for HD concrete on temperature rise, as well as on mechanical properties and microstructure after aging and mid-range temperature exposure. Slag-blended cement was evaluated and determined to have acceptable properties in HD concrete, meeting or exceeding performance requirements.