Supplementary Cementing Materials: Their Acceptance in Australian Specifications

A large proportion of concrete placed in Australia contains one or more supplementary cementing materials (SCM's; either fly ash, ground granulated blast-furnace slag or silica fume). Despite this, specifications for technically advanced projects often restrict their use even though Australian research data justifying their application dates back to the early 1960's for fly ash and slag, and the early 1970's for silica fume. World-wide research on SCM's in concrete dates back even longer. It is the task of the researcher together with the technical marketer to provide effective transfer of this knowledge to the specifier. In most cases, the specifier is either a civil or structural consultant, or a design team within a major public authority or contracting firm. The specifier increasingly needs to seek up-to-date knowledge in concrete technology, a task that is ever more difficult with imposed time constraints. This study maps the processes whereby research and development data are put into practice. A three-stage process is used to investigate this. First, measurements of the technology transfer process are obtained through targeted surveys of concrete specifiers with the objective of determining their attitudes and knowledge regarding SCM's. Second, recent Australian specifications for SCM concrete comprising Standards, Codes of Practice and selected project specifications are reviewed. Third, the data generated is examined to highlight present shortcomings in the technology transfer process in Australia, specifically relating to the use of SCM's. It is concluded that many project specifications with respect to the use of SCM's in concrete can be significantly improved from the standpoint of the supplier, the specifier and the facility owner. This can be facilitated through improved technology transfer. Discussion in the paper focuses on increasing the efficiency of the process for taking research into field application.