Title:
There is an Enigma in Our Mixture
Author(s):
Bernard Erlin
Publication:
Concrete International
Volume:
18
Issue:
4
Appears on pages(s):
43-46
Keywords:
binders (materials); mix proportioning; silica fume; water-cement ratio; Construction
DOI:
Date:
4/1/1996
Abstract:
It is to the worldwide concrete industry, as apple pie is to the United States. But apples were not native to America, so the story goes, until introduced by the Europeans. So the reverse may be true for the water-cement ratio, which has been with us in some force since 1918 when Duff Abrams introduced us and the world to the water-cement ratio law. Today, varieties of cementitious types of materials other than portland cement are with us. Nonmetallic and metallic fibers are common and varieties of chemical admixtures are in everyday use. How can the influence of cementitious materials other then portland cement on basic concrete properties be described? The use of cementitious materials began gaining popularity with more research on the effects of materials such as fly ash, later ground granulated blast furnace slag and silica fume, and even later high-range water reducers.