Sponsors: American Concrete Institute, RILEM, Université de Sherbrooke, CRIB, Université Toulouse III, Lmdc Toulouse, Kruger Biomaterials, Euclid Chemical, Prodexim International inc., BASF Master Builders, ACAA Editor: Arezki Tagnit-Hamou In July 1983, the Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET) of Natural Resources Canada, in association with the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, sponsored a five-day international conference at Montebello, Quebec, Canada, on the use of fly ash, silica fume, slag and other mineral by-products in concrete. The conference brought together representatives from industry, academia, and government agencies to present the latest information on these materials and to explore new areas of needed research. Since then, eight other such conferences have taken place around the world (Madrid, Trondheim, Istanbul, Milwaukee, Bangkok, Madras, Las Vegas, and Warsaw). The 2007 Warsaw conference was the last in this series. In 2017, due to renewed interest in alternative and sustainable binders and supplementary cementitious materials, a new series was launched by Sherbrooke University (UdeS); ACI; and the International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction materials, Systems, and Structures (RILEM). They, in association with a number of other organizations in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean, sponsored the 10th ACI/RILEM International Conference on Cementitious Materials and Alternative Binders for Sustainable Concrete (ICCM2017). The conference was held in Montréal, QB, Canada, from October 2 to 4, 2017. The conference proceedings, containing 50 refereed papers from more than 33 countries, were published as ACI SP-320. In 2021, UdeS, ACI, and RILEM, in association with Université de Toulouse and a number of other organizations in Canada, the United States, and Europe, sponsored the 11th ACI/RILEM International Conference on Cementitious Materials and Alternative Binders for Sustainable Concrete (ICCM2021). The conference was held online from June 7 to 10, 2021. The conference proceedings, containing 53 peer reviewed papers from more than 14 countries, were published as ACI SP-349. The purpose of this international conference was to present the latest scientific and technical information in the field of supplementary cementitious materials and novel binders for use in concrete. The new aspect of this conference was to highlight advances in the field of alternative and sustainable binders and supplementary cementitious materials, which are receiving increasing attention from the research community. To all those whose submissions could not be included in the conference proceedings, the Institute and the Conference Organizing Committee extend their appreciation for their interest and hard work. Thanks are extended to the members of the international scientific committee to review the papers. Without their dedicated effort, the proceedings could not have been published for distribution at the conference. The cooperation of the authors in accepting reviewers’ suggestions and revising their manuscripts accordingly is greatly appreciated. The assistance of Chantal Brien at the Université de Sherbrooke is gratefully acknowledged for the administrative work associated with the conference and for processing the manuscripts, both for the ACI proceedings and the supplementary volume. Arezki Tagnit Hamou, Editor Chairman, eleventh ACI/RILEM International Conference on Cementitious Materials and Alternative Binders for Sustainable Concrete (ICCM2021). Sherbrooke, Canada 2021

The current exponential growth in cement demand and the gradual reduction in the availability of the supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) conventionally employed in the cement sector (fly ash, blast furnace slag, etc.) have brought awareness over the need to find alternative sources of pozzolanic materials. Whereas the use of calcined kaolinitic clays (metakaolinite) could represent an excellent substitute for the traditional SCMs, the environmental and economic cost associated with kaolinite extraction thwarts the development of this course of action. Conversely, the clayey wastes obtained in the coal mining industry could represent an inexpensive and environmentally sound raw material for the production of recycled metakaolinite, promoting at the same time a Circular Economy model.

This work describes the physical and durable properties of binary mortars prepared with different substitution levels (20 % and 50 %) of thermally activated coal mining waste (600 ºC/2 hours), placing emphasis on their chloride resistance. The results show that the differences observed in the pore network and in the mineralogical composition of the blended matrices result in a superior resistance to chloride ingress and, therefore, in a decrease in the risk of corrosion of the subsequent structures and an increase in their service life.

It has been well stablished by several studies that LC3 requires an additional amount of gypsum on top of the normal dosage contained in OPC. In this manner, the second (aluminate) peak do not overlap with the first (alite) peak. This required increase of the sulfate content is attributed to the additional aluminate phases introduced to the system by the addition of calcined clay. However, a correlation between metakaolin (alumininosilicate phase) content and the amount of additional gypsum required for proper sulfation has not been found, and the relationship between these parameters and the position of the aluminate peak is not clear. This study explored in depth this issue in order to further understand the driving mechanism controlling the sulfate demand in LC3. Our results show that there is no direct link between the aluminate phase content and the gypsum demand. On the contrary, the driving mechanism is linked to the specific surface area that the mineral additions (calcined clay and limestone) introduce to the system, interaction commonly referred as filler effect.

Although the 28-day concrete compressive strength is often used as a quality control indicator, early-age mechanical properties are becoming more critical to optimize construction scheduling. Numerous advanced techniques have been proposed in this regard and among those, electrical resistivity (ER), a non-destructive and inexpensive technique able to characterize the microstructure development of cementitious materials has been showing promising results. Yet, recent literature data have evidenced that ER might be significantly influenced by a variety of parameters, such as the binder type/amount and aggregates nature used in the mix. These factors can hinder the practical benchmark of concrete mixtures proportioned with distinct raw materials. Thus, six concrete mixtures incorporating two types of aggregates (granite and limestone) and two ground granulated blast furnace slag cement replacements (e.g. 0%, 35%, and 70%) were manufactured for this research. Moreover, three distinct ER techniques (e.g. Bulk, Surface, and Internal) and compressive strength tests were performed at different concrete ages. Results show that the binder replacement may significantly affect ER results over time, whereas the aggregate type presented a less significant impact.

This paper studies the use of a new preconditioning process for an accelerated testing of concrete resistance against sulfate attack. For this reason, concrete specimens were subjected to a part by part pre-saturation method using a concentrated sulfate solution drained inside desiccators. This preconditioning technique was applied before exposing the specimens to different immersion conditions in 5% and 10% sulfate solutions, and to storing at high temperature and to wetting/drying cycles. Length change measurements and sulfate penetration profiles were performed on normal and high strength concretes. In addition, SEM-EDS analysis were used to investigate the type and amount of degradation products in the core layer of samples exposed to accelerated testing. The new pre-saturation method highly accelerated the degradation of concrete samples exposed to different immersion conditions. The microstructural observations showed advanced depths and greater amounts of gypsum and ettringite within the degraded specimens subjected to the primary preconditioning stage. However, the real field observations were only achieved when combining the pre-saturation method and the immersion in 5% sulfate solution.