Early-Age Properties of Cement-Based Materials. II: Influence of Water-to-Cement Ratio
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VIEW THE ORIGINAL ARTICLEPublication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 21, Issue 9
Abstract
The influence of water-to-cement mass ratio on early-age properties of cement-based materials is investigated using a variety of experimental techniques. Properties that are critical to the early-age performance of these materials are tested, including heat release, semiadiabatic temperature, setting time, autogenous deformation, and strength development. Measurements of these properties using a single cement are presented for four different , ranging from 0.325–0.425. Some of the measured properties are observed to vary widely within this range of ratios. The heat release and setting time behaviors of cement pastes are contrasted. While early-age heat release is relatively independent of , the measured setting times vary by several hours between the four investigated in this study, indicating the fundamental differences between a physical process such as setting and heat release, which is purely a quantification of chemical reaction. While decreasing certainly increases compressive strength at equivalent ages, it also significantly increases autogenous shrinkage and may increase semiadiabatic temperature rise, both of which can increase the propensity for early-age cracking in cement-based materials.
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Acknowledgments
The writers thank the Lehigh Portland Cement, Co. Plant in Union Bridge, Md., for providing the cement used in this study.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 21 • Issue 9 • September 2009
Pages: 512 - 517
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 10, 2008
Accepted: Feb 9, 2009
Published online: Aug 14, 2009
Published in print: Sep 2009
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Maria C. G. Juenger
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