What is it about?
This paper looked at how the process of prehydration, where fresh cement powder reacts with moisture in the air, affects concrete performance. Cement which was exposed to humidity in the air developed lower strength and hydrated more slowly.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
This work helped to us to understand the effect of cement ageing. It showed us that exposure to moderate humidity did not affect strength but did affect the workability and setting time of concrete. Higher humidities, where the principal cement phases alite and belite were affected, led to a marked drop in strength development.
Perspectives
I like this paper because the first two authors were undergraduate students when they did the experimental work. The paper was just reward for the great deal of work they put into their project. The first author, Mark Whittaker, went on to study for his PhD under my supervision.
Leon Black
University of Leeds
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The effect of prehydration on the engineering properties of CEM I Portland cement, Advances in Cement Research, February 2013, ICE Publishing,
DOI: 10.1680/adcr.12.00030.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
