Unraveling the physical and chemical contributions of SCMs to durability

Abstract

Supplementary Cementing Materials (SCMs) are integral to modern concrete construction. Their use brings in immense value addition to the long term strength and durability, due to their contribution to the development of a disconnected pore structure. There have been several attempts in the past to identify specific physical and chemical contributions of SCMs to the compressive strength of concrete in order to evolve a rational approach towards deciding the extent of substitution of cement. In this paper, an attempt has been made to describe the physical and chemical contribution of SCMs to durability properties of cement mortar using a methodology previously developed by the same authors.