Composite cement is hydraulic cement composed of Portland cement and one
or more inorganic materials that take part in the hydration reactions and thereby make
a substantial contribution to the hydration product. The inorganic materials will be
called mineral additions; other terms, such as supplementary cementing materials
(SCMs), are also used. The most important are fly ash, ground granulated blastfurnace
slag and silica fume. The mineral addition may be ground together with the
cement clinker and gypsum, or mixed with Portland cement when the latter is used.
These procedures are called intergrinding and blending respectively.
Slag can be used in conjunction with Portland cement in at least three different
ways; it can be used together with limestone as a raw material for the conventional
manufacture of Portland cement, or as a dry-ingredient, added to cement at the
batching plants, or as a slurry added at concrete batch plant in liquid form.
The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of using different slag
replacement levels on concrete durability.