Early stage hydration of slag-cement

The early hydration characteristics of slag cements (blends of separately ground granulated blast furnace slags with portland cement) have been examined. Isothermal calorimetry, chemical shrinkage and compressive strength measurements were made. The kinetics of hydration have been treated; apparent activation energies determined for a slag cement were ∼49 KJ/mole compared with ∼44 KJ/mole for the portland cement used in the blends.