1

Modern Cements
and
How to Specify Them

Ref:BCA/S&T/Modern cements/10 March, 2005

 Background 2

Until recently the term cement was almost

synonymous in the UK with BS 12 Portland
cement
The publication of the harmonised European
Standard for common cements in 2000 (BS EN
197-1) has introduced a wider range of
structural cements for potential use in the UK
This presentation examines what is meant by
cement today and how to specify it

Ref:BCA/2/26 April, 2004

 Terminology: Cement 3

In BS EN 197-1, cement is defined as:

A hydraulic binder, i.e. a finely ground

inorganic material which, when mixed with
water, forms a paste which sets and hardens
by means of hydraulic reactions and
processes and which, after hardening, retains
its strength and stability even under water.

Factory produced EN 197 cements are given

the designation CEM

Ref:BCA/3/26 April, 2004

 Terminology: Additions 4

Pozzolanic or latent hydraulic materials, such

as pulverized-fuel ash (pfa) or ground
granulated blastfurnace slag (ggbs) are Type
II additions

When additions are mixed with Portland

cement at the concrete batching plant, they
form a combination not a blended cement

In British Standards, mixer combinations are

given the designation C not CEM

Ref:BCA/4/26 April, 2004

 Key Cement Standards 5

BS EN 197-1:2000 (Inc. Amendment No.1:2004)

Composition, specifications and conformity
criteria for common cements

BS EN 197-4:2004
Composition, specifications and conformity
criteria for low early strength blastfurnace
cements

BS EN 196-series
Methods of testing cement

Ref:BCA/5/26 April, 2004

 Cements 6

Cements are factory produced materials primarily

conforming to BS EN 197-1 or BS EN 197-4

Some cements, such as Sulfate-resisting Portland

cement (SRPC) are however, still covered by
residual British Standards

There is a wide range of cements ranging from

simple Portland cement to Composite cements
containing up to three major constituents

Cements may be produced by inter-grinding or

blending the constituents at the cement works

Cements can be CE marked against BS EN 197

standards using BS EN 197-2 Conformity evaluation

Ref:BCA/6/26 April, 2004

Types of BS EN 197-1 Cement 7

Designation Description

CEM I Portland cement

CEM II Portland-composite cements including:

-Portland-fly ash cement (CEM II/A-V, CEM II/B-V)
-Portland-slag cement (CEM II/A-S, CEM II/B-S)
-Portland-limestone cement (CEM II/A-L (LL),
CEM II/B-L (LL)
CEM III Blastfurnace cements (CEM III/A, CEM III/B)

CEM IV Pozzolanic cements (CEM IV/A, CEM IV/B)

CEM V Composite cements

Ref:BCA/7/26 April, 2004

HOW ARE CEMENTS DESIGNATED 8

Example: CEM II/A-LL 42,5 N

CEM II: Portland composite cement

A-LL: A signifies low proportion of
second constituent (6-20% in this case)
L or LL signifies limestone as the
second main constituent (LL signifies
high purity limestone)
42,5 N: Cement strength class 42,5
Normal strength development
Portland-limestone cement

Ref:BCA/8/26 April, 2004

 PORTLAND CEMENT 9

Portland cement is CEM I

NOT
Ordinary Portland cement, OPC or
PC
BUT
CEM I

Ref:BCA/9/26 April, 2004

 Cement Strength Classes (I) 10

There are three cement strength classes,

based on the minimum 28 day mortar prism
strength
32,5 Note: Use of
42,5 comma rather
52,5 than decimal point

Each class can be subdivided based on early

strength development
L: Low early strength
N: Normal strength development
R: High early strength

Example: class 42,5R

Ref:BCA/10/26 April, 2004
Cement Strength Classes (II) 11

Strength Min. Min. Min. Max.

Class 2 Day 7 Day 28 28
Day Day
32,5 N - 16 32,5 52,5
32,5 R 10 - 32,5 52,5
42,5 N 10 - 42,5 62,5
42,5 R 20 - 42,5 62,5
52,5 N 20 - 52,5 -
52,5 R 30 - 52,5 -
These classes apply to all CEM
cements

Ref:BCA/11/26 April, 2004

Cement Strength Classes (III) 12

Strength Min. Min. Min. Max.

Class 2 Day 7 Day 28 28
Day Day
32,5 L - 12 32,5 52,5
42,5 L - 16 42,5 62,5
52,5 L 10 - 52,5 -

These low early strength classes apply

only to BS EN 197- 4 CEM III cements

Ref:BCA/12/26 April, 2004

 Low Heat Cements 13

BS EN 197-1: 2000 (inc. Amendment 1:2004)

now covers some low heat cements

Low Heat is defined as a characteristic heat

of hydration not exceeding 270 J/g
(measured at 7 days (EN 196-8) or 41 hrs (EN
196-9))

Low heat cements carry an LH suffix ie:

Example: CEM III/B 32,5N - LH

Ref:BCA/13/26 April, 2004

 Other Specified Cement Properties
(Class 42,5N)
14

Property Cement to be Limiting Value

tested
Initial set All Min 60 mins

Soundness All Max 10 mm

Loss on ignition All Max 5.0 %

Insoluble residue CEM I, CEM III Max 5.0 %

Sulfate All Max 3.5 %

Chloride All Max 0.10 %

Pozzolanicity CEM IV Meets requirements

Composition All Meets requirements

Heat of hydration Low heat Max 270 J/g

common cements

Ref:BCA/14/26 April, 2004

 Common CEM II Cements 15

Designation Name Second Main % of Sec. %

Constituent Main Clinker
Constituent
CEM II/A-S Portland-slag Blastfurnace slag 6-20 80-94
cement
CEM II/B-S ditto ditto 21-35 65-79

CEM II/A-D Portland- Silica fume 6-10 90-94

silica fume
cement
CEM II/A-V Portland-fly Fly ash 6-20 80-94
ash cement
CEM II/B-V ditto ditto 21-35 65-79

CEM II/A-L(LL) Portland- Limestone 6-20 80-94

limestone
cement
CEM II/B-L(LL) ditto ditto 21-35 65-79

Ref:BCA/15/26 April, 2004

 Common CEM II Cements 16

Designation Name Second Main % of Sec. %

Constituent Main Clinker
Constituent
CEM II/A-S Portland-slag Blastfurnace slag 6-20 80-94
cement
CEM II/B-S ditto ditto 21-35 65-79

CEM II/A-D Portland- Silica fume 6-10 90-94

silica fume
cement Available in UK
CEM II/A-V Portland-fly Fly ash 6-20 80-94
ash cement
CEM II/B-V ditto ditto 21-35 65-79

CEM II/A-L(LL) Portland- Limestone 6-20 80-94

limestone
cement
CEM II/B-L(LL) ditto ditto 21-35 65-79

Ref:BCA/16/26 April, 2004

 CEM III Cements 17

Designation Name Second Main % of Sec. %

Constituent Main Clinker
Constituent
CEM III/A Blastfurnace Blastfurnace slag 36-65 35-64
cement
CEM III/B ditto ditto 66-80 20-34

CEM III/C ditto ditto 81-95 5-19

Ref:BCA/17/26 April, 2004

 CEM IV Cements 18

Designation Name Second Main % of Sec. %

Constituent Main Clinker
Constituent

CEM IV/A Pozzolanic Fly ash, natural 11-35 65-89

cement pozzolan or silica
fume
CEM IV/B ditto ditto 36-55 45-64

Ref:BCA/18/26 April, 2004

 CEM V Cements 19

Designation Name Additional % of %

Main Additional Clinker
Constituents Constituents
.
CEM V/A Composite Two - 40-64
cement
CEM V/B ditto ditto - 20-38

Example
Composite cement with:18-30% ggbs
(S) and 18-30% siliceous fly ash (V)
plus clinker; would be designated as:
CEM V/A (S-V) 32,5N

Ref:BCA/19/26 April, 2004

 Minor Additional Constituent (I) 20

BS EN 197-1 allows for the inclusion of up to 5%

by mass of a minor additional constituent (or
mac) in all types of cement
A mac is defined as: specially selected
inorganic natural mineral materials, inorganic
Example: A fly ash mac should not be
mineral materials derived from the clinker
usedprocess
production in a Portland- fly ash cement
or [specified cement]
constituents unless(CEM II/B-V)
they are [already] included
as main constituents in the cement
Materials typically used as a mac include:
Finely ground limestone
Fly Ash
Cement kiln dust (CKD)

Ref:BCA/20/26 April, 2004

Minor Additional Constituent (II) 21

Cement containing a mac has to meet the same

performance criteria as the same cement type and
class without a mac
Setting time
Strength
Soundness/Chemical requirements
In specification terms a CEM cement with a mac
is considered to be identical to the same CEM
cement without a mac

A CEM I Portland cement with 5% mac is still a

Portland cement and will perform in the same
way as a similar cement without a mac !

Ref:BCA/21/26 April, 2004

 Other Cements 22

Sulfate-resisting Portland cement: still covered

by residual British Standard BS 4027

Low early strength blastfurnace cements:

covered by British Standard BS 146:2002 (to
be withdrawn Jan 2006)

High-alumina cement: still covered by residual

British Standard BS 915

These standards will eventually be replaced by

new European Standards, but progress on a
standard for sulfate-resisting cement is slow

Ref:BCA/22/26 April, 2004

 BS EN 206-1 and BS 8500 23

BS 5328: Concrete has been superseded and

withdrawn

EN 206-1 is the European Standard for

concrete (UK version is BS EN 206-1)

BS 8500 is the complementary British Standard

to BS EN 206-1 and describes how to apply the
principles of the European Standard in the UK

Note: BSI have also published Standards for

fresh concrete (BIM 2002), which combines BS
EN 206-1 and BS 8500 and adds a commentary

Ref:BCA/23/26 April, 2004

Concrete Specification to BS 8500 24

BS 8500 gives guidance on the choice of

appropriate cement types for different exposure
classes
For a given combination of exposure class and
cover depth, BS 8500 places limitations on:
Permitted cement types
Minimum concrete strength class
Maximum water/cement ratio
Minimum cement content
These limiting values may be different for
different types of CEM cement
This reflects the different relative (durability)
performance of different cement types

Ref:BCA/24/26 April, 2004

 Permitted Cements 25

BS 8500 permits the general use of all BS-EN

197-1 and BS EN 197-4 cements in concrete

However, the use of Composite cement (CEM V)

is restricted to situations where it is specified or
when its use is accepted by the specifier

Cements conforming to certain residual British

Standards are also permitted:
BS 4027 Sulfate-resisting Portland cement
BS146:2002 Blastfurnace cements
BS 6610 Pozzolanic cements

Ref:BCA/25/26 April, 2004

 Minimum Cement Content 26

When specifying concrete to BS EN 206-1/BS

8500, the specified minimum cement content
applies to the cement, be it CEM I, CEM II, CEM
III, CEM IV or CEM V

For a non CEM I cement, this does NOT mean the

amount of the Portland cement clinker in the
cement

The limiting values in BS 8500 take account of the

composition of the cement. There is no technical
justification for additional increases in cement content
for non CEM I cements

Ref:BCA/26/26 April, 2004

 Water/Cement Ratio 27

The specified maximum water/cement ratio is the

ratio of free water to CEM cement

This is a major factor influencing concrete

strength

This does NOT mean the ratio of free water to the

amount of Portland cement clinker in the CEM
cement
The limiting values in BS 8500 take account of the
composition of the cement. There is no technical
justification for additional reductions in water/cement
ratio for non CEM I cements

Ref:BCA/27/26 April, 2004

 Footnote 28

Analysis of hardened concrete

If there is a dispute about whether the cement that was specified
was actually used, then:
a combination of chemical analysis and microscopy (optical and/or
analytical) should be able to determine the identity of the major
constituents but determining the proportions is much more difficult

If there is a dispute about the cement content of the concrete then:

routine chemical analysis determines soluble silica, lime and insoluble
content

relationships between these vary between cement type and any

addition used

the simplest, most accurate, case is where only a CEM I cement has been
used

in other cases, the determination of cement content, and addition

content, is subject to more assumptions and therefore less accuracy

Ref:BCA/28/26 April, 2004

 For further information 29

Visit BCAs website at:

www.cementindustry.co.uk

Ref:BCA/29/26 April, 2004