Trade Journals for the Concrete Industry

The targeted application of supplementary cementitious materials and other mineral additions determines quality, cost, environmental impact and resource optimization of construction processes. And this is just the beginning: in the future, entire branches of the construction materials industry will rely on the use of so-called mineral “additional components” of various origin. The resulting challenges can be addressed in a sustainable manner if the existing prescriptive approaches are supplemented with practical laboratory-based test methods for performance evaluation of mineral additives used in cement paste, mortar and concrete. For individual applications, these performance methods indicate what needs to be taken into account when using mineral additives for a particular final product. In addition, they give a detailed account of the potential benefits that can be derived and highlight how to address any discovered production-related shortcomings of the respective material.