Portland Cements with High Content of Calcined Clay: Mechanical Strength Behaviour and Sulfate Durability

Calcined clay has become the supplementary cementitious materials with the greatest potential to reduce the clinker/cement. In this research, the mechanical strengths and sulphate resistance of blended cements with a high content of calcined clay as a pozzolanic addition were evaluated to demonstrate that these cements could be designed as CEM (cement) type IV/A-SR and IV/B-SR cements by the current European standard UNE-EN 197-1: 2011. The blended cements were prepared by two Portland cements (P1 and PY6) with different mineralogical compositions and a calcined clay. The level of replacement was greater than 40% by weight. The results obtained confirm the decrease in the mechanical strengths and the increase in the sulfate resistance of the two Portland cements when they are replaced by calcined clay at a level of replacement greater than 40%. These results are a consequence of the chemical effect from the pozzolanic activity of the calcined clay. Therefore, there is an important decrease in portlandite levels of paste liquid phase that causes the increase in sulfate resistance and the decrease of the mechanical strengths.