The Study of Suitable Limestone Content in Portland Limestone Cement for Using in Reinforced Concrete Work Comply with EN 197-1

Abstract

In sector that concrete was not required high performance such as conventional concrete, smallto medium pre-cast elements, currently Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) has familiarly been used andsometimes Mixed Cement was selected in some locations. Main problems the users faced is strength ofconcrete using OPC is too high, in the other hand; performance of concrete is not suitable enough whenusing Mixed Cement. Anyhow, primary needs which users concerned are the cement with suitableperformance, fast setting as an OPC and also affordable cost. Therefore, Portland Limestone Cement (PLC)is one of the options that possibly meet those requirements.

The objective of this research is to study a suitable proportion of raw materials of PortlandLimestone Cement by adjusting quantity of limestone and Blaine fineness in OPC and as well as maintainstandard quality of EN 197-1. The study found that the adequate proportion of PLC can be used effectivelycompared with OPC is 15-20% of limestone content with 4,500-5,000 cm2/g of Blaine fineness range.These proportions are suitable for ready mixed concrete mixing with and without admixture. However,performance of concrete is not satisfied if fly ash was added in. In case that the PLC was applied in pre-castconcrete, it can meet the performance both strength and setting time as designed. But its workability islower than OPC a little bit. In term of durability concern regarding resistance to penetration of sulfate,PLC showed more performance than OPC does. However, for chloride resistance, PLC showed lowerperformance than OPC.

Keywords : Portland Limestone Cement / Limestone Powder / Blaine Fineness