Analysis of the development of autogenous shrinkage of CEM I 42.5R and CEM III/A 42.5N cement pastes with different water to cement ratios

In concrete technology, cements with a high content of Portland clinker are increasingly being replaced by blended binders with a lower carbon footprint. Such binders include blastfurnace cements, which are successfully used in concretes designed for large-scale elements, self-compacting concretes, as well as for the precast concrete industry. Blast furnace cements exhibit lower strength gain relative to Portland cements and a lower heat of hydration. Composites that incorporate them are significantly more resistant to the occurrence of thermal stresses at the early stages of curing of concrete. This paper provides a comparative study of the development of autogenous shrinkage of cement pastes made from CEM I 42.5R and CEM III/A 42.5N with a variable w/c ratio using the dilatometric method on a proprietary instrument covered by the patent PL241667. Furthermore, tests on consistency, setting times and compressive strength were performed after 2, 7 and 28 days of curing. From the analyses carried out, it was found that cement pastes containing blast furnace cement show greater autogenous shrinkage over a period of 28 days compared to pastes containing Portland cement. The pozzolanic reaction of granulated blast furnace slag contributes to the increase in recorded autogenous shrinkage. An increase in the water-cement ratio has an impact on the decreased strength gain, and the value of autogenous shrinkage. The research results indicate the need to take autogenous shrinkage into account when designing high-performance concretes containing blast furnace cement due to the increased susceptibility to shrinkage microcracks and for the durability of the material.