Effect of grinding method and particle size distribution on early-age properties of blended cements

This paper describes the influence of the producing method (inter-grinding and separate grinding) and particle size distribution (PSD) on early-age properties of binary and ternary blended cements. Various experiments were carried out to determine properties of cement paste including normal consistency, time of setting, heat of hydration and calcium hydroxide content. In addition, compressive and flexural strength tests were carried out on cement mortars. The results show that for achieving the same percentage of 45 mu m residue in blended cements containing Trass, inter-grinding was less energy demanding than separate grinding (shorter grinding time was required). Moreover, PSD and early-age properties of blended cements with the same percentage of 45 mu m residue were not significantly affected by the grinding method. Additionally, the hydration reactions of blended cements were slightly accelerated by the increase of fineness value. Furthermore, the use of cements with high fineness is not economically beneficial owing to its low effect on early-age properties.