Influence of the Variability of Limestone and Fly Ash on the Setting and Mechanical Properties of a Moroccan Composite Cement
The Moroccan cement industry is looking for new processes to effectively minimize the high energy costs associated to cement manufacturing. This work presents the effect of three types of limestone with different chemical compositions and different CaCO3 contents on the physical and mechanical properties of resulting composite cements by the addition of fly ash in the proportions by weight of: 5 % and 10 %. The samples are studied in order to evaluate the interaction between different types of limestone and fly ash. Ternary cements based on fly ash-limestone-clinker induce a significant prolongation of the setting time compared to binary cements based on limestone-clinker. The substitution of clinker by limestone induces an improvement in mechanical strength compared to ternary cements in the first days; at 28 days, cements prepared with fly ashes reach significant strength due to their pozzolanic reaction.