Determination of the quantitative phase composition of alite and belite in portland cement clinker by microphotometry

Abstract

In the light of the growing technical interest in the phase constitution of alite and belite in portland cement clinker, an optical method for determining the quantitative phase composition has been proposed. The change in birefringence upon transition between the relevant phases (M 1 to M 3 for alite and α to α′ for belite) is utilized for this purpose. In the present method the birefringence change with temperature has been recorded by microphotometry as the corresponding change in the integrated light intensity from a large number of grains in the field of view.