Influence of Clay Pozzolana on Some Properties of Portland Limestone Cement

Abstract

For many years in the Ghanaian construction industry, ordinary Portland cement (OPC) has been known to be the main binding agent widely used for construction. However in recent times the cement market in the country has seen the entrance of Portland Limestone cement (PLC). Data regarding ordinary Portland cement and clay pozzolana (CP) is available but with PLC-CP mixes, there remains absolutely no data. In this work PLC was incorporated with different percentages of CP ranging between 10% and 40%. The CP was characterised based on physical, chemical and mineralogical properties. Technical parameters such as normal consistency and setting times were analysed on the formulated paste whilst strength analysis were performed on the batch mixes of formulated mortars. The results indicated that both the consistency and setting times appreciated as compared with only PLC paste whilst the compressive strength of PLC mortars incorporated with CP fell slightly lower than the controlled PLC mortar.