Natural cements are hydraulic cements produced by mining natural deposits of limestone and clay with a specific chemical composition within a narrow range. When heated in a kiln, and ground to a fine powder, a type of cement is produced, that, like portland cement, sets and hardens when mixed with water through chemical reactions.

Strength and uniformity of natural cements are lower than for portland cements, but these are much more historically accurate materials for use on many historic restoration projects, which is their primary application. Natural cements were extensively used in 19th and early 20th century construction, and many historic structures were built with these materials . However, with improved technology for producing portland cements, sales of natural cements began to decline in the late 1800s, stopping entirely by the mid-1970s.

Portland cement: Cement is made by heating limestone with small quantities of other materials (such as clay) to 1450°C in a kiln, in a process known as calcination. The resulting hard substance, called 'clinker', is then ground with a small amount of gypsum into a powder to make 'Ordinary Portland Cement', the most commonly used type of cement (often referred to as OPC).

Portland cement is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar and most non-speciality grout. The most common use for Portland cement is in the production of concrete. Concrete is a composite material consisting of aggregate (gravel and sand), cement, and water. As a construction material, concrete can be cast in almost any shape desired, and once hardened, can become a structural (load bearing) element. Portland cement may be gray or white.

Portland cement blends: These are often available as inter-ground mixtures from cement manufacturers, but similar formulations are often also mixed from the ground components at the concrete mixing plant.

Portland Blastfurnace Cement contains up to 70% ground granulated blast furnace slag, with the rest Portland clinker and a little gypsum. All compositions produce high ultimate strength, but as slag content is increased, early strength is reduced, while sulfate resistance increases and heat evolution diminishes. Used as an economic alternative to Portland sulfate-resisting and low-heat cements.

Portland Flyash Cement contains up to 30% fly ash. The fly ash is pozzolanic, so that ultimate strength is maintained. Because fly ash addition allows a lower concrete water content, early strength can also be maintained. Where good quality cheap fly ash is available, this can be an economic alternative to ordinary Portland cement.

Portland Pozzolan Cement includes fly ash cement, since fly ash is a pozzolan, but also includes cements made from other natural or artificial pozzolans. In countries where volcanic ashes are available (e.g. Italy, Chile, Mexico, the Philippines) these cements are often the most common form in use.

Portland Silica Fume cement. Addition of silica fume can yield exceptionally high strengths, and cements containing 5-20% silica fume are occasionally produced. However, silica fume is more usually added to Portland cement at the concrete mixer.

Masonry Cements are used for preparing bricklaying mortars and stuccos, and must not be used in concrete. They are usually complex proprietary formulations containing Portland clinker and a number of other ingredients that may include limestone, hydrated lime, air entrainers, retarders, waterproofers and coloring agents. They are formulated to yield workable mortars that allow rapid and consistent masonry work. Subtle variations of Masonry cement in the US are Plastic Cements and Stucco Cements. These are designed to produce controlled bond with masonry blocks.

Expansive Cements contain, in addition to Portland clinker, expansive clinkers (usually sulfoaluminate clinkers), and are designed to offset the effects of drying shrinkage that is normally encountered with hydraulic cements. This allows large floor slabs (up to 60 m square) to be prepared without contraction joints.

White blended cements may be made using white clinker and white supplementary materials such as high-purity metakaolin.

Colored cements are used for decorative purposes. In some standards, the addition of pigments to produce "colored Portland cement" is allowed. In other standards (e.g. ASTM), pigments are not allowed constituents of Portland cement, and colored cements are sold as "blended hydraulic cements".

Very finely ground cements are made from mixtures of cement with sand or with slag or other pozzolan type minerals, which are extremely finely ground together. Such cements can have the same physical characteristics as normal cement but with 50% less cement particularly due to their increased surface area for the chemical reaction. Even with intensive grinding they can use up to 50% less energy to fabricate than ordinary Portland cements.

Non-Portland hydraulic cements
Pozzolan-lime cements. Mixtures of ground pozzolan and lime are the cements used by the Romans, and are to be found in Roman structures still standing (e.g. the Pantheon in Rome). They develop strength slowly, but their ultimate strength can be very high. The hydration products that produce strength are essentially the same as those produced by Portland cement.

Slag-lime cements. Ground granulated blast furnace slag is not hydraulic on its own, but is "activated" by addition of alkalis, most economically using lime. They are similar to pozzolan lime cements in their properties. Only granulated slag (i.e. water-quenched, glassy slag) is effective as a cement component.

Supersulfated cements. These contain about 80% ground granulated blast furnace slag, 15% gypsum or anhydrite and a little Portland clinker or lime as an activator. They produce strength by formation of ettringite, with strength growth similar to a slow Portland cement. They exhibit good resistance to aggressive agents, including sulfate.

Calcium aluminate cements are hydraulic cements made primarily from limestone and bauxite. The active ingredients are monocalcium aluminate CaAl2O4 (CA in Cement chemist notation) and Mayenite Ca12Al14O33 (C12A7 in CCN). Strength forms by hydration to calcium aluminate hydrates. They are well adapted for use in refractory (high-temperature resistant) concretes, e.g. for furnace linings.

Calcium sulfoaluminate cements are made from clinkers that include ye'elimite (Ca4(AlO2)6SO4 or C4A3 in Cement chemist's notation) as a primary phase. They are used in expansive cements, in ultra-high early strength cements, and in "low-energy" cements. Hydration produces ettringite, and specialized physical properties (such as expansion or rapid reaction) are obtained by adjustment of the availability of calcium and sulfate ions. Their use as a low-energy alternative to Portland cement has been pioneered in China, where several million tonnes per year are produced.Energy requirements are lower because of the lower kiln temperatures required for reaction, and the lower amount of limestone (which must be endothermically decarbonated) in the mix. In addition, the lower limestone content and lower fuel consumption leads to a CO2 emission around half that associated with Portland clinker. However, SO2 emissions are usually significantly higher.

"Natural" Cements correspond to certain cements of the pre-Portland era, produced by burning argillaceous limestones at moderate temperatures. The level of clay components in the limestone (around 30-35%) is such that large amounts of belite (the low-early strength, high-late strength mineral in Portland cement) are formed without the formation of excessive amounts of free lime. As with any natural material, such cements have highly variable properties.

Geopolymer cements are made from mixtures of water-soluble alkali metal silicates and aluminosilicate mineral powders such as fly ash and metakaolin.

Low Fiber volume composite: concrete contains less than 1% fiber. It is used for field applications involving large volumes of concrete. The fibers do not significantly increase the strength of the concrete. Low fiber volume concrete is used for paving roads.

High Fiber Volume Concrete: Typically used for thin sheets with cement mortar mix. The fiber volume in this mix ranges from 5% to 15%.
High Fiber Volume Composite: The fiber volume in this mix can be as high as 40%. This significantly increases the strength and toughness of the mix. The reinforcement in High Fiber Volume Composite concrete is usually in sheet form. This reinforced concrete type is used in roof and wall panels.

Concrete is a mixture of cement, water, sand and gravel (stones, crushed rock). The mixture eventually hardens into a stone-like material.

Cement and water are the two ingredients that do all the chemical reaction stuff. The gravel and sand give strength.

Modern structural concrete differs from Roman concrete in two important details. First, its mix consistency is fluid and homogeneous, allowing it to be poured into forms rather than requiring hand-layering together with the placement of aggregate, which, in Roman practice, often consisted of rubble.

Second, integral reinforcing steel gives modern concrete assemblies great strength in tension, whereas Roman concrete could depend only upon the strength of the concrete bonding to resist tension.,

Reinforced concrete contains steel reinforcing that is designed and placed in structural members at specific positions to cater for all the stress conditions

that the member is required to accommodate.

1. The concrete mix is workable. It can be placed and consolidated properly.

2. Desired qualities of the hardened concrete are met: for example, resistance to freezing and thawing and deicing chemicals, watertightness (low permeability), wear resistance, and strength. Know what you are trying to achieve with the concrete.

3. Economy. Since the quality depends mainly on the water to cement ratio, the water requirement should be minimized to reduce the cement requirement (and thus reduce the cost).

Take these steps to reduce the water and cement requirements:

1. use the stiffest mix possible
2. use the largest size aggregate practical for the job.

Use the optimum ratio of fine to coarse aggregate.

There are many types of concrete available, created by varying the proportions of the main ingredients below.

The mix design depends on the type of structure being built, how the concrete will be mixed and delivered, and how it will be placed to form this structure.

Cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general usage. It is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, and plaster. English engineer Joseph Aspdin patented Portland cement in 1824; it was named because of its similarity in colour to Portland limestone, quarried from the English Isle of Portland and used extensively in London architecture. It consists of a mixture of oxides of calcium, silicon and aluminium. Portland cement and similar materials are made by heating limestone (a source of calcium) with clay, and grinding this product (called clinker) with a source of sulfate (most commonly gypsum). The manufacturing of Portland cement creates about 5 percent of human CO2 emissions.

Water
Combining water with a cementitious material forms a cement paste by the process of hydration. The cement paste glues the aggregate together, fills voids within it, and allows it to flow more easily.

Less water in the cement paste will yield a stronger, more durable concrete; more water will give an easier-flowing concrete with a higher slump.

Impure water used to make concrete can cause problems when setting or in causing premature failure of the structure.

Hydration involves many different reactions, often occurring at the same time. As the reactions proceed, the products of the cement hydration process gradually bond together the individual sand and gravel particles, and other components of the concrete, to form a solid mass.

Reaction:

Cement chemist notation: C3S + H2O → CSH(gel) + CaOH
Standard notation: Ca3SiO5 + H2O → (CaO)•(SiO2)•(H2O)(gel) + Ca(OH)2
Balanced: 2Ca3SiO5 + 7H2O → 3(CaO)•2(SiO2)•4(H2O)(gel) + 3Ca(OH)2

Aggregates
Fine and coarse aggregates make up the bulk of a concrete mixture. Sand, natural gravel and crushed stone are mainly used for this purpose. Recycled aggregates (from construction, demolition and excavation waste) are increasingly used as partial replacements of natural aggregates, while a number of manufactured aggregates, including air-cooled blast furnace slag and bottom ash are also permitted.

Decorative stones such as quartzite, small river stones or crushed glass are sometimes added to the surface of concrete for a decorative "exposed aggregate" finish, popular among landscape designers.

Reinforcement
Concrete is strong in compression, as the aggregate efficiently carries the compression load. However, it is weak in tension as the cement holding the aggregate in place can crack, allowing the structure to fail. Reinforced concrete solves these problems by adding either metal reinforcing bars, glass fiber, or plastic fiber to carry tensile loads.

Chemical admixtures
Chemical admixtures are materials in the form of powder or fluids that are added to the concrete to give it certain characteristics not obtainable with plain concrete mixes. In normal use, admixture dosages are less than 5% by mass of cement, and are added to the concrete at the time of batching/mixing.

Mineral admixtures and blended cements
There are inorganic materials that also have pozzolanic or latent hydraulic properties. These very fine-grained materials are added to the concrete mix to improve the properties of concrete (mineral admixtures), or as a replacement for Portland cement (blended cements).

Fly ash: A by product of coal fired electric generating plants, it is used to partially replace Portland cement (by up to 60% by mass). The properties of fly ash depend on the type of coal burnt. In general, silicious fly ash is pozzolanic, while calcareous fly ash has latent hydraulic properties.

Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS or GGBS): A by product of steel production, is used to partially replace Portland cement (by up to 80% by mass). It has latent hydraulic properties.

Silica fume: A by-product of the production of silicon and ferrosilicon alloys. Silica fume is similar to fly ash, but has a particle size 100 times smaller. This results in a higher surface to volume ratio and a much faster pozzolanic reaction. Silica fume is used to increase strength and durability of concrete, but generally requires the use of superplasticizers for workability.

High Reactivity Metakaolin (HRM): Metakaolin produces concrete with strength and durability similar to concrete made with silica fume. While silica fume is usually dark gray or black in color, high reactivity metakaolin is usually bright white in color, making it the preferred choice for architectural concrete where appearance is important.

500 BC

The chemical process called cement hydration produces crystals that interlock and bind together.

50,000

There are only slight chemical and physical differences between gray portland cement and white portland cement. These differences are due to raw material differences and sometimes, though not always, slight differences in manufacturing.

The goal is to minimize the oxides (particularly iron and manganese) that impart the grayish color normally associated with portland cement.