This investigation examined variables influencing the 28-day compressive strength and SO-cycle salt scaling loss of concretes made with 18 Type 10 cements. Statistical analysis was performed on test data consisting of chemical and physical properties of cements; properties of fresh concretes; compressive strength, salt scaling loss, and air void parameters of mature concretes. For a similar water-cement ratio and cement content, results from the correlation analysis indicated that the 28-day concrete strength and 50-cycle salt scaling loss were influenced significantly by the chemical and physical properties of the cement used in the mix. Compressive strength has a strong negative correlation with alkali content, indicating that cements with a high alkali content produced concretes with lower compressive strength. Fineness (percent of particles in the 4 to 20-µm range) is related to low salt scaling loss. Equations predicting strength and salt scaling loss of concrete were developed by using multiple linear regression.

It has been observed for some time that the quality of the concrete used in Ontario has shown considerable variation, even though all the cements used in the manufacture of concrete met the Ontario Provincial Standard Specifications Form 1301 (CSA standard CAN 3-A5-M83) requirements for Type 10 cements. As a result of the observed variation in concrete quality in Ontario, a program of testing (J) was undertaken by the Concrete Section in the Engineering Materials Office of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO). First, physical and chemical properties of 18 samples of cement from 14 different cement plants were measured. These cements were then used to produce samples of concrete with nominal compressive strengths of 20 and 30 MP a, respectively. Within each of these strength categories two types of coarse aggregate were used in the mix, a good-quality crushed dolomitic limestone called A and a poorer-quality partially crushed natural gravel called B. Various properties of these four resulting concrete types (20A, 20B, 30A and 30B) were also measured. The experimental investigation was designed to examine the influence of various cements on the strength and durability of concrete. Traditional factors such as cement content and water-cement ratio were not intended to be variables. These two factors have a profound influence on the strength and durability of concretes made from a single cement. Within each of the four concrete types examined in this experiment, all used the same aggregate, had the same cement content, and had virtually the same water-cement ratio. For example, the 30A concretes had the following batch quantities: