The use of clinker-efficient cements is an essential step towards further reducing CO₂ emissions from cement and concrete. A sufficient durability of concretes containing new clinker-efficient cements is the basis for their use. Measures to control the durability of concretes with clinker-efficient CEM II/C and CEM VI cements will be investigated in this project to propose further application rules for new, clinker-efficient cements and thus further improve the CO₂ footprint of concrete. This will benefit all those involved in the concrete construction value chain and thus a considerable number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The basis of the work programme is formed by durability tests on concretes with clinker-efficient cements in the laboratory. Both the cement composition and the water-cement ratio are considered as key variation parameters in order to develop new application rules. In addition, the influence of the concrete cover and the curing time will be considered in relation to the depassivation of the reinforcement due to carbonation and chloride penetration. With the help of probabilistic calculation models, it is to be analysed to what extent a lower carbonation or chloride penetration resistance can be compensated for by increasing the concrete cover or prolonging the curing time, so that the same reliability with regard to durability is achieved in the component.
This approach offers – when defined in a proper way - potential for a more efficient use of raw materials, especially with regard to the clinker content in cement and concrete. Since the project is based on the further development of existing technologies, no high investments are necessary for industrial implementation by the potential users, so that the threshold for implementation is relatively low for SMEs.
