International Summit on Cement Hydration Kinetics and Modeling Special Edition Québec City, July 27, 28 and 29, 2009

The performance of portland cement concrete relies upon a series of complex events that begin with raw minerals and end many years after the concrete is placed. Between these points, the life of this dynamic material is dominated by chemical reactions called hydration. While much is known about hydration, unfortunately, there is no unifying theory that describes the kinetics (rates) of these complex transformations from anhydrous cement to hydrous cement paste. Other industries including metalugy, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors have asserted process control by developing a fundamental, mechanistic understanding of the kinetics of the chemical reactions and phase transformations that define their products. Might the concrete industry be moving along a similar trajectory?