Report of RILEM TC 267-TRM: Improvement and robustness study of lime mortar strength test for assessing reactivity of SCMs

RILEM TC 267-TRM is studying tests for the reactivity supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). In the first phase, the lime reactivity (LR) test, which is standardised in Indian standard (IS)-1727, gave promising correlations with 90-days cement mortar strength. In Phase 2, working group 1 has looked at further optimisation and robustness study of the LR test. A parameter screening approach for improving the mix design to use fixed mass proportions targeting enhanced reproducibility and robustness was focused. The parameters studied include mixture properties such as the effects of lime (hydrated lime/calcium hydroxide-CH) to SCM ratio, water to binder (binder = CH + SCM) ratio (w/b), activators, curing temperature, and testing age as well as the impact of factors from different national standards (IS and European Committee for Standardisation-EN) such as mould size, shape & type of sand. The modified mixture recommended by the TC uses a fixed CH to SCM mass ratio of 1:1 and the addition of activators. Also, a higher curing temperature of 50 degrees C in comparison to the 27 degrees C specified in IS 1727, for the first 2 days is proposed to accelerate the early hydration especially for slowly reacting SCMs. It is also recommended that, the minimum purity and fineness of the CH need to be specified to obtain reproducible results.