Rethinking cement standards: Opportunities for a better future

Abstract This paper discusses possible changes in cement standards to cope with megatrends: climate change and industry 4.0. Most standards are prescriptive, defining cements by composition of SCMs, hence the number of types increase, and composition limits widen. Cements are classified by compressive strength of fixed water/cement mortars. This pragmatic approach ignores physical effects, that results in variable mixing water demand. It hinders the development of cements with low water demand, products of optimized particle engineering and dispersants, which allows formulate cements with lower clinker fraction. Also, most standard tests are difficult to automate to generate large datasets crucial to train artificial intelligence. Performance-based standards are an alternative, but simple and progressive approach is recommended to ease transition. Cement types should not be solely defined by composition but rather classified by performance characteristics including durability and environmental. Combined water fraction, cwf, may be a good parameter to replace strength class.