ABSTRACT
During my entire career as a concrete researcher, I had no choice but to use the cements that were manufactured by cement producers. Many of these cements did not fulfil my needs exactly and sometimes they did not have exactly the characteristics I was looking for. Several times, I had to import very specific cements from as far as Europe, the USA, Mexico or Chile, fly ashes from Australia and slags from Belgium in order to obtain the kind of hydraulic binder I needed for my research work. These cements and/or binders had specific characteristics that could be used to pinpoint their influence and make my demonstrations more convincing. Observing the behaviour of alls the cements I have used during my career has given me a clear idea of what an ideal clinker should be.
