A wide variety of cement physical properties can be predicted using the VCCTL software. As with any new technology, the cement industry will surely encounter a learning curve in applying the VCCTL in their production and research facilities. However, as indicated by the participation of three cement companies and two major cement associations in the VCCTL consortium, the first steps to perform this integration are well underway.
While this paper has focused on the use of the VCCTL to predict the properties of ordinary portland cements, the VCCTL software is equally applicable to blended cement systems. Silica fume, fly ash, slag, and limestone can all be incorporated into the starting (blended) cement paste microstructures. In this regard, the VCCTL has already been applied to demonstrate the potential of replacing the coarser cement particles by limestone fillers in low w/c ratio high-performance concretes, to reduce costs without sacrificing performance [20]. Current research efforts in the VCCTL consortium are focused on predicting the rheological and elastic properties of cement-based systems, which will further increase the applicability of the VCCTL to a large number of problems of practical significance. As transport (diffusion) coefficients can already be accurately predicted in the VCCTL, these new developments will provide the foundation for addressing the critical problem of concrete service life prediction and life cycle cost analysis, on a sound materials science-based footing.