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Does slag cement change the plastic and early age properties of concrete?

Slag cement generally improves workability, finishability and pumpability of plastic concrete.  It may provide a small decrease in water demand (see SCIC #5). Slag cement will tend to increase time of initial set, which is often a benefit in warm weather.  In cooler weather, accelerators, heated materials or lowering the percentage of slag cement in a mixture (as a portion of cementitious material) can be employed to decrease times of set (see SCIC #3).  Early age strengths (through 7 to 14 days) of slag cement tend to be lower while later age strengths will be higher (see SCIC #14).