5. Setting and curing

Hydraulic road binder is a mineral powder which has the ability to form stable hydrated compounds at ordinary temperatures, in the presence of water, with properties similar to those of the compounds formed by cements in the presence of water.

The setting and hardening of hydraulic road binders is virtually identical to that of cements. In the same way, the vitreous phase of the constituents dissolves, forming hydrated calcium silicate and aluminate, as well as hydrated calcium silico-aluminate or hydrated CH free lime, known as "Portlandite" (depending on the activator used: soda ash or lime), which forms a microcrystalline gel at the origin of the phenomenon known as setting.

It is the crystals of hydrated monocalcium silicate which, by attaching themselves to each other and to the constituents of the material in which they originate,...