31 Cement and Concrete Science Conference Novel Developments and Innovation in Cementitious Materials 12-13 September 2011 Imperial

College London, United Kingdom

st

Paper Number XX

An Experimental Comparative Study on the Effects of Cement Types on Concrete Properties

W. B. Ashraf and M. A. Noor Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)

ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of an experimental study which was carried out to examine the effects of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Portland Composite Cement (PCC) on concrete compressive strength, permeability and workability. Concrete permeability plays an important role in the long-term durability of concrete. Conventionally concrete permeability is considered as a function of water to cementitious materials (w/c) ratio only. But the properties of cement such as cement composition and fineness also affects the permeability of concrete. In this research, total ten concrete trial mixes were prepared with five different w/c ratio and two different types of cement. Concrete specimens were tested as per the standard EN 12390-8 which measures the concrete permeability in terms of water penetration depth. aggregate for different mixes are shown in table-1. The term aggregate content here represents total fine aggregate and coarse aggregate content.
Table 1: Mix proportions in SSD condition of aggregate Mix ID 1A CEM II/B-M 2A 3A 4A 5A 1B CEM I 2B 3B 4B 5B Cement Content 3 Kg/m 200 200 220 220 220 200 200 220 220 220 Water Content 3 Kg/m 500 440 440 400 360 500 440 440 400 360 Aggregate Content 3 Kg/m 1731 1783 1729 1763 1797 1731 1783 1729 1763 1797 w/c Ratio 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.61 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.61

1. INTRODUCTION From the classification of cements, CEM II/B-M (also known as Portland Composite Cement, PCC) contains 21% to 35% Portland cement replaced by supplementary materials (usually fly ash) (BS 1971, 2000). Thus, PCC have more fly ash content which adds fineness to cement than CEM I (also known as ordinary Portland Cement, OPC). Fly ash is a finely divided residue that results from the combustion of pulverized coal and is carried from the combustion chamber of the furnace by exhaust gases. Commercially available fly ash is a byproduct of thermal power plant (Nawy, 2008). The addition of fly ash to Portland cement has a variable effect on setting time, but usually PCC setting time shall be more than the OPC cement. This paper presents an experimental study which has been carried out to observe the effect of these two types of cements on concrete workability, compressive strength and water permeability. 2. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS To observe the effect of cement types on concrete properties, an experimental setup was organized. Total ten concrete mixes were prepared using locally available aggregates and local cement brands ratifying the criteria of CEM I and CEM II/BM cements. Aggregate grain size distribution and other parameters related to aggregate were kept same for all the trial mixes. At a specific w/c ratio two concrete mixes were prepared using two types of cement. In this way total ten concrete mixes were prepared with five w/c ratios. Concrete mix proportions calculated for saturated surface dry (SSD) moisture condition of 1

2.1 TEST OF CEMENTS Compressive strength test of cements has been conducted as per the standard ASTM C150 for both CEM-I and CEM-II/B-M cement samples. 50 mm x 50 mm cement mortar cube specimens were prepared and tested at 3, 7 and 28 days. Three samples were tested at each case. Setting times and normal consistencies of cement were tested as per the standard ASTM C191 and ASTM C187, respectively. 2.2 TEST OF CONCRETE Workability of each mix was determined by measuring the slump of the mix. Slump was measured as per the standard ASTM C143. For

compressive strength test of concrete, six 150 mm x 300 mm cylindrical samples were prepared for each concrete mix and tested after 3, 7 and 28 days curing. Compressive strength tests were conducted as per ASTM C39. 2.3 CONCRETE WATER PERMEABILITY TEST Water permeability in concrete samples was tested as the penetration depth of water following the EN 12390-8 standard. According to this standard, water penetration depth is measured under pressure. 150 mm x 150 mm concrete cubes were prepared and cured for 28 days. The curing temperature was around 20 25 C. After the completion of 28 days curing, the concrete specimens were removed from curing water and kept in a room for 24 hours, in order to bring the concrete specimens in air dry condition. Then the cube specimens were placed in the equipment and water was introduced from bottom with a certain pressure (5 bar) in a way that the water forced to penetrate through the sample. As per the standard, samples were tested for 72 2 hour. For each concrete mix, total three cube specimens were prepared and tested for water penetration depth. The results shown in this paper are the average penetration depth for three samples. 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Table 2 shows the test results for different properties of the cements which are being applied in this research.
Table 2: Test results for cement properties CEM - I CEM II B-M Normal consistency % Initial setting time (Minute) Final setting time (Minute) Compressive strength (MPa) 3 days 7 days 28 days 28 153 340 24.6 36.7 43.6 28.5 176 333 20.3 28.6 41.2

the added supplementary materials. The strength variation due to cement type could be as high as 50 % or even lower than 2 %.

28-days Compressive Strength (MPa)

W/c ratio
Figure 1. Variation of concrete 28 days compressive strength with w/c ratio.

3.2 WORKABILITY Workability is defined as the easiness of the concrete mixing, handling, compacting, placing and finishing. The lubricant effect and morphology improvement on cement mortar or concrete of natural pozzolans increase with an increase in fineness of the cementitious materials (Pan et al., 2003). Thus, addition of fly ash is expected to improve the workability of concrete which is also apposite to the results of this experiment. Figure 2 shows the variation of workability of concrete for CEM I and CEM II/B-M cements. PCC cement showed higher workability than the OPC cement. But these variations of workability were also found to depend on cement and water content of the mix.

3.1 COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH Although, CEM I is usually recommended for cases where higher strength is required and CEM II/B-M cement is recommended for lower strength, but it has been found from earlier researches that the ultimate strength with both of the cement types might be same given sufficient curing time. Figure 1 shows the compressive strength of concrete mixes after 28 days curing for CEM II/B-M and CEM I cement at various w/c ratios. From this experiment, it has been found that 28 days compressive strength for CEM I cement is higher than that of CEM II/B-M cements. This variation of the strength largely depends on the percentage of 2

Slump (mm)

Concrete Mix ID Figure 2. Variation of workability for various concrete mixes

3.3 WATER PENETRATION DEPTH Permeability of concrete closely related to the durability of concrete. Permeability is the rate at which aggressive agents penetrate through

Water Penetration Depth (mm)

28-days compressive strength (MPa)

concrete. As it has been mentioned earlier, permeability test results were found in the form of penetration depth. The water permeability coefficient can be calculated from penetration depth using Valents equation (1970). Moreover, depth of water penetration can also be considered as an indication of permeable and impermeable concrete (Nevile, 2006). Figure 3 shows the water penetration depth test results at different w/c ratio for both CEM I and CEM II/B-M cement types. Cement containing supplementary materials is supposed to have lower permeability than ordinary Portland cement, since supplementary materials increase the fineness of cement which in turn reduces pore volume. But in this research, it has been observed that after 28 days curing, water permeability of CEM II/B-M cement (containing more than 21% supplementary materials) is higher than that of CEM I cements.

two different types of cement have been compared by a comprehensive experimental work. From these experiments it can be concluded that Ordinary Portland Cement exhibited lower workability, higher compressive strength and lower water permeability than Portland Composite Cement after 28 days curing. Moreover, 28 days compressive strength can be directly linked with the water permeability after 28 days curing.

Water Penetration Depth (mm) Figure 4. 28 days compressive strength (MPa) Vs. water penetration depth (mm)

Acknowledgement The Concrete Laboratory of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) is gratefully acknowledged for providing all experimental facilities.
W/c ratio

Figure 3. Water penetration depth (mm) for CEM I and CEM II/B-M cements at various w/c ratios.

References ASTM C 150-11: Standard specification for Portland Cement ASTM C 191-08: Standard Test Methods for Time of Setting of Hydraulic Cement by Vicat Needle ASTM C 187 - 11 Standard Test Method for Normal Consistency of Hydraulic Cement ASTM C 143 Standard Test Method for Slump of Hydraulic-Cement Concrete ASTM C 39 10 Standard Test Method for Compressive Strength of Cylindrical Concrete Specimens BS EN 197 1: 2000. Cement, Composition, specifications and conformity criteria for low heat common cements EN12390-8: Testing hardened concrete - Part 8: Depth of penetration of water under pressure Nawy G. E., 2008. Concrete Construction Engineering Handbook, Second Edition, Rutgers university, new jersey, USA. Nevile, A. M.,2006. Properties of Concrete, 4th Edition, Pearson Education. Pan S.C., Tseng D., Lee C. and Lee C., 2003. Influence of the fineness of sewage sludge 3

3.4. PERMEABILITY AND COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH 28 days compressive strength has been plotted against water penetration depth test results in figure 4 for both CEM I and CEM II/B-M cement types. From the equations of the best fitted straight lines, it can be stated that apparently, 28 days concrete compressive strength has a very direct relation with water penetration depth after 28 days curing, irrespective of cement types. Therefore, the use of compressive strength to limit the permeability of concrete will be a suitable approach to overlook the effect of cement types. But it is also important to note that this relationship is found for concrete after 28 days curing and it may not be the same after several years from casting. CONCLUSION In this paper, concrete workability, 28 days compressive strength and water permeability of

ash on the mortar properties, Cement and Concrete Research, No. 33, pp.1749-1754 Valenta. O., 1970. The Permeability of Concrete in Aggressive condition, in large dams, Proceedings of 10th international congress, Montreal, pp 103 -117