Construction and Building Materials 51 (2014) 321328

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

The use of silica-breccia as a supplementary cementing material

in mortar and concrete
Assem A.A Hassan , Ahmed A. Abouhussien, Justin Mayo
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. Johns, Newfoundland A1B 3X5, Canada

h i g h l i g h t s
 Silica-breccia as a newly discovered supplementary cementing material is introduced.
 The durability of Silica-breccia mortar samples is investigated.
 The fresh and mechanical properties of Silica-breccia concrete samples are investigated.
 Silica-breccia with a particle size <20 lm can be qualied as a supplementary cementing material.
 The addition of 10% Silica-breccia slightly enhanced the mechanical properties of concrete.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 19 June 2013
Received in revised form 19 October 2013
Accepted 31 October 2013
Available online 27 November 2013
Keywords:
Silica-breccia
Metakaolin
Silica fume
Slag
Fly ash
Mortar
Self-consolidating concrete
Workability
Durability performance

a b s t r a c t
Silica-breccia (SB), also known as Aplite, is a newly discovered supplementary cementing material (SCM)
that has shown to have some pozzolanic effect when mixed with cement. Like any other SCM, pulverized
SB reacts with the calcium hydroxide formed during Portland cement hydration, creating additional
cementitious products that modify the mixture structure and enhance its overall strength and durability.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using SB as a supplementary cementing
material in mortar and concrete. The rst part of the investigation included testing the pozzolanic activity
index, sodium sulfate attack, and alkali-silica reactivity on mortar samples containing SB. The second part
was designed to test the fresh properties and mechanical performance of concrete samples containing SB.
The investigation also involved testing other SCMs including y ash, metakaolin, silica fume, and slag for
comparison. The results showed that pulverized SB with a particle size less than 20 lm can be qualied as
an alternative SCM. Replacement of cement by 10% SB slightly enhanced the mechanical and durability
performance of mortar and concrete samples. The results also showed that the addition of SB improved
the mixture workability and proved to enhance the fresh properties of self-consolidating concrete
mixture.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The use of supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) such as
ground granulated blast furnace slag, y ash, metakaolin, and/or
silica fume has become common in the production of concrete because of their superior effect in enhancing the mixture strength
and durability. SCMs are incorporated in concrete to produce
impermeable and dense mixture. SCMs are classied as low reactive (limestone powder), cementitious (natural cement and
hydraulic lime), pozzolanic (silica fume and class F y ash), and
both cementitious and pozzolanic materials (ground granulated
blast-furnace slag and class C y ash). The incorporation of one
or more types of the SCMs, together with a low water-to-cement

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 709 864 7473; fax: +1 709 864 4042.
E-mail address: ahassan@mun.ca (A.A.A Hassan).
0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.10.075

ratio (usually a superplasticizer is used in these mixes and sometimes with very high dosage to maintain adequate workability),
has been proven to greatly improve the concrete microstructure
over that of concrete with ordinary water-to-cement ratio [1].
SCM particles have a high surface area, which consume part of
the mixing water to get their surface wet, results in a very little
free water left in the mixture for bleeding. In addition, the SCM improves the concrete microstructure by means of either ller effect
and/or chemical effect in the form of pozzolanic reaction [2]. At
early ages, the ller effect of SCM is responsible for the improvement in densication of the microstructure by means of improving
packing the hydration products especially around the aggregate
particles [3]. At later ages, the pozzolanic reaction adds to the
improvement of the microstructure by producing more
cementitious products. The pozzolanic reaction is a reaction of
the SCM with calcium hydroxide crystals which is the main byproduct from the hydration of normal cement [1]. This reaction

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A.A.A Hassan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 51 (2014) 321328

produces more calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) gels (the main

cementitious product from the hydration of normal cement). The
CSH gels effectively tie together the hydration products and
the unhydrated cement particles leading to a more homogeneous
and denser matrix. SCM that has higher pozzolanic activity is believed to be more effective in reducing the concrete porosity [2].
Silica-breccia (SB), also known as Aplite, is a recently discovered
SCM that showed some pozzolanic effect when mixed with cement. Similar to other commercially available SCMs, pulverized
SB reacts with the calcium hydroxide formed during Portland cement hydration, creating additional cementitious products that
modify the mixture structure and enhance its overall mechanical
and durability performance. Recently, one of the largest deposits
of SB was discovered in Finnvolldalen, Norway, yielding large volumes that make SB an economical choice for use in cement
mixtures.
Over the past few years, a number of tests were performed by
Stantec Inc., Statoil Canada Ltd., and University of Stavanger on different SB products to investigate their relativities when mixed with
cement [4,5]. The preliminary test results showed a noticeable
improvement in compressive strength, expansion due to alkaliaggregate reaction, and pozzolanic activity with lime. Silica-breccia
also proved to be benecial for oil well cement industry. Tests on
cement mixed with SB under elevated temperature and high pressure showed some resistance towards CO2 attack as well as
improvement in the mechanical and shrinkage properties.
There is very limited information available in the literature on
the performance of SB in concrete or mortar. The purpose of this
study was to examine the feasibility of using a developed SB product as an alternative SCM to be used in mortar or concrete. The
study investigated the strength and durability performance of the
new material compared to other commercially available SCMs,
when mixed with cement. The pozzolanic activity index, sodium
sulfate attack, and the alkali-silica reactivity tests were conducted
on mortar samples. On the other hand, the compressive strength,
strength development, exural strength (FS), modulus of elasticity
(ME), and splitting tensile strength (STS) tests were conducted on
concrete samples containing SB. The study also included evaluating
the fresh properties of concrete mixture containing SB and the feasibility of using this product in the production of self-consolidating
concrete (SCC).

2. Experimental program
The research program was divided into two parts; the rst part focused on testing the strength and durability performance of cement blended with SB in mortar
samples. The second part of the research program dealt with testing the fresh
and mechanical properties of concrete samples containing SB as a SCM. Tests on
other SCMs including y ash (FA), silica fume (SF), slag (SG), and metakaolin

(MK) were also conducted in both parts of the research program for comparison.
The details of each part were as follows:
Part 1: Testing the strength and durability of mortar samples containing SB.
Different SB products were tested for effectiveness as an alternative SCM based
on the Canadian Standard Association (CSA) test methods [6,8]. The program was
completed in the following two stages:
Stage 1: Investigation on the Pozzolanic Activity Index of Different SB samples
In this stage, different SB samples having different genesis, different degrees of
pulverization, and different burning temperatures were tested for pozzolanic activity according to CSA test method (CSA A3004-E1), in order to select some successful
samples for further investigation (Tables 1 and 2). Additional FA, SF, SG, and MK
samples were also tested under the same condition for comparison (Table 3). After
evaluating the results of the pozzolanic activity index, Sample # 6 was shown to
have the highest pozzolanic activity index among all tested samples. For this reason, this sample (sample # 6) was chosen for investigating the effect of burning
temperature, degrees of pulverization, and the effect of mixing SB with calciteon
maximizing the strength obtained from the pozzolanic activity test. The target
was to achieve a minimum strength of 5.5 MPa after 7 days of an accelerated curing
period as per CSA A3004-E1 [6]. The detailed activities in this stage were as follows:
 Testing the pozzolanic activity index of 11 SB types with particle size <75 lm
(Table 1) in addition to the other SCMs (FA, SF, SG, and MK) samples.
 Testing the pozzolanic activity index of selected SB sample (sample # 6 with
particle size <75 lm) burned at different temperatures (500, 700, and 900C).
 Testing the pozzolanic activity index of selected SB sample (sample # 6) having
different particle sizes (<75, <45, <30, and <20 lm).
 Testing the pozzolanic activity index of selected SB samples (sample # 6 with
different particle sizes) blended with calcite.
Stage 2: Investigation on the Durability Performance of the Selected SB Samples.
In this stage, selected SB samples (sample # 6 with different particle sizes) from
the rst stage were tested for their durability performance based on the alkali-silica
reactivity (CSA A23.2-25A) and sulfate resistance (CSA 3004-C8) tests [7,8]. Additional FA, SF, SG, and MK samples were also tested under the same conditions for
comparison.
Part 2: Testing the fresh and mechanical properties of concrete samples containing SB.
This part was designed to investigate the effect of SB on the fresh and mechanical properties of concrete mixtures. Because the results of the rst part of this
investigation indicated enhanced workability of SB mixture compared to other
SCMs mixtures, self-consolidating concrete (SCC) was chosen in this part to clarify
the effect of SB on the improvement of the fresh properties of SCC mixture. The
mechanical properties tests in this part included the compressive strength, strength
development, FS, ME and STS tests. On the other hand, the fresh properties tests of
SCC mixtures included slump ow, time to reach 500 mm diameter of the slump
ow (T500), J-ring, and air content tests. Control SCC mixture with no SCMs in addition to SCC mixtures containing SF, SG, and MK were also included for comparison.
2.1. Materials
Type GU Canadian Portland cement similar to ASTM Type I, with a specic gravity of 3.15, was used in this investigation. Silica sand was chosen for the pozzolanic

Table 1
Chemical properties for the eleven selected SB (75 lm) samples for stage 1.
Chem. prop. %

#6

I501

I548

I553

I581

I582

I601

I625

I644

I656

I657

SiO2
Al2O3
Fe2O3
CaO
MgO
Na2O
K2O
Cr2O3
TiO2
MnO
P2O5
SrO
BaO
L.O.I.
Total

82.10
8.78
0.82
0.83
0.04
2.33
3.10
<0.01
0.03
0.02
<0.01
0.01
0.03
0.70
98.80

90.66
5.09
0.88
0.71
0.17
1.58
1.35
0.01
0.05
0.02
0.01
0.02
0.05
0.27
100.90

58.72
11.49
8.40
9.59
6.19
0.37
1.93
0.02
1.14
0.13
0.18
0.04
0.05
2.43
100.70

65.20
9.92
5.65
11.10
4.19
0.07
0.77
0.01
0.78
0.10
0.11
0.04
0.02
1.73
99.69

85.49
7.17
0.95
1.48
0.36
1.76
2.51
<0.01
0.10
0.03
0.02
0.03
0.06
0.46
100.40

78.44
8.40
2.72
2.81
1.53
1.11
2.50
<0.01
0.32
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.05
1.29
99.32

92.60
3.60
0.39
0.24
0.07
1.24
1.07
<0.01
0.13
0.02
0.01
0.02
0.02
0.12
99.40

50.60
15.80
8.97
11.90
6.85
0.07
1.86
0.02
1.16
0.13
0.19
0.04
0.07
3.55
101.00

17.50
7.58
2.07
43.40
0.87
<0.01
0.03
<0.01
0.65
0.05
0.08
0.09
0.03
28.7
101.00

68.40
17.10
1.29
1.01
0.25
5.71
5.41
<0.01
0.14
0.03
0.04
0.06
0.17
0.64
100.30

67.10
18.11
1.60
1.60
0.36
5.89
5.30
0.01
0.18
0.04
0.05
0.07
0.17
0.74
101.00

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A.A.A Hassan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 51 (2014) 321328

Table 2
Physical properties for the samples studied in stage 1.
Physical properties

# 6 (75 lm)

# 6 (45 lm)

# 6 (30 lm)

# 6 (20 lm)

Cement

MK

SG

SF

FA

Specic gravity
Grain size (lm)
Color

2.70
75
Greyish white

2.70
45
Greyish white

2.70
30
Greyish white

2.70
20
Greyish white

3.15
45
Grey

2.56
60
Pink

2.89
45
Greyish white

2.27
30
Black

2.26
75
Greyish dark

Table 3
Chemical properties for other SCMs and cement used for stage 1.
Chemical properties %

Cement

MK

SG

SF

FA

SiO2
Al2O3
Fe2O3
FeO
TiO2
C
P2O5
SO4
CaO
MgO
Na2O
C3S
C2S
C3A
C4AF
K2O
L.O.I.

19.64
5.48
2.38

62.44
2.48

52.34
16.83
10.50
7.24

2.05

5153
4244
<2.2

<3.0

<0.2
<0.5
<0.2
<0.1
<0.1

<0.4
<0.5

40.30
8.40
0.50

38.71
11.06

0.37
0.65

>85

<5

<10

<5
<5

52
23
11

activity mixtures and natural sand was used for all other mixtures. The natural and
silica sand each had a specic gravity of 2.70 and water absorption of 1%. Natural
crushed stone with a 10 mm maximum size having specic gravity and the absorp-

tion of 2.6 of 1% respectively was used in SCC mixtures. The MK used was delivered
from the Eastern United States by Advanced Cement Technologies, conforming to
ASTM Class N [9]. The SG, and SF used in this investigation were similar to ASTM
Type I. A high range water reducer admixture (HRWRA), similar to ASTM Type F
[10], was applied to control the ow-table slump in the mortar samples and to obtain a constant slump ow of 650 50 mm in SCC samples. The specic gravity, volatile weight, and pH of the HRWRA were 1.2, 62%, and 9.5, respectively.
The grain size for the eleven SB samples chosen in the rst stage of part 1 was
kept constant at 75 lm. In addition, all these samples had a constant specic gravity
of 2.7. The chemical properties of the 11 SB samples and the other tested SCMs as
well as cement can be seen in Tables 1 and 3. All chosen SB samples had similar
physical properties except the particle sizes (<75, <45, <30, and <20 lm). Table 2
presents the physical properties of cement and the used SCMs as well as sample
# 6.
2.2. Mixtures design and tests procedure
Part 1: Testing the strength and durability of mortar samples containing SB
The pozzolanic activity test was implemented as per CSA A3004-E1 standard.
The mixture proportions for all tested samples in this test are shown in Table 4.
The alkali-silica reactivity test was performed as specied in the CSA standards,
CSA A23.2-25A. The mixture proportions for the nine different mortar mixtures,
including control, four selected SB samples and four other SCMs samples, are
shown in Table 5. In sulfate resistance test, the change of length of six mortar bars
was monitored as specied in CSA standard, CSA 3004-C8. The mixture proportions
for the nine different mortar mixtures, including control, four selected SB samples,
and four other SCMs samples, are shown in Table 6.

Table 4
Mixture proportions for the pozzolanic activity test mixtures in stage 1.
Sample

W/B

Hydrated lime (gm)

HRWRA (mL)

Flow (mm)

Silica sand (gm)

SCM (gm)

Water (mL)

I501
I548
I553
I581
I582
I601
I625
I644
I656
I657
SB #
SB #
SB #
SB #
FA
MK
SG
SF

0.585
0.590
0.570
0.585
0.575
0.570
0.600
0.570
0.590
0.585
0.600
0.580
0.590
0.590
0.650
0.800
0.600
0.800

53.51
53.51
53.51
53.51
53.51
53.51
53.51
53.51
53.51
53.51
53.24
53.79
53.51
53.51
53.96
48.99
52.42
50.46

1.50
3.80

4.40

214
206
207
211
214
210
209
210
205
206
205
207
210
212
209
205
210
205

481.59
481.59
481.59
481.59
481.59
481.59
481.59
481.59
481.59
481.59
479.13
484.07
481.59
481.59
485.68
440.89
471.80
454.11

138.72
138.72
138.72
138.72
138.72
138.72
138.72
138.72
138.72
138.72
138.01
139.43
138.72
138.72
117.10
120.41
145.46
109.97

113.42
113.42
113.42
113.42
113.42
113.42
113.42
113.42
113.42
113.42
114.75
112.07
113.42
113.42
111.19
135.52
118.73
128.34

6 <20 lm
6 <30 lm
6 <45 lm
6 <75 lm

Table 5
Mixture proportions for the alkali-silica reactivity test mixtures in stage 2.
Sample

W/B

Replacement level %

Cement (gm)

Graded sand (gm)

SCM (gm)

Water (mL)

Control
FA
MK
SG
SF
SB # 6 < 20 lm
SB # 6 < 30 lm
SB # 6 < 45 lm
SB # 6 < 75 lm

0.44
0.44
0.44
0.44
0.44
0.44
0.44
0.44
0.44

30
20
30
8
10
10
10
10

97.81
66.92
77.55
68.11
89.44
87.74
87.74
87.74
87.74

266.63
260.60
264.24
265.23
265.02
265.76
265.76
265.76
265.76

39.97
23.86
31.81
10.79
11.37
11.37
11.37
11.37

135.56
132.50
134.35
134.85
134.75
135.12
135.12
135.12
135.12

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A.A.A Hassan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 51 (2014) 321328

Table 6
Mixture proportions for the sulfate resistance test mixtures in stage 2.
Sample

W/B

Repl. Level%

Cement (gm)

HRWRA (mL)

Flow table (mm)

Graded sand (gm)

SCM (gm)

Water (mL)

Control
FA
MK
SG
SF
SB # 6 < 20 lm
SB # 6 < 30 lm
SB # 6 < 45 lm
SB # 6 < 75 lm

0.49
0.46
0.49
0.46
0.49
0.47
0.49
0.49
0.45

30
20
30
8
10
10
10
10

1100
750
870
880
1000
1000
1000
1000
1000

5.00

4.00

2.50

215
205
208
208
205
211
209
205
207

3020
2960
3000
3010
3000
3010
3010
3010
3010

320
220
220
90
100
100
100
100

530
500
530
500
530
520
530
530
500

Table 7
Mixture proportions for the 5 SCC mixtures.

Concrete type

Cement (kg/m3)

SCM type

SCM (kg/m3)

CAa (kg/m3)

FAa (kg/m3)

Water (L/m3)

HRWRA (L/m3)

Control
MK20
SB10
SG30
SF8

450
360
405
315
414

MK
SB
Slag
SF

0
90.0
45.0
135.0
36.0

833.9
825.9
829.9
821.8
830.7

926.6
917.6
922.1
913.1
923.0

180
180
180
180
180

1.69
4.92
1.54
1.39
2.92

Coarse (CA) and ne (FA) aggregates, respectively.

Part 2: Testing the fresh and mechanical properties of concrete samples containing SB.
A total of 5 SCC mixtures were tested in this investigation. Cement replacement
levels of 8%, 30%, and 20% were chosen for each of SF, SG, and MK, respectively. The
choice of these percentages was based on optimal values obtained from previous
work carried out with these SCMs [11,12]. The 10% replacement for SB was chosen
based on a preliminary investigation to determine the optimum percentage of SB in
terms of compressive strength. All mixtures contained a total binder content of
450 kg/m3, coarse-to-ne aggregate (C/F) ratio of 0.9, and a water-to-binder ratio
of 0.4 to obtain successful SCC mixtures. The amount of HRWRA was varied in each
mixture to obtain a slump ow diameter of 650 50 mm. The slump ow diameter
was used to evaluate the deformability and owability of fresh SCC [13]. The slump
ow time to reach a diameter of 500 mm (T500) was accurately determined for all
tested SCC mixtures. J-ring ow diameter was measured for all tested mixtures to
evaluate the passing ability of SCC [14]. The air content of the fresh SCC mixtures
was measured by following a procedure given in ASTM C231 [15]. The mixture proportions of all tested mixtures are shown in Table 7 and their fresh properties are
presented in Table 12.
In addition to measuring the fresh properties of the tested SCC mixtures, the
strength development was determined at 1, 3, 7 and 28 days. The splitting tensile
strength was measured using cylinder samples according to ASTM C496-96 [16].
The exural strength of prism samples was also measured for all SCC mixtures as
per ASTM C78-00 [17]. All mixtures are designated according to the type of SCM
replacement (SB, FA, MK, SG, and SF) and the percentage of cement replacement
(8, 10, 20, and 30). For example, a mixture with a 10% MK replacement would be
designated as MK10.

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Pozzolanic activity index
The results of the pozzolanic activity test are shown in Table 8.
From this table, it can be seen that sample # 6 produced the highest compressive strength after 7 days compared to any tested sample. This relatively high compressive strength could be attributed
to the high silica (SiO2) and alumina (Al2O3) contents in sample
# 6 compared to the other SB samples. This sample may be dened

as an alumino-siliceous material which chemically reacted with

calcium hydroxide resulting in formation of increased cementing
compounds [13]. The other SB samples that were chosen based
on the chemical composition fared poorly when compared to sample # 6, with some samples having strength less than 1 MPa. These
unacceptable strengths may also be resulted from having samples
with coarser grain size than that of sample # 6 (>75 lm). The results also showed that all SB samples had very low strength compared to any other SCMs.
According to the CSA standards, the successful samples should
reach a minimum of 5.5 MPa after 7 days. As seen from the table,
none of the tested samples passed the minimum compressive
strength. However, only sample # 6 was selected for further investigations which involved burning, grinding, or mixing SB with calcite (as an accelerator) in order to improve its strength.
After testing the pozzolanic activity index of the different SB
types, sample # 6 was chosen to be burned at 500, 700, and
900 C to study the effect of burning on the 7-days compressive
strength of the pozzolanic activity index test. It was observed that
burning SB samples reduced the compressive strength compared to
that obtained without burning (Table 9). All temperatures produced almost similar 7-days compressive strengths; therefore,
the difference in the burning temperature was not a signicant factor in improving the mixture strength. However, increasing the
burning temperature from 500 C to 900 C showed to slightly increase the 7-days compressive strength (12%). This slight improvement in the strength may be attributed the effect of higher
temperatures in the break of the crystal structure thus producing
amorphous silica and alumina in a reactive form and of high surface area [18].
Further testing of sample # 6 involved grinding the sample
down to various sizes including 45, 30 and 20 lm. The results from
this investigation are shown in Table 10. It can be seen that the
grinding process increased the compressive strength of sample #

Table 8
Results of the pozzolanic activity tests for rst stage part 1.
SB sample

#6

I501

I548

I553

I581

I582

I601

I625

I644

I656

I657

FA

MK

SG

SF

7-days strength (MPa)

28-days strength (MPa)

1.95
2.04

1.17
1.19

0.38
0.43

0.41
0.48

1.03
1.12

0.59
0.63

0.5
0.75

0.23
0.31

0.37
0.49

1.25
1.29

1.11
1.16

4.82
4.93

14.50
17.00

9.93
10.65

12.93
13.10

A.A.A Hassan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 51 (2014) 321328

Table 9
Results of the pozzolanic activity for silica-breccia (SB # 6) burned at varying
temperatures.
Burning
temperature

W/B

Flow table
(mm)

7-days compressive
strength (MPa)

500 C
700 C
900 C

0.60
0.58
0.59

206
208
206

0.99
0.87
1.11

Table 10
Results of the pozzolanic activity for 20, 30, and 45 lm SB (sample # 6).
Sample
SB
SB
SB
SB
SB
SB

#
#
#
#
#
#

6 < 20 lm
6 < 30 lm
6 < 45 lm
6 < 20 lm + 10% Calcite
6 < 30 lm + 10% Calcite
6 < 45 lm + 10% Calcite

W/B

Flow table
(mm)

7-Days compressive
strength (MPa)

0.60
0.58
0.59
0.60
0.59
0.58

206
207
210
205
215
214

6.83
2.54
2.38
5.59
1.97
1.03

3.2. Alkali-silica reactivity

Table 11 shows the rate of expansion resulted from the alkali-silica reactivity test for the nine tested mixtures at different intervals
up to 14 days. A maximum expansion of 0.1% at 14 days is allowed
for the sample to be qualied as an alternative supplementary
cementing material, as per CSA A3004-E1. It is clear from the table
that all SB samples exhibited expansions higher than 0.1%.
Meanwhile, SB <30 lm sample had an expansion smaller than
the control sample. In addition, SF and SG samples had higher
expansions than FA and MK. The relatively high expansion in all
tested samples could be related to the type of sand used in this
investigation (silica sand). The control of alkali-silica expansions
is greatly affected by the chemical composition of the SCM [19].
Table 11
Expansion rates for mortar samples tested for alkali-silica reactivity test in stage 2.
Sample

Expansion
rate % (2-days)

Expansion
rate % (7-days)

Expansion
rate % (14-days)

Control
FA
MK
SG
SF
SB # 6 <20 lm
SB # 6 <30 lm
SB # 6 <45 lm
SB # 6 <75 lm

0.083
0.065
0.078
0.078
0.080
0.076
0.059
0.080
0.087

0.113
0.094
0.078
0.105
0.109
0.098
0.088
0.123
0.119

0.156
0.099
0.093
0.149
0.134
0.106
0.155
0.192
0.167

Control
MK20
SB10
SG30
SF8

Diameter, mm

T500, s

630
665
660
635
665

2.18
4.46
3.08
3.31
3.03

The effect of chemical composition of SCMs is a signicant factor affecting its sulfate resistance performance. Two common
forms of sulfate attack including the ettringite and thaumasite
can be warranted based on concrete exposures. The ettringite form
(C3A3CaSO431H2O) can be resulted from the reaction of calcium,
sodium and/or magnesium sulfates with C3A, hydrated aluminates,
or monosulfate (C3ACaSO412H2O). On the other hand, thaumasite
can be dened as a calciumsilicatesulfatecarbonate hydrate
(CaSiO3CaCO3CaSO415H2O) which is the outcome of the reaction
between calciumsilicate hydrates (CSH) with sulfates in the
presence of carbonate ions. Eventually, these two types of sulfate
attack will yield expansion and cracking of mortar and concrete
[20].
The change of length of the mortar bars in the sulfate resistance
test was periodically reported and the rate of expansion was calculated for all tested samples as seen in Fig. 1. The graph shows that
all mortars followed a similar trend of expansions and the differences between the expansions of all samples were not signicant
until a period of 15-weeks. Afterwards, signicant differences
between samples can be noticed after the 15-weeks period up to
8-months. It is clear from the graph that the 20% MK mortar exhibited the minimum expansions after 8 months. The rates of expansion after 8 months of all SB samples showed to be higher than that
of other SCMs, as expected. These high expansions of SB samples
were warranted owing to its high contents of alumina, carbonate
ions, and C3A which are not present in the other tested SCMs. As
seen from the gure, MK had the minimum expansion at 8-months
followed by SF, SG, FA, SB <20 lm, control, and other SB samples. It
can also be seen that the minimum expansion among all SB
samples was that of SB <20 lm, which had an expansion less than
the control mortar. However, the difference between the expansions of SB samples was not signicant. It can be concluded that
all mortar samples are acceptable in terms of maximum expansions after 8 months as all expansions were below 0.1%, as per
CSA A3004-E1.
3.4. Fresh properties of SCC mixtures

Table 12
Fresh properties results for the tested SCC mixtures.
Slump ow

These relatively high expansions of SB samples may be attributed

to its low calcium and alkali content and high silica content. It
should be mentioned that the expansion results for SB samples
were previously expected because of its natural silica content.
However, different replacement levels of SB in the concrete mixture may alter the expansion rates. On the other hand, all other
SCMs (FA, MK, SF, and SG) had lower expansions than the control
sample. The relatively lower expansions of SG and SF were resulted
from the high contents of CaO and SiO2 in SG and SF, respectively.
Moreover, the minimum expansions obtained from FA and MK was
owing to their high alumina and silica content as well as the relatively low content of CaO [19]. The optimum behavior in terms of
expansions and overall durability was obtained by using MK with
20% replacement of cement.
3.3. Sulfate resistance

6 from 1.95 MPa to 6.83 MPa as the particle size reduced from 75
to 20 lm, respectively. In addition, mixing 10% calcite with SB
showed to decrease the compressive strength of all ground samples (Table 10).

Concrete
type

325

J-ring ow
Diameter, mm

Slump ow
J-ring ow

Air%

545
633
635
587
617

85
32
20
48
48

2.00
0.95
1.30
1.75
0.80

Since mixtures with higher viscosity take longer time to reach

500 mm diameter in the slump ow test (and vice versa), the
T500 of the slump ow in this investigation were used to evaluate
the mixture viscosity [21]. Table 12 shows that SB mixture had a
comparable T500 to that of SF mixture and both were relatively
higher that the control mixture and lower than the MK mixture
which indicated a relatively high viscosity [22]. This result indicated that SB can be used to obtain a normal viscosity SCC mixture.
It should be noted that the paste in SCC mixtures with low viscosity may not be able to hold the coarse aggregate in place which
may result in segregation and weak passing ability of the mixture.

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A.A.A Hassan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 51 (2014) 321328

0.0450

Expansion Rate %

0.0400
0.0350

Control

0.0300

SB <75 m

0.0250

SB <45 m
SB <30 m

0.0200

SB <20 m
0.0150

SF

0.0100

SG

0.0050

MK
FA

0.0000

Fig. 1. Rate of expansions of mortars for sulfate resistance test.

In the meantime, SCC mixtures with very high viscosity may not be
able ow and ll the form work in a sufcient time. Therefore, SCC
mixture should have a moderate viscosity to achieve the balance
between susceptible segregation mixture and slow ow mixture.
Table 12 also indicated that SB mixture had the smallest difference between the slump ow and J-ring which indicate to the best
passing ability among all tested mixtures. In general, all SCC mixtures showed an improvement in the passing ability compared to
the control mixture. These results are similar to what other
researchers have found that adding SCM to SCC increases the passing ability of the mixture [23].
Since no air entrainment was added in any of the tested mixtures, the percentage of air measured in this investigation is representing the trapped air only. No signicant difference was noted
between SB and the other SCMs in term of the percentage of
trapped air in the mixtures. All mixtures had a normal range (0
3%) of the trapped air. The minimum percentage of trapped air
was noted in SF mixture (0.8%) while the maximum percentage
was seen in SG mixture (0.8%).

3.5. HRWRA demand

Table 7 shows the demand of HRWRA for all tested SCC mixtures. As seen from the table, MK mixture had the highest HRWRA
demand among all tested mixtures. The control mixture required
1.69 L/m3 and the 20% MK replacement required 3 times this
amount or 4.92 L/m3 to produce the target slump ow diameter
(650 50 mm). Regarding the other SCMs tested, both SB and SG
required the lowest demand of HRWRA (with a slight difference
between them) to obtain the target slump ow diameter when
compared to MK and SF.

3.6. Day compressive strength

The 28 day compressive (fc0 ) strength of all tested SCC mixtures
can be seen in Table 13. In general, all SCMs mixtures had higher
28-day compressive strengths compared to the control mixture.
The addition of SB slightly improved the compressive strength of
SCC compared to the control mixture. The control mixture had a
28 day compressive strength of 31.9 MPa and the 10% SB replacement showed a 4.3% increase in that compressive strength. This
slight increase in the compressive strength of SCC mixture can be
ascribed to the increased pozzolanic reaction as a result of SB
replacement. However, SB mixture showed the lowest 28-day
compressive strength compared to all the other SCMs. the results
also showed that MK had the highest 28-day compressive strength
among all tested SCMs.

3.7. Strength development

Fig. 2 shows the compressive strength development of all tested
SCC mixtures. The gure shows that SCC mixture containing SB
replacement had slightly higher 1 and 3 days strength development when compared to the control mixture and mixtures containing other SCM. However, the 7 day strength development of
SCC with SB seems to show comparable results to the control mixture. This result conrms that the addition of SB slightly improve
the early strength gained of SCC mixture. This nding showed to
be similar to that obtained from similar studies on y ash and silica
fume [3]. MK mixture showed similar 1-day, lower 3-day, and
higher 7-day compressive strength development compared to the
control mixture. SF mixture had comparable results to that of MK
mixture for all 1, 3 and 7 days. Slag was observed to have the

Table 13
Compressive strength at various days for the tested SCC mixtures.
Concrete type

Control
MK20
SB10
SG30
SF8

fc0 , (MPa)
1-day

3-days

7-days

28-days

6.7
10.0
7.9
5.5
9.7

18.2
25.5
19.4
15.9
23.1

23.3
38.5
24.7
28.6
35.0

31.9
50.2
33.3
36.6
44.0

FS/fc0 0.5

STS /fc0

ME /10fc0 0.5

0.49
0.59
0.51
0.48
0.49

9.5
8.5
10.0
9.6
9.7

0.42
0.43
0.45
0.43
0.46

A.A.A Hassan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 51 (2014) 321328

0.90

1 Day

3 Day

327

4. Conclusions

7 Day

0.80

This paper tests the feasibility of using different SB types as an

alternative SCM in mortal and concrete. The investigation included
testing the pozzolanic activity index, sodium sulfate attack, and the
alkali-silica reactivity on mortar samples containing SB. On the
other hand the tests on the concrete samples included the fresh
properties of the mixture, compressive strength, FS, ME, and STS
tests. The following conclusions are drawn from the study:

fc' / fc' 28

0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00

Control

MK20

SB10

SG30

SF8

Concrete Type
Fig. 2. Compressive strength development of the tested SCC mixtures.

slowest 1 and 3 day compressive strength development of the 5

SCC mixtures.
3.8. Mechanical properties
In order to analyze and compare the FS, ME, and STS of the different SCC mixtures, each of these strengths was normalized to account for the difference in compressive strength between all
mixtures. Since the FS and ME are proportional to the square root
of the compressive strength, the normalized FS and ME were calculated for each mixture by dividing its FS or ME by the square root of
the mixtures compressive strength. On the other hand, the normalized STS was obtained for each mixture by dividing its STS
strength by the mixtures compressive strength. Fig. 3 shows the
results of the normalized FS, ME, and STS of all SCC mixtures.
The gure indicated a slight improvement of the FS when SB is
used. The normalized FS of SCC containing SB was 0.51, while that
of the control mixture was 0.49. In addition, the normalized FS of
SB mixture was slightly higher than those of SG and SF mixture
while lower than the normalized FS of MK mixture.
The results of the normalized ME for all tested SCC mixtures can
be seen in Fig. 2. No signicant difference was noted between any
of the tested mixtures in term of the normalized ME. However, SB
mixture showed a slight increase in the ME compared to the control mixture. The result of the normalized ME for SB mixture was
0.45 while that of the control mixture was 0.42 (Table 13). Fig. 3
shows that the normalized STS of SCC containing SB was the highest value obtained among all tested mixtures. However, the difference of the normalized STS between SB and each of SG and SF
mixtures was not signicant. The gure also showed that MK mixture had the lowest normalized STS among all mixtures.

FS / f'c0.5

ME*10 / f'c0.5

STS / 10*f'c

1.10

 SB with a particle size <75,<45, and <30 lm showed unacceptable pozzolanic activity regardless of their chemical
composition.
 Burning SB at various temperatures or mixing it with calcite
(as an accelerator) reduced the pozzolanic activity of all
tested samples.
 Grinding SB to a ner particle size (from 75 to 20 lm) greatly
improved the pozzolanic activity and the durability performance of the sample. SB with a particle size <20 lm reached
a 7-days strength of 6.83 MPa under the pozzolanic activity
index test which is considered an acceptable alternative
SCM as per the Canadian Standard Association (CSA).
 SB samples showed higher expansions in alkali-silica reactivity and sulfate resistance tests compared to FA, MK, SG, and
SF. However, SB with a particle size less than 30 lm showed
lower expansion than the control mixture in both alkali-silica reactivity and sulfate resistance tests.
 The mortar with the best strength and durability performance was the one containing 20% MK replacement. However, FA had approximately the same expansions as MK in
both alkali-silica reactivity and sulfate resistance tests.
 The addition SB improved the passing ability (presented by
the difference between the slump ow and J Ring tests) of
SCC mixtures compared to the control SCC mixture and
SCC mixtures containing SF, SG, or MK. In addition, SCC mixtures with SB and SG showed to require the least HRWR
demand among all tested mixtures.
 The addition of SB in SCC mixtures slightly increased the FS,
ME and STS compared to the control mixture. In addition,
SCC mixtures contained SB showed the highest STS among
all tested mixtures.
 It is recommended to grind the SB to a neness of about
2030 lm to obtain acceptable results of the strength and
durability. However, different replacement levels should also
be investigated to optimize the use of SB in mortar and
concrete production.
 It is recommended to investigate the development of SCC
mixtures with higher percentages of SB (higher than 10%).
The reduction of the cost results from the reduction of
cement dosage may offset the slight drop of the mixture
strength at higher percentages of SB.

1.00
0.90
0.80

References

0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
Control

MK20

SB10

SG30

SF8

Concrete Type
Fig. 3. Mechanical properties of the tested SCC mixtures.

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