EBT 424 – Construction Materials

Prepared by: Dr. Liew Yun Ming

 1) Strength 2) Durability
• Most important • Resistance of concrete to
property of
hardened deterioration for at least the required
concrete lifetime of structure
• Affected by chemical attack (sulphates,
seawater, acids, alkali-silica reaction),
physical attack (frost and fire) and
corrosion of embedded steels

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 Destructive Test
 Compressive test
 Tensile test
 Flexural test

 Non-Destructive Test
 Rebound hammer test
 Pull out test
 Ultrasonic pulse velocity

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 Short
Video

Cylindrical sample
Cube sample
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Flexural Test is normally done
as a representative for tensile
test. As it is difficult to run
uniaxial tensile on concrete
sample.

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 It is the interface
between cement paste
and aggregate
 Paste close to the
aggregate surface is
substantially different to
that of bulk paste.
 transition or interface
zone is significantly more
porous and therefore
weaker than the rest of
the paste.

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 As load applied, cracking
starts in this zone and
propagate into paste and
form crack path through
concrete
 The ITZ is a region with a
higher w/c, and thus a
higher porosity, than the
bulk paste.
 The wall effect
whereby the cement
grains cannot pack as
efficiently next to the
aggregate surface as
they can in the bulk
paste
 Relative movement of Complete breakdown/failure when the
aggregate and cement
paste causes mix crack sufficiently extensive and
water separation at continuous
interface

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 Strength of cement paste is
dependent on porosity and
thus the water/cement ratio
and degree of hydration.
 At low w/c ratio:
 Workability of concrete
decreases & difficult to
compact
 Porosity/ air content
increases causing reduction
in strength (dashed lines)
 Strength can be moved u
further by more efficient
compaction / improvement
in workability without
increasing w/c ratio.
 high w/c ratio, cause porous
structure and decrease
strength
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 Degree of hydration
increase with age, leading
to strength increment
 3-day strength is 40 – 65%
of 28-day strength
 7-day strength is 60 – 80%
of 28-day strength
 Strength gain continues
after 28 days. Hydration
reaction are never
complete and continue to
gain strength for many
years in presence of
moisture

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 High temperature result in short-term strengths but
lower long-term strengths
 At early age heating-cooling cycle from heat of hydration
effect can lead to lower long-term strength, but the effect
can be reduced/eliminated by incorporation of fly ash or
slag.

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 concrete stored in water
will achieve a higher
strength than if cured in
air for some or all of its
life
 Water is needed for
continuous hydration

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 The aggregate strength itself is
generally significant only in very-
high-strength concrete or with the
relatively weaker lightweight
aggregates.
 Using the same mix proportion:

 crushed aggregates
(angular, rougher surface)
generally produce higher
strength than uncrushed
aggregates (due to increased
mechanical interlocking)
 15-20% stronger than
uncrushed gravels

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 Using the same mix proportion:
 Use of larger maximum aggregate size reduces
strength (overall lower surface area with weak
transition zone)
 Increasing volumetric proportion of aggregates
increase strength (requires higher energy to produce
secondary crack, valid when paste content remains
high enough to fill voids

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 Ability of a material to remain serviceable for at least the
required lifetime of the structure
 Rate of degradation is controlled by
 Rate of moisture, air or other aggressive agents
penetrate the concrete (penetrability)

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 Hardened cement paste and concrete
contain pores of varying types and size
 The transport of medium through
concrete can be considered as flow
through a porous medium
 Rate of flow will not depend simply on
porosity, but also degree of continuity
of the pores and their size
 The term permeability is often used
to describe this general property.

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 Concrete structure will normally remain durable if:
 Cement paste structure is dense and of low workability
 Under exposed conditions, it has entrained air to resist
freeze-thaw cycles
 Made of graded aggregates that are strong and inert
 Ingredients in the mix contain minimum impurities
such as alkalis, chlorides, sulfates and salt

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 2 groups:
 chemical reaction
 Sulphates attack
 Acid attack
 Alkali-silica reaction
 Directly lead to physical effects
 Frost attack (freeze-thaw damage)
 Fire attack

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 Source of sulphates – ground water from
clay soils, fertilizers, industrial effluent
 Usually occur in concrete contact with
ground – foundations, floor slabs,
retaining walls
 Sulphates react with C3A in hardened
paste to form ettringite
 The reaction are expansive, causing
expansive force and disruption
Concrete contacts with
ground water

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 Sodium sulphates
 also form ettringite by reaction with C3A.
 Also react with Ca(OH)2 in the cement paste (similar to acid attack)
 Ca(OH)2 is possibly be leached out
 Magnesium sulphate
 also form ettringite by reaction with C3A.
 Form relatively insoluble and poorly alkaline which reduces the stability
of CSH
 Since CSH gives the strength to concrete, attack by MgSO4 is more
severe
 Attack only occurs when amount of suphate exceed a certain threshold
 Rate of attack increases with increasing sulphate concentration and
reduction of rate occurs above 1% concentration
 Attack will be faster if the sulphate is replenished (flowing groundwater)

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 Concrete attack by sulphate has
whitish appearance
 Usually starts from edge and
corner followed by cracking and
spalling and finally complete
breakdown
Cracking & Spalling
 Sulphates attack reduced by:
 Using sulphate-resisting
Portland cement (low C3A
content)
 Higher cement content &
low w/c ratio, higher quality
concrete is less vulnerable
due to lower permeability

Whitish appearance after sulphates

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attack
 Attack is only considered significant
if the pH of the aggressive medium is
less than about 6
 Example: dilute solutions of CO2 and
SO2 in rain water, CO2 and hydrogen
sulphide-bearing groundwater
 Acid attack calcium hydroxide
converting it into calcium carbonate
and bicarbonate. They are soluble
and leaches out of concrete and
destabilising it.
 Rate of attack increases with
reducing pH.

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 CSH gel can also be attack by
acid
 To reduce acid attack:
 Quality of concrete is
important (low permeability)
 Concretes with additions
(lower Ca(OH)2) has greater
resistance to acid)
 Surface treated with diluted
waterglass (react with
Ca(OH)2 forming calcium
silicates, blocking the pores)
 Separate acid and concrete
(coating of epoxy resin or
suitable paint)

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 Silica (from aggregates) react
with alkaline hydroxide (from
sodium and potassium oxides
in cement)
 The product is a gel that
destroy the bond between
cement paste and aggregate
 The gel will absorbs water and
swells , causing cracking and
disruption of concrete
 Only small proportion of
reactive material in aggregate
(as low as 0.5%) is necessary to
cause disruption

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 Occur firstly at the transition zone of aggregate and
cement paste
 Continued availability of water causes enlargement and
extension of cracks, finally reach outer surface of
concrete, forming ‘pop-outs’ if the affected aggregate is
close to surface

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 To reduce ASR:
 Eliminate water and ensure concrete remains dry throughout
(impractical)
 Avoid use of reactive aggregates
 Testing aggregates for their potential reactivity
 Limit amount of alkali (<0.6%)
 Addition of additives (slag, microsilica, fly ash)

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 When free water in the larger pores within the cement paste freezes,
it expands by about 9%
 If there is insufficient space within the concrete to accommodate
this, disruptive internal pressure happened
 Successive cycles of freezing and thawing can cause progressive and
cumulative damages
 Damage is in the form of cracking and spalling

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 Water in larger capillary pores and entrapped air voids has critical
effect
 Osmosis pressure increase the disruption.
 The magnitude of disruptive pressure depend on the capillary
porosity, degree of saturation of concrete & pressure relief provided
by a nearby free surface or escape boundary (within 0.1mm of
escaped boundary).
 Precautions:
 Reduce w/c ratio
 Proper curing and hydration
 Minimize bleeding (bleeding leads to high porosity)
 Using air-entraining admixtures

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 Concrete is incombustible & does not emit any
toxic fumes when exposed to high temperatures
 It is favorable materials when structural safety is
considered
 It can retain some strength for reasonable time at
high temperatures
 The strength degradation depends on maximum
temperature reached , period of exposure,
concrete’s constituents, moisture content and size
of the sample.

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 3 main degradation:
 Evaporation of water within concrete (100°C)
 High strength concrete with low porosity increase the
spalling and cracking (because water vapour cannot disperse
quickly and induces high pressure inside the pores)
 Differential expansion between cement paste and aggregate
resulting in thermal stress and cracking initiated in the transition
zone (severe strength loss >500°C)
 Breakdown of hydrates in cement paste (approach 1000°C), lead
to total loss of strength

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 To increase fire resistance:
 Inclusion of polypropylene fibres, rapidly melt and provide
pressure-relief channels
 Use of limestone (has coefficient of thermal expansion closer to
cement paste)
 Use of lightweight aggregate concretes (less stiff and hence
thermal stresses are lower, decreasing thermal conductivity
delaying temperature rise in the interior structural member)

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