Development of Low-Cost, High-Strength Conerete by C.A. Weiss, Jr... Guerrero, T.S. Poole and EF. O'Neil, IT Sunopsis: The US. Army Comps of Engineers is conducting research into evelopment of a family of high-strength concrete (HSC) mixtures that have compressive strengths of at least 100 MPa, and very good durability properties, at # cost that is below that of the optimized high-performance conerets. Paramount in this research isthe development of a concrete mixture with the target strength, and good workability: and that ean be made inthe field with standard components and ‘conventional (Jow-sheat) mixing equipment. HSC mixtures were cast to investigate the influence thatthe type and amount of cement, mineral admixture chemical admixture coarse and fine aggregate had on the compressive strength ofthe material at 7, 28,56, and 90 days after casting. Data are presented usin four cements and varying amounts of Class Cfly ash Class F fly ash, silica fume, and slag in conjunction with fine aggregate, course aggregate of 9.5-mm ‘nominal maximum size, and a high-range water-reducing admixture (HRWRA). ‘Water to cementitious material ratios [w/c#m)] ranged from 0.19 t0 0.29. Ifthe ‘cementitious contribution of the slag or pozzolans is ignored, the water/porland cement ratios (w/c) of these mixtures ranged from 0.27 to 1.35. Two different ‘mixing schemes were used to try to improve the bond between the aggregate and the ‘cement paste. The strongest corelation of 7-day and 28-day strength was with wie [tthe low w/e+m) (between 0.19 and 0.29) used for this study, there was a general wend of increased strengih with decreasing wi(cem) for 7-day and 28-day compressive strengths. Other variables were not found to correlate well with ‘strength, but some details of the experimental procedure might have resulted in larger than expected experimental errr. ‘Keywords: Class C fy ash; Class F fly ash; ground granulated blast furnace slag; high-range water-reducing admixtures; high-strength concretes; high-strength concrees: silica fume ‘s:‘Charles (Chuck) A. Weis, Jr, Ph.D, ACI member. isa geologist in the Concrete & Materials Division, Strctures Laboratory at the USAE Waterways Experiment Station, He is interested in integration of materials science and conerete technology ‘with emphasis on analysis including NMR spectroscopy. XRD, SEM, chemical ‘analysis. and calorimetry. His research ineress include early cement hydration ‘chemistry, concrete durability, and computational studies of cementitious systems. “Evangeline (Bobbilyn) Guerrero is a civil engineer under contract to the Concrete & Materials Division, Structures Laboratory at the USAE Waterways Experiment Staton. She collaborated in the development of Reactive Powder Concrete for use in pressure pipe. ‘Toy 5. Poole, PhD., isa chemist inthe Concrete & Materials Division, Structures Laboratory atthe USAE Waterways Experiment Station, He currently is a member ‘of ASTMC | on cement and C9 on concrete, and current chairman of CO9.94 and CO1.94 on sttistcal methods. His curent research interests include performance of cementitious materials, durability of conerete in aggressive chemical environments, land the early hydration behavior of cemeats and pozzolans.. ‘Edward F, O'Neil, PE, ACI member, i a supervisory research civil engineerin the Concrete & Materials Division, Structures Laboratory atthe USAE Waterways Experiment Staion. He curently is a member of ACI committee 118 on use of ‘computers, ACI committee 440 on Fiber Reinforced Plastic Reinforcement, and ‘ASTM Subcommittee D-20,18 on Plastics. His research interest includes high= performance concrete, fber-einforced plastics, and new technologies. INTRODUCTION ‘The term high-performance concrete (HPC) is usually used to describe concrete with properties such as high compressive strength, high modulus of clastcty, low permeability, and high durability (1-4). High-strength concrete (HSC) ‘with compressive strengths of 2100 MPa is being used in many applications including high-rise buildings (1), offshore platforms (3), walkways, and pressure pipe ) Increasing the strength of concrete made using normal portand-cement is ‘often accomplished through the use of hgh cement contents, addition of silica fume, and low water-cement ratios. The latter requires the use of mineral admixtures such as silica fume, fly ash, or other pezzolanic materials. In panicular the use of silica fume has been found to improve many properties of both fresh and hardened concrete, suchas decreased permeability, long-term strength (2-4 and resistance to acid attack (5-11). The fine panicle size, which produces better particle packing (compared with cement and other pozzolas), as well ase reactivity of the material ‘with caleium hydroxide to form additional C-S-H (calcium silicate hydrate, makes the material a prime ingredient in high-strength concrete. Some negative aspects of ‘using silica fume in large placement ste cost ofthe material and the shrinkage of ayy 28the concrete during hydration. Furthermore. the addition of costly fibers and high ‘cement contents make some of these mixtures unsuitable for use in routine field placements (9-10), “To date, only limited experimentation has been done on use of cheaper ‘materials and very ltl atention has been given to developing high-srength concrete ‘mixtures with cost effectiveness as a basis (12). The research includes use of pporzolanic materials (Ny ash, precipitated silica, zeolites, and clays), other ‘Cementitious materials (ground granulated blast furnace slag), while limiting the use ‘of expensive admixtures. important aspects of this research include using appropriately chosen materials (cement, mineral admixtures, and aggregate), and techniques such as panicle packing theory, use of small-diameter component particles, very low water to cement ratio (Wie) and water to total cementitious material ratio (wcrm)]. and reinforcement by distribute fibers. In addition, imreasing the aggregatepaste bond may provide additional strength to concrete (14) ‘The objectives ofthis research are to develop mixture proportions for high-strength oneretes which will be based on optimization of material properties, guided by ‘minimization of material cost, and to provide guidance onthe desig, production and tse ofthese low-cost, high-strength coneretes. METHODOLOGY Materials ‘The materials used inthis study are given below. Chemical analyses and selected ‘other properties forthe cements and pozzolans are given in Table I. Particle size Aistibutions are given forthe cements and the mineral admixtures in Figs. 1 and 2 ‘Cement: Four cements were used inthis study: wo different Type I cements (labeled Fa, and I-b) (ASTM C 150) a Type UII cement and a Class H (APL ‘Specification 10) oil well cement. Silica fume: ‘The silica forme (ASTM C 1240) used was from Selma, AL, (Class C My ash: The Class C fly ash (ASTM C618) used was from Boyce, LA. (Class F fly ash: The Class F fly ash (ASTM C 618) used was from Siillsboro, GA. Ground granulated blast furnace slag: The material used was a Grade 80 (ASTM C939) from Weinon, WV. ‘Aggregate: Both coarse and fine aggregates were used inthe preparation of teonerele samples. All material conformed to ASTM C 33, The coarse ‘aggregate was a crushed limestone from Calera, Alabama, It had nominal maximum size of 9.5 mm, The Fine aggregate was a manufactured limestone Pete 1996from Calera, Alabama. Admixture: A powdered, sulfonated napthalene formaldehyde-based high-range water reducing admixture (HRWRA) was added to increase the workability of the low we mixtures Mixtures (One batch each of 20 HSC mixtures was mixed to investigate the influence thatthe type and amount of cement, mineral admixture, chemical admixtute, and ‘course and fine aggregate had on the compressive stength ofthe material (Tables 2 and 3). In addition, two diferent mixing schemes were used with selected mixtures: 1) all the materials were added atthe same time, and mixed until the mixture was ‘workable (approximately 10 min) and 2) the coarse aggregate and 25% ofthe water ‘was added to the mixer and mixed for 1 to 2 min, then the cement and mineral admixture were added to wet aggregates and mixed for § min. The rest of the Ingredients were then added and mixing continved until good workability was objained, Property Measurements Slump measurements (ASTM C 143) were collected to ascertain the workability ofthe materi, Air content was also determined according to ASTM C 231, Water to total cemensitious materia ratios (w(c#m)] ranged from 0.19 100.29. ‘Twelve 76 x 152 mm cylinders were cast and cured according to ASTM C 192. The specimens were stripped from the molds 24 x 8 h after casting. Prior testing, all, ‘amples were ground, and examined for planarity. Tree samples were tested a each age of 7, 28, 56, and 90 days after casting to determine the compressive strength (ASTM C39), Surength activity index (SAD) measurements were made on morar mixtures with 20 mass % replacement ofthe cement witha selected mineral admixture (Table 4), These data were obtained 1 assess the pozzolanie activity as a function of time {in accordance with ASTM C 311. There were 2 deviations from the standard ‘method. The w/(ctm) ratio was held constant at 0.484, and the flow of each mixrare ‘was measured. The cubes were cured in lime water until being tested at 7,28, and 56 days RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Properties of Fresh Concrete ‘Measurements of the slump, ar content, and concrete temperature are provided for reference (Table 3). Compressive Strength Proportions for the 20 different mixtures are presented in Table 2 along with thei respective wle and wictm). The mean values for compressive strengths of 3 segsreplicate specimens at 7.28, $6, and 90 days for each mixture are given in Table 3 and shown graphically in Fig. 3. The standard eror of the mean is also indicated with error bars on Fig, 3. Although the mean data show'a general increase in strength with time. it appears that with increasing age (and therefore increasing strength), there isan increased umount of eror among specimens. High and ow measurements among replicate specimens evaluated a the same time show difference of up 0 36% With a standard eror of 13.0 (Figure 4 and Table 3). It does however appear thatthe teror isnt systematic for samples broken athe same age with similar strengths give ‘widely different error values. Jn panticular, for most cases in tis study, the source ‘of error appears tobe restricted 1 a single specimen ofthe three measurements. For texample, the case which gave the largest error resulted from compressive strength values of 73.4, 115.0, and 109.1 MPa for sample 98202 at 90 days age. This widely differen values for cylinders cas, and treated the same is enigmatic. ‘There are many likely sources of error for this type of measurement (13). In our ease low strength values are most likely a result of either sample preparation, defects inthe sample, oF eror inthe testing, Since, all samples were ground and measured for planarity ts "unlikely that sample preparation for compressive strength testing was te source of ceror. Defeets in the sample may be responsible for some ofthe ero. Since ll data ‘were for relatively small 76 152 mm cylinders, use of larger cylinders may remedy this problem, ‘Compressive Strength with w/(ctm) Data for compressive strength at 7 and 28 days after casting asa function of w/(c+m) (in the range of 0.19 10 0.29) are shown in Figs. 5 and 6, respectively. In each of these fig. the data are subdivided according t the diferent cements used ‘o.ascerain if cement type had an influence on the observed compressive strength for these samples. For the 7-day data (Fig. 5) there is a slight, but discemible rend of| increased strength with decreasing wl(ctm). There does not appear to be any relationship between cement type and strength of the concrete. As with the 7-day data, a plot ofthe 28-day compressive srength asa function of w/(c+m) (Fig. 6) indicates that there isa discemible increase in strength with decrease in wi(c#m). ‘Although tee was limited data available there does not appear 1o bea relationship between cement type and resultant concrete strength. Compressive Strength with wie Data for compressive suength at 7 and 28 days after casting as a function of ‘wie (in the range of 0.27 to 1.38) are shown in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively. As in the previous Figs $ and 6, the data are subdivided according to te diferent cements ‘used to ascertain if cement type (in conjunction with we) had an influence on the ‘observed compressive strength for these samples. For the 7-day data (Fig. 7) there isa clear relationship between increased strength with decrease in wie. Plot of the 28-day data indicate the same relationship of increasing strength with decreasing wle (ig. 8). For both ses of data, there does not appear tobe any relationship with cement typeCompressive Strength with Mixing Only 3 ofthe batches were mixed using the alternative mixing scheme, There is not enough data to evaluate whether this mixing will have any effect on the compressive strength of the concrewe, More thin likely if there is an effec. the imerease in srength would probably be minor. and may be smaller than the variation among specimens. ‘Compressive Strength as a Function of Paste-Aggregate Ratio Examination ofthe data in Table 2 shows quite a numberof samples with Similar witc+my), bu diferent amount of cement inthe concrete, Although these data are not plotted, there doesnot appear tobe aay relationship with paste-aggregate ratio for samples in this study. Resolution of the variability inthe strength data may hep resolve whether there is apaste-agaregate ratio effect, ‘Compressive Strength with Cost as » Basis Inherent in the mixtures selected for this study is the fat that not all blast fumace slags or mineral admixtures are equal in cost, Selection of slags or mineral ‘admixtures was predated on this philosophy with increased used of cheaper Class F fly ash, and slag, and minimizing the use of cement and costly silica fume, Funkermore, the use of coarse aggregate helped minimize the amount of ‘cementitious materials needed and mitigate shrinkage, and thereby, precluded the use of costly fibers, ‘As stated previously, the selection of materials for mixtures was based on reduction of costs for production of concrete with 100 MPa at 28 days age. Fortis Feason, most of the mixtures contained Class F fly ash, with an effort to limit the amount of silica fume used. Plot ofthe compressive strength at 28 days versus cost (Sim’) is given in Fig. 9. The data appear to be divided into 2 groups. The group located at higher cos are mixtures made with Class H cement, which is more costly ‘han the Type Hcements othe Type Vl coment, The most inexpensive mixtures, ae {hose mixtures containing slag. Examination ofthe SAI for the pozzolans in this Study Table 4) indicate that although silica fume provides the highest strength gain, Slag also provides an beneficial strength gain. Although few samples were made with slag, i is interesting to note that one ofthe highest 7-day strengths was 81.2 MPe for batch 980221, Because this material appears to increase the compressive strength propenies of he concrete at a lower cost, more mixtures with this material are planned. CONCLUSIONS ‘The following conclusions are made for this study: 1) Vales forthe mean compressive strength fr concrete with wiictmI=0.19 190.29at 7.28, 56, and 90 days show increasing stength ranging from 39 «0 84 MPa for 7 ‘days 10 88 10 108 MPa for 28 days. Test data at 56 and 90 days are incomplete Error in compressive stength measurements may be «problem, 2) There isan increas in compressive strength forall ages with decreasing we and wwiletm). Compressive strength appears to be principally controlled by the wie. ‘There does not appear to be a relationship between the amount of paste and the amount of total aggregate tothe strength ofthe concrete 3) Research into the use of other Finely divided materials (precipitated silica other slags, limestone dust, clays zeolites, et) willbe investigated. Increasing the amount of slag inthe mixture, and decreasing the amount of silica fume may provide the desired strength at 28 days at a much cheaper cas. Information onthe size ofthe pricies will be useful in additional work using particle packing models for ‘maximizing the strength ofthe concrete 44). More research into the use of different mixing schemes 10 increase the bond between paste an aggregate will be altempted. Also more research will be done 10 investigate the relationship between the amount of HRWRA used to get the ‘Workability, and the final strength ofthe concrete ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ‘The authors would lke 1o acknowledge the assistance of Mr. Melvin Sykes, and Ms Judy Tom in this research. This research was supported under the USAE. High: Performance Materials and Systems Program. We appreciate the cooperation of the authorities at the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Staion, and the Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, that permitted us to prepare and resent this paper for publication. REFERENCES | Famy,J.A. and Panazese, W. C., High-Strength Conereie. PCA Engineering Bulletin, 48 pp., 1994, Wei, 8. Ganghua,P.. and Dajun,D., Effect on the Combined Use of Ultra: fine Fly Ash and Silica Fume on Strength of HPC. High Performance Concrete: Design and Materials & Recent Advances in Concrete Technology. Proceedings, Third ACI Inernational Conference, Kuala ‘Lumpur, Malaysia, pp. 299-312, 1997. 3. Hof, GC. and Elimoy. R.. Core Strengths of High-Strength Concrete. High Performance Concrete: "Design and Materials & Recent Advances in Concrete Technology. Proceedings, Third ACI Intemational Conference ‘Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia, pp. 705-731, 1997, Thalygle 199814 Roy Campbell, Personal Communication Chan, S.Y.N. andi X., High-Performance Concrete incorporating zeolite, fy ash. and silica fume. High Performance Concrete: Design and Materials & Recent Advances in Conereie Technology. Proceedings. Third ACI Inernational Conference. Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia, pp. 951-970, 1997 CCheyrezy, M.. Maret, V.. and Froudin, L., Microstructural Anulysis of Reactive Powder Concretes, Cement and Conerete Research, Vol. 25, 7, p. 1491-1500, 1995, Pavlik, V., Conosion of Hardened Cement Paste by Acetic and Nitric Acids Pan. Ik" Influence of the Water/Cement Ratio. Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 26,3, pp. 475-490. 1996, Pavlik. V..and Unéf,S.. The Rate of Corrosion of Hardened Cement Pastes land Mortars with Additive of Silica Fume in Acids, Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 27, 11, pp. 1731-1745, 1997. Richard, P..and Cheyrezy, M., Composition of Reactive Powder Concretes, Cement and Conerete Research. Vol. 25, 7, pp. 1501-1811, 1995. Roux, N,, Andrade, C, and Sanjuan, M. A., Experimental Study of Reactive Powder Coneretes, Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering. Vol. 8,1. pp. 1-6, 1996, “Tori K. and Kawamura, M., Effects of Fly Ash and Silica Fume on the Resistance of Morar to Sulfuric Acid and Sulfate Auack, Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 24,2, pp. 361-370, 1994. Rougeron, P., and Aitein, P-C., Optimization ofthe Composition of a High- Performance Concrete, Cement, Concrete, and Aggregates. Vol. 16.2. pp 115-124, 1994 Richardson, D.N., Review of Variables that Influence Measured Concrete Compressive Strength, Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, Vol 3,2, pp. 95-112, 1991 Pope. A.W. and Jennings, HM. The Influence of Mixing on the Microstructure of the Cement Pasie/Aggregate Interfacial Zone and the Sicength of Morar, Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 27, pp. 6452-6462, 1992, G0Figure Captions Figure |. Panicle size distribution for selected cements used in this research, Figure 2, Particle size distribution for selected materials used in this research, Figure 3. Compressive strength measurements measured at 7,28, $6, and 90 days after casting. Figure 4. Standard error for mean of 3 specimens versus compressive strength for each age Figure 5. Compressive srength of concrete 7 das after casting versus wile+m Figure 6. Compressive strength of concrete 28 days aftr casting versus wi(c+m) Figure 7. Compressive strength of concrete 7 days after casting versus we. Figure 8. Compressive strength of concrete 28 days afte easing versus we Figure 9, Compressive strength at 28 days versus cost perm‘Table 1. Chemical analyses and selected other properties for the cements and pozzolans used. Cement phases calculated according to ASTM C 150, “162‘Table 2. Wdentfication number, cement, and proportions of cement, Class C fly ash, ClussF fly ash, slag, water, fine agaregate (FA), coarse aggregate (CA), high-range water-reducing admixture (HRWRA), wi(c+m), and we for mixtures ‘sed inthis study. lana] Jwicem| maseliveral 28 | o Jo | as | im | mi foe prior] = [ox Jon presse ieet| ee Dos [wm | | o [ref on fou] 7 | om [oa psoas Ease [ os [0 [| [aw] im | ma fio] | ans peezar frne>[ es | o | 0 | w [an | wm | ar irce] «| o2s CD prooa0 foetal wo | o [am [v0 | 0 iw [om] ae] «| om posi Pomeral vis [0 [vo |» |e] we for ]ae | «| om poorer Fine] wo [0 [am] m] of fosfae] « [om foal Pers fieemn| so To [am [me [0 [we ]o fos |e [oan Joss eeaealiver| aso | o fom | | 0 | ws foes] «| o20 Joss oar Sc ne.‘Table 3. Memutication , cement. 7-day, 28-day. S6-day, and 90-day compressive strengths with tandard errors, slump, and air content for mixtures used inthis study. "These mixtures were made wit the modified mixing procedure Cress Sagi Fay [etn [$6007 [FO | samy | aie we] a wm | eum] = [we] | mm | soa [ss7 [a7 a1 P30] seas ete fa [oe iss moa foe 36 aso ae serpy eof spas | oe as [ae ufos 1s [ose [ae free ae [307 P29 eof os fart ae Poss [a3 Poo oo Pas 30 meu pasa [se Pons a mr pas fas aa pa peep wa [|‘Table 4. Sizength Activity Index (SAN) data to assess reactivity (a the 209% replacement level) with cement according to ASTM C311 forthe mineral, admixtures used inthis study, as——Type ut on 1 0 100 1000 ‘Size (um) Figure 1. Particle size distribution for selected cements used in this research. Size (um) Figure 2. Panicle size distribution for selected materials used in this research,szessis Compressive Strength, MPa sees ° 25 60 8 100 Time, days. Figure 3. Compressive strength measurements measured at 7,28, 56, and 90 days after casting. +7-Day Std. Error | o |o26-ay sta. Error | 10 ||#58-Day Sta. Error, 12 E J . 8 . : ire + 8 3 2 Oe 4 +4 cto of ° a tee eee, op ig o 2 4 ato aa Compressive Strength, MPa Figure 4. Standard error for mean of 3 specimens versus compressive strength for each age. 1998 S1673 3 8 ° Compressive Strength, MPa 8 oa So = on . . . 2 [Tipe Coie o -ATypel-a_mType!-b 018 020 022 028 Wateri(Comentitious Materia!) Figure 5. Compressive strength of concrete 7 days after casting versus wic+m), 2223 ° dé 8 Oo . . Compressive Strength, MPa o 88 oType ll OClass H ATypel-a mType!-b 018 0.20 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.30 Water/(Cementitious Material) Figure 6. Compressive strength of concrete 28 days after casting versus wile+m), Prada 1996Compressive Strength, MPa 02 04 06 08 10 12 14 16 Water/Cement Figure 7. Compressive strength of concrete 7 days after casting versus wee. 3 3 > S . . ° ‘OTypelil OClassH a Type | Type Compressive Strength, MPa eo 88 BSB 02 04 06 08 10 12 14 16 Water/Cement Figure 8. Compressive strength of concrete 28 days after casting versus wee. eo4g 1200) | zo ee $ 2 soo | : 2 exo! : g 3 40.0 Type £29), typel-a mtypet-b ° ae 20 40 60 80 100 Cost Sim? Figure 9. Compressive strength at 28 days versus cost per m’