NRMCA CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY MIDDLE EAST (CTME) PROGRAM STUDENT GUIDE AND NOTES NRMCA ENGINEERING DIVISION SLAG CEMENT WC NRMCA November 2011 © National Ready Mixed Concrete Association 900 Spring Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone 301.587.1400 + Fax 301.585.4219 wonwiarmen ongTable of Contents MANUFACTURE. ‘COMPOSITION AND REACTIVITY. ‘SPECIFICATIONS. MIXTURE PROPORTIONING.. EFFECTS ON FRESH CONCRETE EFFECTS ON HARDENED CONCRETE, ADDITIONAL REFERENCES.. REVIEW QUESTIONS. Learning Objectives 1. Whats slag cement and how is it produced. 2. Specification for slag cement -C 989 3. Effects of slag cement on fresh and hardened concrete properties and applications.NRMCA Coucaers TEChNOLOGY MiDDLE Ext Paoonaw Slag Cement round granulated blast fimace slag or slag cement is a by-product from the ‘manufacture of iron in a blast furnace. Slag from other metal manufacture (copper, steel, ead, ete) are not used as cementitious materials in concrete. Manufacture In the blast furnace iton ote, scrap metal, fuel, and limestone or dolomite (fiuxing stone) are loaded in layers. Liquid (molten) iron collects at the bottom and slag floats on the top of it. The molten slag, at about 1500°C, is periodically removed from the blast-furnace and cooled. Air cooled slag -is discharged on the ground, cooled slowly and used as aggregate for base or in asphalt concrete ‘© Expanded blast-furnace slag is made porous dosing cooling and is used as a lightweight aggregate. © Granulated blast-furnace slag results from rapid cooling of the liquid sg with water. Only granulated slag is useful as a cementitious material. © Quenching (rapid cooling) the slag produces slag granules is done by ‘one of the following: > Dumping the molten slag in water - older process, does not give a uniform product. > Peletizer (ar granulator) - molten slag is cooled with water sprays as it falls over a vibrating feed plate. It then passes over a rotating drum, which throws the slag into the air and cools it. Smaller particles ate rapidly cooled granules while the larger particles are separated and used as lightweight aggregate. > Jet process granulator - the molten slag is hit with large amounts water using of high-pressure jets, which is the most efficient method of granulating but uses large quantities of water. Slag granules look similar to concrete sand. It is de-watered and dried and then ground to a fineness similar to or greater than that of portland cement - 450 to 650 m°/kgNRUCA Concrete TreunoLocy MisoLE East PROGRA Slag Cement Bhine, depending on the Grade. Slag is harder to grind than portland cement. When interground with cement to make blended cement, slag particles may be coarser. The ground product is referred to as slag cement or ground granulated blast furnace slag, ‘hich is a buff colored powder. Slag cement is the accepted terminology because it has latent hydraulic characteristics. Slag is transported by means similar to portland cement and stored in silos at the ready mixed concrete plant. Care should be taken in ‘identifying the product during storage and batching, Slag is typically used av a separately batched cementitious ingredient in concrete. It can also used in concrete as a blended cement (Types IS in ASTM C 595). Composition and Reactivity Composition of slag results from the fluxing stone (limestone or dolomite) and impurities in iron ore. While composition is reported as oxides, such does not exist as oxides in slag. “Typical chemical composition of slag (from ACI 233R) (Chemical Constituents Range of composition, %& by weight Silica SiOz 322-42 Alumina ALO: 716 Calcium oxide G0 3245 ‘Magnesium oxide gO 5-15 Salter 3 07-22 [roa Oxide Fess 01-15 ‘The rapid cooling (granulation) is important to obtain cementitious properties. When the slag is rapidly quenched, it forms a non-crystalline (amorphous) material, called glass. Air-cooled slag, which cools slowly, forms a crystalline material that has no cementitious properties. Slag is not a pozzolanie materia. It has cementitious properties. Slag hydration is activated by alkalis, sulfates, and high temperature. When mixed with portland cement and water, calcium hydroxide and alkalis from portland cement activate slag hydration to form cementitious material (C-S-H) essentially similar to that formed from portland cement hydration, Slag reactivity or cementitious characteristics is increased by: Higher glass content - rapid cooling © Increased fineness © Higher alkali content of the cetnent it is used with ‘* Higher temperature duting easly ages. Shag in concrete improves the system by forming additional cementitious gel — C-S-H. “This results in reducing pore space originally occupied by mixing water which: © Increases strengthNRUCA Concaete Teenuovocy Mipace East Paoonaw Stag Cement * Reduces permeability ‘© Positively influences various durability properties in concrete Specifications ‘The specification for slag, ASTM C 989, addresses 3 Grades of slag based on performance requirements. Grades of slag are defined according to mortar strength of 50:50 slag: portland cement ‘mortars compated to control straight portland cement mortars, called the slag-actvity index (SAD. Slag Activity Index (SAT) = ——Sltenath of slag + cement mortar Strength of control portland cement mortar ASTM C 989 Slag. Activity Index for Slag Grades Gnade _[ T-dayindex [28-day index 30 : 5 100 5 35 120 35 115 ‘The requirements are for tests of 5 consecutive samples. SAI of individual samples can be 5% lower than the values in the table. Higher grades of sag are typically ground to a greater fineness. Mixture Proportioning ‘© Slag content varies from 25 to 50% of the cementitious materials in regular applications. Higher amounts, up to 80%, have been used for reducing heat in thick sections of structural concrete or mass concrete applications and for sulfate resistance. ‘© Slag quantity as a percent of the cementitious materials will depend on required concrete properties and job conditions. ‘Test for concrete strength. Mortar strength may be misleading, Different grades will, perform differently. Performance will vary with the cement used. Shag is typically used as a replacement for cement on weight bass. '* Slag is considered a portion of the cementitious materials when calculating water-cementitious material ratio. © Specific gravity of slg is about 2.90. It occupies more absolute volume than the same mass of portland cement and the amount of sand may have to be reduced to maintain yield (when compared to a straight Portland cement mixture). * Water demand is typically 1 t0 5% lower for similar stump, but may be higher for slag with greater fineness.NRMCA Concnere TeowNoLogy MipoLe East PRoomaw © Retarder and water reducer (including superplasticzes) dosage may be lower compared to similar concrete mixtures not containing slag. Air cntraining dosage is similar but may be need to be increased when slag fineness is higher than portland cement. Effects on Fresh Concrete Water demand - Since slag does not react initially and does not absorb water, the water requirement for a target slump may be less than that for a straight cement mixture, Water requirement may increase with increasing slag fineness. ‘Slump Loss - With 50% slag, rate of stump loss is similar to concrete without slag ‘Ait Entrainment - Airentraining admixture dosage is similar to concrete without slag and is dosed on weight of cement + slag. A higher AEA dosage may be needed with finer slag. rkability and Finishability — is typically improved with slag. At the same water and cementitious material content, a slag concrete will have a higher slump than concrete ‘without slag, Mixtures are cohesive, but not too sticky except with high cement factor mixtures, Slag concrete performs well in pumping situations. Due to increase in fines, the finishing characteristics are improved. Bleeding - With coarser slag, bleeding rate and amount of bleed water may increase, but bleeding is reduced with finer slag Setting sime - Setting time of slag concrete varies with concrete temperature. With concrete temperatures above 30°C, setting time of slag concrete is similar to portland cement concrete. Setting time may be significantly retarded in cold weather. Typical mixtures containing 50% slag in the summer time are reduced to about 35% slag when setting time is critical for job conditions. Accelerating admixtures work with slag concrete. During the winter the user should be informed about delaying finishing operations, joint sawing, and removal of forms. Precautions should be taken to prevent plastic shrinkage cracking. Effects on Hardened Concrete ‘Strength - Strength depends on grade and the amount of slag used. Slag concrete is ‘more sensitive to moisture and temperature curing (or lack of) at early ages. Early age strengths at 1 to 3 days are typically lower than portland cement concrete. Grade 120 shag used at 50% replacement, will have higher later age strengths at 7 to 28 than portland cement concrete. Strength gain continues after 28 days due to continued hydration of slag. Since slag produces a denser paste and improved aggregate bond, flexural strengths are generally higher for slag concrete. Permeability - Significant reduction in permeability is observed for slag concrete and it ‘continues to decrease with age. This improves resistance to deterioration in aggressiveNRMCA Concaete TecuNoLoay Middle Exst PRoonaw environments that results from water and salts entering concrete, such as rebar corrosion, sulfate attack, chemical attack, freezing and thawing, etc. Freezing and Thawing - Properly ait-entrained concrete containing slag with adequate strength will perform well in freezing and thawing exposure. ACI 318 limits the amount of shg to a maximum of 50%, by weight of cementitious material, when concrete will be exposed to deicing salt application due to concerns with scaling. Sulfate Resistance - Sulfate resistance of concrete depends on the Type of portland cement used. Type I] and V are used when sulfate resistance is required. The effective amount of slag to be used depends on the Type of cement with which it is used. With Type II cement, shg proportion will typically exceed 50% for improved sulfate resistance. Guidance is provided in the Appendix of C 989 and in ACI 233R. Alkali-silica reaction - With a potentially reactive aggregate, slag proportions in excess ‘of 25% by weight of cementitious material will reduce the potential for damaging expansion. The effective amount of slag will depend on the alkali content of the portland cement and the type of aggregate “Temperature - Heat of hydeation in mass concrete can be reduced when slag in excess ‘of 70% is used. With lower amounts of slag, the rate of temperature rise may be lower Dut the peak temperature will be similar to concrete without sag. Color A greenish blue color may appear on shg concrete sutfices during the first week. This is related to sulfides in slag. ‘The color fades after exposure to air and sunlight. In general, slag concrete is considerably lighter in color than portland cement concrete. Additional References 4. ACI 233R - Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag as a Cementitious Constituent in Concrete. 2. ACI 234R - Guide for Use of Silica Fume in Concrete. 3. ASTM SIP 169D Significance of Tests and Properties of Concrete and Concrete Making Matetials - Chapter 43. 4, PCA Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures - Chapter 4 8. Pozzolanic and Cementitious Materials, V. M. Malhotra and P. Kumar ‘Mebta, Gordon and Breach Publishers, 1996.NRMCA Concrete TECHHOLOGY MIDDLE ExtT PROGRAM Review Questi 1. Slag cements a byproduct from the manufacture of steel. True or False 2. What is the difference between air cooled slag and granulated slag? What are they used for? 3. What factors influence the reactivity and cementitious properties of slag cement? 4, Describe how ASTM C989 addresses the different slag grades? Slag cement is a hydraulic cementitious material. True or False 6. Tf one cubic meter of concrete contains 150 kg of slag cement, 200 kg of portland cement and 175 kg of mixing water, the w/cm is: a) 0.68 b) 0.86 3) 050 4) None of the above 7. In accordance with ACI 318, if concrete will be exposed to cycles of freezing and thawing and application of deicing salt, the quantity of slag cement should not exceed 25% of the cementitious materials. True ot False. 8. To control temperature rise in mass concrete elements, the quantity of slag should typically exceed about 70% by weight of cementitious materials. True or False. 9. What are some of the technical advantages of using slag in concrete?