XIII Conference on Durability of Building Materials and Components

QUALITY CONTROL OF REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES

FOR DURABILITY
Nganga, G. W.(1), Alexander, M. G.(1) and Beushausen, H. D.(1)
(1)
Concrete Materials and Structures Integrity Research Unit (CoMSIRU), Department of
Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town, South Africa - ngngla001@myuct.ac.za

ABSTRACT
The extensive deterioration of reinforced concrete (RC) structures in the recent past has
raised worldwide concerns. To ensure efficient utilization of resources (sustainable
construction) there is a need to construct durable RC structures. The current quality control
approach of measuring strength of standard specimens such as cylinders or cubes is
inadequate as it is not directly related to durability. Concrete cover quality can be reliably
assessed through the use of a performance-based approach which also allows for flexibility in
selection of materials by the concrete producer on the condition that the required performance
is complied with. The performance-based approach developed and used in South Africa is
based on the durability index (DI) tests. A review of implementation of the specifications in
the production of precast median barriers which were used in a large scale infrastructure
project in Gauteng Province is provided. The material provisions, strength and durability
indicators are considered and discussed. A second study based on determining the effects of
reducing the cement content on the properties of concrete (strength and durability) is also
provided. From the two studies, it is shown that high binder content may result in high
strength which does not necessarily ensure compliance with durability requirements. It is
possible to reduce the cement content, ensuring its efficient use, while still attaining the
required durability and strength properties.
Keywords: Durability; quality control; performance-based approach; sustainable
construction.

1 INTRODUCTION
Concrete is a widely used construction material, its consumption has been described to
be second to that of water [1]. Its popularity can be attributed to various reasons such as: its
versatility, readily available materials, fair cost in comparison to other construction materials,
and durability under most conditions, to name but a few. However, in the recent past, there
have been increasing concerns with the lack of durability of concrete structures, more so the
pervasive corrosion of reinforced concrete (RC) structures resulting in high costs of repair and
rehabilitation [2,3].
Sustainable development using concrete requires the efficient use of resources with
consideration of environmental, economic and social aspects. The production of cement, one
of the main constituents in concrete, has been identified to emit approximately 5% of the
world‘s anthropogenic CO2 emissions which raises environmental concerns [4].
There is a projected increase in population in developing countries e.g. in Asia, South
America and Africa. With this growth, the demand for infrastructure will increase. To ensure
sustainable construction to meet these rising infrastructure requirements there is a need to: a)

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ensure the design and construction of durable structures that will adequately perform over
their service life with acceptable levels of repair and rehabilitation [5] (b) reduce the CO2
emissions that arise from cement production through use of alternative fuels, alternative raw
materials and use of by-products from other industries to produce blended cements [6].

2 SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION AND DURABILITY

Sustainable construction for concrete structures requires that they be durable, and that
cement usage is ‗efficient‘. Consequently, this section will consider durability of RC
structures, contrasting the current ‗prescriptive‘ approach with the use of a performance-based
approach in the design of durable RC structures, and application of this approach to ensure
efficient use of cement in concrete.
2.1 Durability of concrete structures based on the ‘prescriptive’ approach of design
The durability of RC structures is largely dependent on the quality of the concrete
cover, its depth and resistance to penetration of aggressive agents that cause deterioration in a
particular environment. This quality is influenced by the material properties and construction
practices which should ensure proper placing, compaction and curing of concrete [7].
Provisions in design standards e.g. BS EN 206-1 [8] and SANS 10100-2 [9] outline material
requirements (maximum water/cement ratio and minimum cement content), minimum cover
depth and minimum strength for a given environment so as to attain the required durability of
a RC structure. The limitations with this current prescriptive approach in the standards are:
a) The limiting values of maximum water/cement ratio and minimum cement content
are difficult to verify for compliance on structures on site.
b) The material provisions of maximum water/cement ratio and minimum cement
content are based on past empirical studies. These provisions fail to consider
changes in recent cements e.g. their physical properties (increase in surface area due
to fine grinding) and chemical properties (increase in tricalcium silicate (C3S) and
tricalcium aluminate (C3A) content) which results in rapid hydration reactions and
an increase in the rate of strength development. With these new cements the
specified 28 day strength can be attained with a lower cement content resulting in
high water/cement ratios which leads to an increase in penetrability [10].
c) Strength is an inadequate quality control measure as it does not verify the
penetrability of the concrete cover. Strength measurements are done using
cube/cylindrical specimens which are prepared in ideal laboratory conditions with
proper compaction and are mostly water-cured. This measure does not provide
verification on the quality of the cover concrete which is dependent on proper
placing, compaction and curing of the concrete mix on site to ensure the required
resistance to penetration is attained [11,12].

These limitations in the current prescriptive standards have been identified with several
proposals by researchers to shift to a performance-based approach that provides verification
of the concrete cover properties of depth and resistance to penetration.
2.2 Performance-based approach
The performance-based approach is a quantitative design methodology that involves the
use of mathematical models that describe the rate of transport of aggressive agents which
initiate deterioration in a particular environment [13]. The models have been developed for
exposure conditions of, inter alia, carbonation-induced and chloride-induced corrosion. From

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these models, measurable output parameters, geometric properties (cover depth) and material
properties (diffusion coefficient) are determined for a specified service life. Performance
specifications are based on these output parameters and provide a set of clear, achievable,
measurable and enforceable instructions of the functional requirements of hardened concrete
[14]. The required performance is then verified for compliance with the use of performance
test methods which should be reliable, repeatable and accurate [15].
The performance-based approach allows for flexibility in the choice of materials used
and facilitates innovation by the contractor and concrete producer provided that the required
performance is met. This should enable a savings in costs as a concrete producer can use
readily available materials that are inexpensive. It also enables the concrete producer and
contractor to work together in developing a concrete mix that meets the required performance
[14]. The performance-based approach considered in this paper is the South Africa‘s
durability index performance approach.
2.3 Efficient use of cement in concrete
The production of cement is projected to increase so as to meet the increasing
infrastructure needs in developing countries [5]. The CO2 emissions from cement production
would also be expected to increase with such a rise in production. These emissions are
derived from two main sources in the production process: calcination of limestone to produce
calcium oxide, and from fuels which are burnt to provide energy that propels the production
process [16]. To reduce CO2 emissions, cement producers have undertaken several measures
such as: a) modification of the production process making it less energy intensive, b)
reduction in the clinker/cement ratio through the use of supplementary cementitious materials
such as slag and fly ash which are by-products from other industries to produce blended
cements, c) use of alternative fuels such as sewage or industrial sludge, biogas etc. [4, 6, 16].
A further approach that has been used to reduce the CO2 emissions from cement-related
activities is a reduction in the cement content in concrete. Provisions in the design standards
outline minimum cement contents required to attain durability of a RC structure in a given
environment. From studies reported in Wassermann et al. [17] and Dhir et al. [18], it was
observed that the cement content can be reduced from the minimum provided in the standards
without having a negative influence on durability parameters. In some cases the durability
parameters were observed to improve with a lower cement content.
The replacement of cement in concrete with supplementary cementitious materials has
also been undertaken in several studies in binary, ternary or quaternary mixes. For example
Bilodeau and Malhotra [19] explored the use of high volume fly ash concrete where the
cement content was reduced by as much as 50%. The main limitation identified with such
mixes is the slow development of strength which has been addressed through the use of fine
materials that react rapidly such as limestone powders or silica fume [20, 21].
From a recent study reported in Fennis et al. [22, 23] , the compaction interaction
packing model (CIPM) was used in the design of a defined-performance ecological concrete.
The particle packing density of a mixture was determined and applied in a cyclic design
process where a cement spacing factor (CSF) was determined which is related to strength. If
the strength obtained was higher than that required, the cement content was reduced and the
cyclic design process repeated until the required strength value was obtained. From
experimental studies undertaken, the cement content was reduced from the minimum
specified in the standards of 260 kg/m3 to 110 kg/m3 with addition of fly ash and quartz
powders in the low cement concrete mixes. This concrete complied with the required strength

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specified and was found to have higher resistivity in comparison to the reference concrete
with a cement content of 260 kg/m3.
With the use of the performance-based approach, the cement content can be reduced
through addition of supplementary cementitious materials, inert fillers, chemical admixtures
and design approaches such as developed by Fennis et al. [23] to optimize material properties
and obtain the required concrete properties. This ensures the efficient use of cement in
concrete with a corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions.

3 THE DURABILITY INDEX PERFORMANCE-BASED APPROACH:

PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION
The durability index tests developed and used in South Africa provide measures of
permeability (oxygen permeability index, OPI), sorptivity (water sorptivity index, WSI) and
porosity, and chloride conductivity (chloride conductivity index, CCI) of a sample of
concrete. The tests are carried out using cylindrical concrete specimens with a diameter of 70
mm and thickness of 30 mm. The concrete specimens are cored from test panels or from the
actual structure typically 28 days after casting, then oven dried at 50⁰C prior to testing. The
OPI and CCI tests are used in service life design as good correlations have been established
between OPI values and carbonation depth (carbonation-induced corrosion model) and CCI
and diffusion coefficient in Fick‘s second law of diffusion (chloride-induced corrosion
model). Limiting values of the durability index tests (OPI and CCI) that are used in
performance-based specifications have been established using these models with
consideration of environmental conditions, cover depth, material properties and the required
service life [24]. The durability index test that shall be considered further in this paper is the
OPI test which is used together with cover depth measurements in project specifications.
The durability index tests have been implemented in a large scale infrastructure project,
the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The
total expenditure on the project was approximately US$ 2 billion. The entire project was
undertaken over 185 km of the road network which was divided into sub-projects. One of the
sub-projects considered in this paper involved the construction of precast elements that were
used as median barriers on the highways. The material provisions for the median barriers are
summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. Concrete mix provisions for precast elements [25]

Mix constituents Proportion
(kg/m3)
Cement 410
Fly ash 176
Total binder content 586
Water content (l/m3) 220
Aggregate: Dolomite 26 mm 1160
19 mm 394
13 mm 96
Water/binder ratio 0.38

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The limiting values for the project which is located in a carbonation exposure
environment were a mean cover depth value of 40 mm, design strength of 30 MPa and
minimum OPI value of 9.70 (log scale). From Table 1, it is observed that the total binder
content is high at 586 kg/m3 with a high cement content of 410 kg/m3[25]. This cement
content is considerably higher than minimum cement content in the design standards which is
300 kg/m3 [8].
Additional data was obtained from the project, i.e. the strength, OPI and cover depth
values. The average values complied with limit values provided in the specifications with an
average strength of 49.4 MPa and an average OPI value of 10.25 (log scale). A comparison of
the strength and OPI values from the project is provided in Figure 1.
10,80

10,70

10,60

10,50
OPI (log scale)

10,40

10,30

10,20

10,10

10,00

9,90

9,80
30 40 50 60 70 80
Compressive strength (MPa)
Figure 1: Comparison of OPI and strength values for precast elements [25].

It is observed that no relation exists between OPI and compressive strength. A high
strength value does not always result in a corresponding high OPI value (indicating a higher
resistance to penetrability). The strength values measured were considerably high, maximum
obtained of 75 MPa which far exceeded the limit value in the project specifications. The high
binder content resulted in low water/binder ratios that led to high strength values. However,
the specified OPI values could be obtained at lower strength values indicating that the cement
content can be reduced while meeting the required limit values of strength and OPI provided
in the specifications [25].

4 INFLUENCE OF CEMENT CONTENT ON DURABILITY PARAMETERS

The provisions for material properties in the standards specify a minimum cement
content and maximum water/cement ratio to ensure durability of a RC structure in a particular
environment [8, 9]. A study that sought to determine how these provisions in the standards are
interpreted in the South African construction industry is reported in Angelucci [26]. From the
study, it was observed that the provisions for cement content were usually higher than those in
the standards as it was perceived that a high cement content resulted in high strength and a
corresponding increase in resistance to penetrability, which would increase the durability of a
RC structure.

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To determine whether this practice of cement provisions as used by the construction

industry is valid, experimental work was undertaken which aimed at determining the
influence of mix design parameters such as water/cement ratio and cement content on strength
and durability parameters [26]. The variables in the experimental work were cement type
(CEM I 52.5 N, 30% fly ash and 50% slag), the water/cement ratio (0.40, 0.50 and 0.60), four
different cement contents and two curing regimes (water-cured and laboratory-cured
(temperature of 20⁰C and 50% relative humidity) concrete mixes). The concrete mix
properties for a water/cement ratio of 0.40 are considered and are provided in Table 2; the
coarse aggregate content was constant at 1100 kg/m3 with addition of Sika superplasticizer in
some cases to maintain workability.

Table 2. Concrete mix properties for a water/binder ratio of 0.40

Mix design Mixes Mix I Mix II Mix III
parameters CEM I 52.5 N CEM I 52.5 N Fly ash CEM I 52.5 N Slag
Binder content A 388 271 116 194 194
B 420 294 126 210 210
C 455 319 137 228 228
D 488 341 146 244 244
Water content A 155 155 155
B 168 168 168
C 182 182 182
D 195 195 195
Sand A 817 781 803
B 756 718 742
C 691 649 675
D 630 586 613

The tests carried out involved the 7, 28 and 90 day compressive strength, and durability
index tests - oxygen permeability index, water sorptivity index and chloride conductivity
index. From the concrete mix properties summarized in Table 2, the highest cement content
was 488 kg/m3 for Mix I-D while the lowest was 194 kg/m3 for Mix III-A. A comparison of
the effect of cement content on the compressive strength and OPI at 28 days is provided in
Figure 2 for the water/cement ratio of 0.40. The compressive strength obtained was high with
values ranging from 57 to 63 MPa. The OPI values were also considerably high ranging from
9.98 to 10.84, on a log scale. This indicates concrete with a low permeability.

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Strength OPI
64 10,9

10,8
63
10,7
Compressive strength (MPa)

62
10,6

OPI (log scale)

61
10,5

60 10,4

10,3
59
10,2
58
10,1
57
10

56 9,9
150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Cement content (kg/m3)
Figure 2: Comparison of the effect of binder content on compressive strength and OPI for a water/cement ratio of 0.40.

From Figure 2, the lowest compressive strength was obtained at the highest binder
content of 488 kg/m3. This indicates that a high cement content does not always result in high
strength. There is no linear relationship between the OPI value and strength, that is, a high
strength value does not always lead to a high OPI value. The highest OPI value was obtained
at a binder content of 341 kg/m3; an increase of cement content beyond this content led to a
reduction in OPI values. Similar observations on strength and durability parameters were
made in Wassermann et al. [17] and Dhir et al. [18] indicating that the required concrete
properties can be obtained with a lower cement content. Thus, there is justification for
application of the performance-based specifications in construction industry practice since the
provision of high cement content does not always result in the required concrete properties of
strength and durability. This would ensure efficient usage of cement in addition to a reduction
in costs of construction.

5 CONCLUSION
Concrete is without doubt the construction material of choice that will enable the much
needed infrastructure development in developing countries. However, there is a need to
ensure sustainable construction with concrete which will be achieved by design and
construction of durable structures and the efficient use of cement. The current quality control
provision of strength measurement is inadequate and a shift to a performance-based approach
is key to construction of durable structures. The application of this approach in South Africa
has been presented in the two case studies considered. It was observed that strength is not
directly related to durability. There is need for a shift in provisions for cement in the current
South Africa‘s construction industry to lower the cement content. The application of the
durability index performance-based approach will therefore facilitate the construction of
durable RC structures and the efficient use of cement.

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