Improvement on SIFCON Performance by Fiber Orientation

and High-Volume Mineral Admixtures

Halit Yazıcı1; Serdar Aydın2; Hüseyin Yiğiter3; Mert Y. Yardımcı4; and Giray Alptuna5

Abstract: The effects of steel fiber alignment and high-volume mineral admixture replacement 关Class C fly ash 共FA兲 and ground
granulated blast furnace slag 共GGBS兲兴 on the mechanical properties of SIFCON 共Slurry Infiltrated Fiber Concrete兲 have been investigated.
Ordinary portland cement was replaced with 50% 共by weight兲 FA or GGBS in SIFCON slurries, and two different steel fiber alignments
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共random and oriented in one direction兲 were used. Test results showed that FA and GGBS replacement positively affected mechanical
properties 共compressive and flexural strength and fracture energy兲 and fiber alignment is an important factor for superior performance.
Binary combination of improved matrices 共low water/binder ratio and mineral admixture replacement兲 and proper fiber orientation
enhances mechanical performance, particularly flexural properties of SIFCON. Flexural strength and fracture energy of this composite are
138 MPa and 195,815 N/m, respectively. Scanning electron microscope investigations revealed tobermorite-like structures having differ-
ent morphology such as foiled, fibrous, and honeycomb with low Ca/Si ratio after autoclaving. Mercury porosimeter tests showed the
decreasing of total porosity and pore refinement with FA or GGBS.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲MT.1943-5533.0000114
CE Database subject headings: Fiber reinforced materials; Composite materials; Fly ash; Slag; Curing; Admixtures.
Author keywords: Fiber-reinforced composites; Fly ash; Slag; Curing.

Introduction
Slurry infiltrated fiber concrete 共SIFCON兲 can be described as a
special type of steel fiber-reinforced cement composite. These
composites are produced with fiber volume fraction values be-
tween 5 and 30%. In this technology, fibers are preplaced into the
forms. After that, fine aggregate and cement rich flowable slurry
is poured or pumped into the forms. SIFCON has superior me-
chanical properties such as compressive, tensile, shear, and flex-
ural strengths with extraordinary toughness values. Compressive
strains over 10% without severe strength degradation have been
reported in SIFCON specimens 共Naaman et al. 1992兲. Superior
toughness property indicates the potential of using SIFCON in
seismic resistant structures 共Murakami and Zeng 1998; Wood
2000; Homrich and Naaman 1987兲.
There are four main design factors that should be considered in
a SIFCON product. These are slurry strength, fiber volume, fiber
alignment, and type. The modulus of elasticity, tensile strength,
1
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Dokuz Eylül Univ.,
Turkey 共corresponding author兲. E-mail: halit.yazici@deu.edu.tr
2 ration of these mineral admixtures. Furthermore, the strength and
Doctor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Dokuz Eylül Univ., Turkey.
E-mail: serdar.aydin@deu.edu.tr
3
Doctor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Dokuz Eylül Univ., Turkey.
E-mail: huseyin.yigiter@deu.edu.tr
4
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Karaelmas Univ.,
Turkey. E-mail: myyardimci@gmail.com
5
M.Sc., Dept. of Civil Engineering, Dokuz Eylül Univ., Turkey.
E-mail: g_r_y@msn.com
Note. This manuscript was submitted on October 1, 2009; approved
on April 29, 2010; published online on May 6, 2010. Discussion period
open until April 1, 2011; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering, Vol. 22, No. 11, November 1, 2010. ©ASCE, ISSN 0899-
1561/2010/11-1093–1101/$25.00.
and compressive strength of the hardened slurry affect the behav-
ior of the SIFCON composite 共Naaman and Homrich 1989; Lan-
kard 1984兲. The fiber volume depends on the fiber type and the
vibration effort needed for proper compaction. Smaller or shorter
fibers may pack denser than longer fibers and higher fiber vol-
umes can be achieved with careful and sufficient vibration 共Lan-
kard 1984兲. Fiber alignment also greatly affects the behavior of a
SIFCON product. Fibers can be aligned parallel or perpendicular
to the loading direction or can be placed randomly into the mold.
The ultimate strength, residual strength, ductility, and energy ab-
sorption properties are all affected by the fiber alignment 共Naa-
man et al. 1987; Stiel et al. 2004兲.
A statistical approach to optimize the self-compacting silica
fume or limestone powder incorporated SIFCON slurry in terms
of workability, rheology, penetrability, bleeding, and compressive
strength was studied by Sonebi et al. 共2004, 2005兲. They were
found that, limestone powder had a positive effect on the fluidity
and penetrability of the cement slurry to flow through the fiber
mass. However, silica fume had a negative effect on the same
properties of the slurry. On the other hand, compressive strength
values of hardened slurries have been decreased by the incorpo-
ductility of SIFCON tension members were investigated to con-
struct a mechanical model for simulating tensile force-
displacement relationships by Murakami and Zeng 共1998兲. Usage
of SIFCON in the hinge regions of earthquake resistant structures
was studied by Wood 共2000兲. Stress-strain properties of SIFCON
composites in compression and elastic modulus of SIFCON in
tension and compression were studied by Homrich and Naaman
共1987兲 and Naaman et al. 共1992兲, respectively. Naaman and Hom-
rich 共1989兲 also investigated the tensile stress-strain properties of
SIFCON. Performance of SIFCON in the joints of seismic resis-
tant frames was studied by Naaman et al. 共1987兲. The surface
crack pattern of concrete with high content of steel fiber was

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J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 2010.22:1093-1101.

 Table 1. Physical, Chemical, and Mechanical Properties of Cement, Fly Ash, Slag, and Silica Fume
Chemical composition
共%兲
Silica
Cement Fly ash共FA兲 Slag共GGBS兲 fume 共SF兲 Physical properties of cement
SiO2 19.10 47.10 39.60 92.26 Specific gravity 3.13
Al2O3 4.40 20.40 11.50 0.89 Initial setting time 共min兲 110
Fe2O3 3.96 4.20 1.50 1.97 Final setting time 共min兲 166
CaO 61.85 20.40 33.30 0.49 Volume expansion 共mm兲 1.00
MgO 2.05 1.50 7.60 0.96 Specific surface
Na2O 0.27 0.59 — 0.42 Cement 共m2 / kg兲 Blaine 369
K 2O 0.70 1.36 — 1.31 FA 共m2 / kg兲 Blaine 292
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SO3 3.72 2.08 — 0.33 GGBS 共m2 / kg兲 Blaine 410

Cl− 0.0004 0.015 — 0.09 SF 共m2 / kg兲 Nitrogen Ab. 20,000
Loss on ignition 1.82 1.3 — — Compressive strength of cement 共MPa兲
2 days 27.1
7 days 43.3
28 days 56.0
Pozzolanic activity index 共%兲, ASTM C311
FA 共28 days兲 83
GGBS 共28 days兲 80
SF 共28 days兲 115

investigated by Yan et al. 共2002兲. Doğan 共2000兲 has tried to ret-
rofit of nonductile reinforced concrete frames by using SIFCON.
Cement rich flowable slurry is the binder in SIFCON produc-
tion. The usage of very high amounts of cement not only affects
the production costs, but also has negative effects on the heat of
hydration and may cause shrinkage problems. Replacing cement
with mineral admixtures seems to be a feasible solution to over-
come these problems. Furthermore, incorporation of mineral ad-
mixtures may have positive effects on durability of SIFCON
products. Although a large number of projects have been imple-
mented with “high-volume fly ash concrete” using ASTM Class F
fly ash and fiber-reinforced concrete 共Malhotra and Mehta 2002;
Bilodeau et al. 1994兲, there are no detailed researches about the
high volume mineral admixtures in matrix phase of SIFCON. In
this study, mechanical performance of SIFCON produced with
high volume Class C fly ash or ground granulated blast furnace
slag 共GGBS兲 replacement has been investigated. Moreover, the
effect of fiber alignment on the mechanical properties of SIFCON
has also been determined.
Experimental
The physical, chemical and mechanical characteristics of portland
cement 共CEM I 42.5 R兲 used in this study are presented in Table
1. The chemical composition and other properties of fly ash 共FA兲,
GGBS, and silica fume 共SF兲 are also presented in Table 1. Class C
fly ash was obtained from Soma Power Plant, Turkey. Silica fume
and GGBS were obtained from BASF Construction Chemicals
and Karçimsa Cement Factory, respectively. A crushed limestone
sand, limestone powder and quartz powder were used as fine ag-
gregates with maximum sizes of 1 mm, 125 ␮m, and 75 ␮m,
respectively. The specific gravities of limestone sand, limestone
powder and quartz powder were 2.60, 2.60, and 2.65, respec-
tively. A polycarboxylate type superplasticizer 共SP兲 meeting stan-
dard specifications of ASTM C494 Type F was used. The density
and solid content of SP are 1.12 g / cm3 and 39%, respectively. SP
is a product of Sika Construction Chemicals. Furthermore, Draco,
La matassina hooked-end steel fibers were used. Fibers are 30
mm long with the diameter of 0.75 mm. The aspect ratio and
tensile strength of this fiber are 40 and 1,100 MPa, respectively.
The length of the each hook portion of the fiber is 4.5 mm.
Prismatic specimens 共75⫻ 75⫻ 305 mm兲 were used and
notched by saw to determine the flexural strength and fracture
energy. The beam specimens have the same notch depth for all
series equal to 15 mm. Three-point bending test was carried out at
the loading rate of 0.2 mm/min under closed loop control test
procedure for SIFCON composites and loading rate was 0.001
mm/min for hardened slurry specimens 共without fibers兲 under
closed loop control in order to achieve a stable fracture test on the
brittle matrix. In other words, due to the very brittle nature of the
hardened slurry 共no coarse aggregate and no fibers兲, it was only
possible to obtain the postpeak 共softening兲 branch of the hardened
slurry by applying the load at a very slow rate 共sudden rupture in
high loading rate兲. Therefore, the rate of loading was lowered to
0.001 mm/min for slurry. The specimens were loaded from their
midspan and the clear distance between simple supports was 270
mm. Midspan deflection was recorded by an encoder and it was
used as a feedback in closed loop control. The area under the
load-deflection curve up to 15-mm midspan deflection was deter-
mined. Fracture energy was calculated according to Eq. 共1兲. Eq.
共1兲 is based on RILEM TC 50-FMC Technical Committee
共RILEM50-FMC Committee of Fracture Mechanics of Concrete
1985兲
W + mg␦共L⬘/L兲
Gf = 共1兲
Anet
where G f 共N / m兲 = fracture energy; W 共Nm兲 = area under the load-
deflection curve up to 15 mm; m 共kg兲 = weight of the beam; g
共9.81 m / s2兲 = gravity acceleration; ␦ 共m兲 = deflection of the beam;
L and L⬘ 共m兲 = length and span length of the beam; and Anet
共m2兲 = net cross-sectional area of the beam.
Cement was replaced by 50% FA or GGBS. Water/binder ratio

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J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 2010.22:1093-1101.

 was kept constant as 0.39 for three mixtures 共Control, FA50, and Table 2. Slurry Proportions and Rheological Properties of Fresh Slurry
GGBS50兲. On the other hand, water/binder ratio was decreased to Component Control FA50 GGBS50 I-GGBS50
0.26 in one mixture 共I-GGBS50兲 to investigate the effect of min-
Fly ash 共%兲 0 50 0 0
eral admixture replacement and water/binder ratio together. The
Slag 共%兲 0 0 50 50
effect of fiber alignment on the mechanical properties was also
Cement 共kg/ m3兲 800 400 400 400
investigated. Fibers oriented in one direction 共along the length of
Fly ash 共kg/ m3兲 0 400 0 0
the specimens兲 or placed randomly into molds. The fiber place-
Slag 共kg/ m3兲 0 0 400 400
ment and alignment was realized by manually in this study. The
fibers were placed by hand operations. In order to obtain maxi- Silica Fume 共kg/ m3兲 80 80 80 80
mum performance, the maximum fiber volume was determined Water 共kg/ m3兲 339 339 339 231
for each case. These ratios are 25% for oriented placement and 0–1 mm limestone 共kg/ m3兲 397 330 388 489
16% for random placement of the fibers. Also, the homogeneity 0 – 125 ␮m limestone 共kg/ m3兲 397 330 388 342
of the material can be provided by full placement of fibers up to 0 – 75 ␮m quartz 0 0 0 147
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the top level. It was reported that 共Yazıcı et al. 2006兲 when the
fiber content is not sufficient to completely fill the molds, there
may be a lack of fibers at the top layers of the specimens which
affects the strength negatively. Fiber volume was calculated ac-
cording to the volume of the mold for each specimen. At the first
stage, fibers were preplaced into the molds and then flowable
slurry was poured. Due to the high fiber content, vibration was
used in order to achieve complete penetration of the slurry into
the fiber network.
The minislump flow and V-funnel test was used to determine
flowability, viscosity, and filling ability of the slurry. The V-funnel
apparatus used in this study is appropriate to the European Fed-
eration for Specialist Construction Chemicals and Concrete Sys-
tems 共EFNARC兲 Committee suggestions 共orifice dimensions: 30
⫻ 30 mm兲. The miniflow test relatively represents yield stress
and flowability of the slurry. Top diameter, bottom diameter, and
height of minislump flow apparatus used in this study are 70, 100,
and 50 mm, respectively. After the mixing, fresh slurry mixtures
were poured into flow test apparatus without any compacting ef-
fort. Final spread diameter was measured in two perpendicular
directions and the average diameter value was recorded as final
spread in millimeters. V-funnel test was the other test to assess the
viscosity of slurry. Fresh slurry was poured into the funnel with-
out any vibration effort. The time was measured from opening the
gate to when it is possible to see light from the top of the funnel
for the first time. This flow time was regarded as V-funnel time in
seconds 共EFNARC 2002兲.
Prismatic specimens 共75⫻ 75⫻ 150 mm兲 were used to deter-
mine the compressive strength. The mechanical properties of each
series were determined from the average of three specimens. For
each composition, ingredients were mixed in a high velocity 关470
revolutions per minute兴 mixer. Mixture proportions and fresh state
properties are presented in Table 2.
The specimens were kept in the molds for 16 h at room tem-
perature of 20⫾ 2 ° C. After demolding, the specimens were auto-
claved at 210° C and under 2.0 MPa pressure for 8 h. After
completion of the autoclave period, the specimens were kept in
lime saturated water at 20⫾ 2 ° C for 28-day before the mechani-
cal tests. The 28-day strength level under standard curing can be
achieved in about 24 h with autoclave curing 共Neville 1995兲.
Furthermore, previous studies showed that the incorporation of
fine silica is essential to achieve high mechanical properties.
Without fine silica, the rapid formation of different hydration
products under autoclave curing results in a porous and weak
microstructure that leads to lower mechanical performance 共Aldea
et al. 2000; Shi and Hu 2003兲. Therefore, limited amount of SF
and high amount of FA or GGBS were used as a silica source in
the slurry designs of this study.
Superplasticizer 共kg/ m3兲 7.3 6.3 5.2 19.40
Water/cement 0.42 0.85 0.85 0.85
Water/bindera 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.26
Minislump flow 共mm兲 355 375 380 370
V-funnel 共s兲 6.0 11.1 6.1 8.0
a
Binder= cement+ SF+ FA or GGBS.
Results and Discussion
Fresh State Properties
Many trial slurry mixtures were prepared to obtain optimum fresh
properties with respect to fluidity, viscosity, and filling ability.
Sufficient filling ability without bleeding and segregation requires
350–380 mm spread diameter and 6–11 s V-funnel time according
to the trial experiments on the slurry. Therefore, these trial experi-
ments showed that slurry should provide some fresh state proper-
ties. Otherwise, excessive bleeding 共in case of low viscosity兲 or
pore pockets 共in case of high viscosity兲 in the fiber network may
occur and hence, the mechanical properties may reduce dramati-
cally. Required SP dosages of mixtures to obtain these rheological
properties are determined and presented in Table 2. As shown in
Table 2, to obtain similar fluidity and viscosity SP dosages of
mixtures have been decreased by FA or GGBS replacement.
Bleeding and segregation behavior was observed for greater SP
dosages than the values given in Table 2. On the other hand,
lower dosages resulted in insufficient fluidity and/or excessive
viscosity. FA incorporation increased the V-funnel time while
GGBS did not change this behavior. In other words, FA incorpo-
ration resulted in relatively high viscosity. This can be attributed
to increase in cohesiveness with FA. Furthermore, decreasing
water/binder ratio and using quartz powder increased the viscos-
ity of improved GGBS50 mixture 共I-GGBS50兲. In other words,
FA, GGBS, and SP have great effect on fresh state properties of
slurry. It should be mentioned that V-funnel test gives an idea
about viscosity of slurry. In other words, the flow time value
obtained from V-funnel test does not measure the viscosity of the
slurry but is related to rate of flow. Therefore, the slurries show-
ing the higher flow time obtained from V-funnel test can be re-
garded as having relatively high viscosity. Several cement slurries
were also produced and tested for production of self-compacting
SIFCON by Sonebi et al. 共2005兲. This research showed that the
dosage of superplasticizer had the greatest effect on fluidity, co-
hesiveness, and penetrability of cement slurries in the chosen
scale of mix proportions. Furthermore, an increased dosage of
silica fume decreased the spread diameter of the minislump test
and volume of penetrated slurry into the fiber mass in the J-fiber
penetration test.

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J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 2010.22:1093-1101.

 100000 6000 Control, No-fiber
5000
90000 4000
Load, N
3000
80000 2000
1000
70000 0 70000
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
60000
Load, N
Deflection, mm
50000
Oriented
40000
30000
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20000
Random
10000
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Deflection, mm
Fig. 1. Typical load-displacement curves of SIFCON composites and
slurry 共without fiber兲 produced with control mixture
Load-Deflection Relationship, Flexural Strength,
and Fracture Energy
Load-deflection relationships of control mixture with different
fiber alignments and for the case without fibers are presented in
Fig. 1. It can be seen from the Fig. 1 fibers change the behavior of
the material significantly. The maximum deflection of slurry itself
without fibers is below 0.3 mm while SIFCON composites have
still load carrying capacity when the deflection reached to 15 mm.
It was observed that when the fibers oriented to perpendicular to
the loading direction in bending, the peak load increases and the
slope of the descending branch of the curve decreases. The dis-
placement at maximum load is between 2.14 and 2.18 mm for
composites. Besides, area under the load-displacement curve
共toughness兲 increases impressively with the incorporation of fi-
bers. It should be mentioned that multiple cracking was observed
at low and intermediate levels of stress for specimens containing
fibers. Many small cracks progressed up to the maximum load
level. After the peak stress, the failure of SIFCON specimens
proceeded along with a wide and single crack opening.
Fig. 2 shows the load-deflection relationship of FA50 mix-
tures. Sudden load decrements and increments were observed in
descending branch of oriented fiber-reinforced composite. This
behavior is probably related to the length of fibers, gradual pull-
ing out of the fibers, and matrix-fiber bond. This behavior is also
reported in the literature for ultrahigh performance fiber-
reinforced composites 共Maeder et al. 2004兲. Furthermore, flexural
performance increased compared to the control mixtures for es-
pecially SIFCON composites. Under the conditions of high tem-
perature and pressure, the chemistry of hydration products is
substantially altered. C-S-H forms but is converted to a crystalline
product ␣-calcium silicate hydrate 共␣-C2SH兲 which causes an in-
crease in porosity and reduction in strength 共Odler 1997兲. How-
ever, in the presence of silica, ␣-C2SH converts to tobermorite
共C5S6H5兲 on continued heating. Thus, high strength can be ob-
tained. On the other hand, prolonged autoclaving may cause the
formation of other crystalline calcium silicate hydrates with a
strength reduction. It is believed that the complete conversion to
tobermorite is not desirable and that there is an optimum ratio of
amorphous to crystalline material for maximum strength 共Yazıcı
1096 / JOURNAL OF MATERIALS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING © ASCE / NOVEMBER 2010
J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 2010.22:1093-1101.
100000 6000 FA50, No-fiber
5000
90000 4000
Load, N
3000
80000
2000
1000
Oriented
0
60000 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
Load, N
Deflection, mm
50000
40000
Random
30000
20000
10000
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Deflection, mm
Fig. 2. Typical load-displacement curves of SIFCON composites and
slurry 共without fiber兲 produced with FA50 mixture
et al. 2006; Glasser and Hong 2003; Yang et al. 2000兲. However,
with a small addition of silica the cement strength increases and
the pore structure is densified. In addition, if silica fume used as a
silica source, particles fill micro and submicrometer level pores in
paste and limit the particle size of hydrates that known as a space
filling effect 共Maeder et al. 2004兲. Aldea et al. 共2000兲 investigated
the effects of curing conditions on the properties of slag incorpo-
rated concrete without silica and concluded that normal curing
provided higher compressive strength values then autoclave cur-
ing. This study 共Aldea et al. 2000兲 also indicates that when the
mineral admixtures such as FA and/or slag are used under auto-
clave curing, fine silica must also be added into the system to
initiate and progress the above mentioned reactions and to obtain
high mechanical performance. Using the lime also increases the
amount of available reaction products in the system obviously
共Sonebi et al. 2005兲. Test results showed that Class C fly ash also
improved mechanical properties due to the hydration reactions
between cement and fly ash in autoclave curing in this study.
A Figs. 3 and 4 show the load-deflection relationship of speci-
mens with GGBS50 and I-GGBS50 mixtures. It is clear that ma-
trix performance increased the composite performance
considerably. Furthermore, fiber orientation became a more im-
portant factor when the matrix strength is improved. This behav-
ior can be attributed to the improvement in the bond strength
between the fibers and matrix.
The effects of both fiber alignment and matrix phase on flex-
ural strength of composites are presented in Fig. 5. Test results
showed that flexural strength increases significantly with fiber
orientation and also using with mineral admixture. For instance,
flexural strength of hardened control slurry is only 4.4 MPa while
this value reaches up to 47 MPa in case of the random fibers and
55 MPa for oriented case. Furthermore, replacement of cement
with FA or GGBS positively affected the flexural strength. Flex-
ural strength of both FA50 and GGBS50 composites are over 70
MPa for random fibers and over 80 MPa for oriented fibers. De-
creasing the water/binder ratio and replacing the cement with
GGBS increased the composite performance 共I-GGBS50 mix-
ture兲. Note that the flexural strength of I-GGBS50 composites is
138 and 87 MPa for oriented and random fibers, respectively.
 100000 6000 GGBS50, No-fiber 160 No-fiber Oriented Random
4000 137.9
140

Load, N
90000
2000

Flexural strength, MPa

80000 120
0
Oriented 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 100 89.7
70000 84.7 87.2
Deflection, mm 73.1 77.2
80
60000
Load, N

55.0
60 47.0
50000
40
40000 Random
20 8.4
4.4 5.3 5.9
30000
0
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20000 Control FA50 GGBS50 I-GGBS50

10000 Mixtures

0 Fig. 5. Flexural strength of SIFCON composites and hardened slur-

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 ries
Deflection, mm

Fig. 3. Typical load-displacement curves of SIFCON composites and
slurry 共without fiber兲 produced with GGBS50 mixture
These values are considerably higher than control mixtures. This
behavior may be attributed to the stronger interface zone between
binder and fibers which improves the bond strength and reduces
the progress of microcracks which leads to flexural failure. Fur-
thermore, similar flexural performance of GGBS50 can be ob-
tained by using random fibers in I-GGBS50 mixture. This means
that similar performance can be achieved using with less fiber
content in improved matrix.
The effect of fiber orientation and mineral admixtures on frac-
ture energy of SIFCON composites and slurries is shown in Fig.
6. It is clear that, fracture energy of slurry itself is very low
compared to the SIFCON composite. For instance, the fracture
energy of I-GGBS slurry is about only 63 N/m while this value
has reached to 195,815 N/m for oriented fiber placement case. It
is clear that the fiber orientation is very important parameter de-
100000 6000
5000
4000
Load, N
fining the fracture energy level of SIFCON composite. For each
series, the fracture energy of oriented SIFCON composites is con-
siderably higher than that of the random fiber case. In other
words, the oriented fiber placement seems more advantageous in
terms of the fracture energy and flexural strength. Furthermore,
the positive effect of FA or GGBS replacement on fracture energy
is obvious and it can be attributed to improvement in bond
strength between fibers and matrix phase. It should be noted that
the fiber orientation also influenced the fracture energy more than
flexural strength. For instance, fracture energy of I-GGBS speci-
mens containing oriented fibers is 3,107 times greater than the
slurry itself while this ratio is 1,348 times for random fiber case.
Compared to the flexural strength of composites and slurry itself
these ratios are between 9.4–12.8 for random fiber case and 11.5–
15.4 for oriented fiber case according to the different slurry de-
signs.
Compressive Strength
Fig. 7 shows the influence of matrix phase and fiber alignment on
compressive strength of SIFCON. It is obvious that both fiber
I-GGBS50, No-fiber orientation and matrix phase are important parameters for com-
pressive strength of SIFCON. As well as flexural strength and

90000 3000
2000

80000 1000
0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 250000 No-fiber Oriented Random
70000
195815

Deflection, mm
Oriented
60000
200000
Load, N

151262
Fracture Energy, N/m

133320

50000
112503

40000 150000
90624

Random
85035
82055

30000
100000
61223

20000

10000 50000
40

31

27

63

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 0
Deflection, mm Control FA50 GGBS50 I-GGBS50
Mixtures
Fig. 4. Typical load-displacement curves of SIFCON composites and
slurry 共without fiber兲 produced with I-GGBS50 mixture Fig. 6. Fracture energy of SIFCON composites and hardened slurries

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J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 2010.22:1093-1101.


No fiber parallel
200
perpendicular random
180
Compressive strength, MPa
160
140
120
101
98
100
77
76
71
80
65
56
52
60
43
29
29
40
26
20
0
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Control FA50 GGBS50
Mixtures
Fig. 7. Compressive strength of SIFCON composites and hardened
slurries
fracture energy, compressive strength of a SIFCON composite
can also be increased by FA or GGBS replacement even at rela-
tively high replacement level 共50%兲. The Cement content of these
mixtures 共400 kg/ m3兲 is only half of the control mixture
共800 kg/ m3兲. Reducing the cement content by replacing the ce-
ment with mineral admixtures may reduces the negative effects of
high heat of hydration. This study showed that the mechanical
performance of slurry can be improved important even high level
of FA or GGBS replacement and small addition of SF under au-
toclave curing. Test results also showed the importance of matrix
phase of SIFCON. Although cement content was decreased from
800 to 400 kg/ m3 the higher mechanical performance was ob-
tained by FA or GGBS replacement. The water/binder ratios of
mixtures are constant 共0.39兲 while the water/cement ratio in-
creased from 0.42 to the 0.85 in FA and GGBS mixtures. Increas-
ing mechanical performance with increasing W/C ratio showed
that FA or GGBS can be used as a good hydraulic binder in
SIFCON slurry. The mechanical performance of SIFCON can be
improved dramatically by further decrease in water/binder ratio.
And these results showed that water/binder ratio become an im-
portant factor rather than W/C ratio in slurry containing mineral
admixtures. The effect of W/C ratio, sand content, and SF dosage
was also investigated Sonebi et al. 共2005兲. The compressive
strength of different cement slurries at 7 days was influenced, in
order of significance, by W/C ratio, dosage of SF and sand. The
decrease in W/C ratio had five times greater effect than a decrease
in proportion of SF. On the other hand, the increase in proportion
of sand increased the compressive strength. Increasing SF dosage
resulted in a reduction of compressive strength at 7 days. In other
words, from the point of matrix phase the result of this study is in
accordance with the results of Sonebi et al. Contradictory obser-
vation by Sonebi et al. on the effect of SF can be attributed to
7-day curing.
Fiber alignment also affected the compressive strength of SIF-
CON greatly. This behavior is quite different from conventional
fiber-reinforced concrete. In the case of oriented fiber placement,
two different loading types were applied in uniaxial compressive
test; loading parallel to the fibers and perpendicular to the fibers.
Interesting results have been obtained. Contrary to flexural
strength and fracture energy, compressive strength of the oriented
SIFCON composites decreased in some cases 共control and 50%
FA incorporated series兲 compared to the compressive strength of
slurries itself 共without fibers兲. Furthermore, the compressive
1098 / JOURNAL OF MATERIALS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING © ASCE / NOVEMBER 2010
a) Parallel b) Perpendicular c) Random
183
172
143,19
127,71
Fig. 8. Fracture modes in compressive loading according to the fiber
orientation: 共a兲 parallel; 共b兲 perpendicular; and 共c兲 random
I-GGBS50
strength of oriented SIFCON is close to each other in the case of
parallel and perpendicular loading directions to fibers. However,
for I-GGBS50 slurry, the compressive strength of SIFCON com-
posite is considerably higher than the slurry itself. As can be seen
from Figs. 8共a–c兲, different failure types have been observed in
parallel and perpendicular loading cases and for random fibers. It
can be seen from the figure, loading parallel to the fibers causes
separation type failure 关Fig. 8共a兲兴. This behavior may be ex-
plained by the nonrestraint effect of fibers on lateral directions.
Loading perpendicular to the fibers generally caused shear type
failure 关Fig. 8共b兲兴. In this case fibers restraint the lateral deforma-
tion in one direction but there is no restraint effect in other lateral
direction. In other words, fiber orientation caused high level of
anisotropy and hence decreased the compressive strength in some
composites. In random fiber usage, the mixed type of failure
共separation+ shear兲 was observed 关Fig. 8共c兲兴 and random fibers
increased the compressive strength considerably in all compos-
ites. On the other hand, when the matrix performance was im-
proved by mineral admixture replacement, this negative effect
diminished. Compressive strength of the I-GGBS composites is
higher than the slurry itself in all cases.
Microstructure of Hardened Slurries
Microstructure of the selected mixtures has been investigated by
using JEOL JSM 6060 scanning electron microscope 共SEM兲
which is equipped with a secondary detector and energy disper-
sive X-ray analysis system. The samples for SEM analysis were
prepared by taking small pieces from the fractured prismatic
specimens. Fractured specimens were used in secondary electron
imaging 共SE兲 method to determine the microstructure and mor-
phology of the SIFCON slurry. However, polished sections in
BSE mode were also used. The basic principles of BSE imaging
of cementitious microstructures were explained by Scrivener
共2004兲. Fractured small samples were mounted on the SEM stubs
by using carbon paint. After that samples were coated with gold.
The SEM study was carried out by using an accelerating voltage
of 20 kV.
Fig. 9共a兲 shows the SEM micrograph of control mixture in SE
mode. It can be seen from the figure, tobermoritelike structure is
not formed in control mixture. This can be attributed to insuffi-
cient silica in this mixture. This finding is in accordance with
strength test results in which control mixture showed lowest
strength values. On the other hand, tobermoritelike structures
were detected in other mixtures 共FA50, GGBS50, and
I-GGBS50兲. Two examples are presented for FA50 关Fig. 9共b兲兴 and
I-GGBS 关Fig. 9共d兲兴. Fibrous and foiled tobermoritelike structures
with low Ca/Si ratio were determined in some spherical pores of
FA50 slurry 关Fig. 9共b兲兴. The EDX analysis showed that Ca/Si,
J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 2010.22:1093-1101.
 a) Control b) FA50 0.16

0.14

0.12
Control

Volume intruded, cc/g

0.1

0.08
c) FA50 d) I- GGBS50
GGBS50
FA50
0.06

0.04
I-GGBS50
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0.02

0
e) Control f) I-GGBS50 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000
Pore diameter, nm

Angular GGBS grains

Fig. 11. Pore size distribution of hardened slurries
poress

oriented fiber-reinforced composites with FA50 slurry. Fibers can

Fig. 9. SEM micrographs of hardened slurries 关共a兲–共d兲: fractured
surface; 共e兲 and 共f兲: polished surface兲: 共a兲 control; 共b兲 FA50; 共c兲 FA50
days; 共d兲 I-GGBS50; 共e兲 control; and 共f兲 I-GGBS50
S/Ca, and Al/Ca ratios of tobermorite are 1.05, 0.003, and 0.21,
respectively 共average of five measurements兲. Normally, the Ca/Si
ratio of C-S-H varies between 1.5 and 2.0 共Mehta and Monteiro
2006兲. A porous structure of some unreacted spherical FA grains
was also detected in the FA50 slurry matrix 关Fig. 9共c兲兴. Further-
more, spherical pore filled with honeycomb tobermorite-like
structure in I-GGBS slurry can be seen in Fig. 9共d兲. Polished
section of control and I-GGBS can also be seen from the Figs. 9共e
and f兲, respectively. The microstructure of control mixture is very
porous while I-GGBS slurry is nonporous after autoclaving. In
other words, FA or GGBS replacement transformed the ␣-C2SH
structure to tobermorite or jennitelike structures which give high
mechanical properties. Unhydrated cement grains exist in control
slurry 关light gray areas in Fig. 9共e兲兴. Unreacted angular GGBS
grains are also visible in Fig. 9共f兲. Furthermore, microstructures
of composites were also investigated in BSE mode 共Fig. 10兲.
Some micrographs especially from the bond region were given
here. Fig. 10共a兲 shows the matrix phase between two fibers in
be seen as very light areas with high brightness in Fig. 10. Al-
though the fiber content of this composite is rather high 共25%兲 it
can be seen from the Fig. 10 that the very small gap
共⬍100 ␮m兲 between the fibers filled with flowable slurry. The
matrix-fiber bond region of random fiber-reinforced composite
with GGBS50 slurry can also be seen in Fig. 10共b兲. The matrix
phase and interfacial transition zone around the fiber is similar
appearance which indicates the strong bond region as mush as
matrix phase itself.
Fig. 11 presents the pore size distribution of hardened slurries
and Fig. 12 presents the total porosity of the mixtures. Poremaster
60 Quantachrome Corporation instrument was used in this test.
The operation of mercury porosimeters depends on the physical
principle that a nonreactive, nonwetting liquid will not penetrate
fine pores until sufficient pressure is applied to force its entry.
Measurements carried out on small hardened slurry samples
共⬍8 mm兲. As can be seen from the figures, the larger pore size
distribution and high porosity of the control mixture is obvious.
FA or GGBS replacement is very effective to shift the pore size
distribution toward the smaller size and decreasing the total po-
rosity. The mineral admixture replacement and decreasing water/
30
24.3
25
19.5
Total porosity, %

20 17.2

15

10
5.4
5

0
Control FA50 GGBS50 I-GGBS50
Mixtures
Fig. 10. Bond region of fiber-reinforced composites in BSE analysis:
共a兲 oriented fiber FA50 slurry; 共b兲 random fiber GGBS50 slurry Fig. 12. Porosity of hardened slurries

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J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 2010.22:1093-1101.

 a) Control b) FA50

26 10 23 10
0 22
25 CONTROL TGA 0
21
-10
24 20 -10
-20 19
TGA (mg)

TGA (mg)

DTA (µ V)
DTA (µ V)
23 Ca(OH)2 -30 18 FA50 TGA -20

22 CONTROL DTA -40 17 FA50 DTA -30

-50 16
21 15 -40
-60
Ca(CO)3 14
20 -70 -50
13 Ca(CO)3
19 -80 12 -60
0 200 400 600 800 1000 0 200 400 600 800 1000
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Temp. (o C) Temp. (o C)

c) GGBS50 d) I-GGBS50

24 10 26 10

23 0 25 0
I-GBSS50 TGA
GGBS50 TGA -10 -10
22 24
-20 -20

TGA (mg)
TGA (mg)

DTA (µ V)
DTA (µ V)
21 Ca(OH)2 23
-30 I-GBSS50 DTA -30
20 GGBS50 DTA 22
-40 -40
19 21
-50 -50
18 Ca(CO)3 20 Ca(CO)3
-60 -60
17 -70 19 -70
0 200 400 600 800 1000 0 200 400 600 800 1000

Temp. (o C) Temp. (o C)

Fig. 13. DTA-TGA analysis of hardened slurries: 共a兲 control; 共b兲 FA50; 共c兲 GGBS50 days; and 共d兲 I-GGBS50

binder ratio together is much more effective to decrease porosity.
Lowest total porosity and smaller pore size distribution of
I-GGBS can be seen in Figs. 11 and 12. The mechanical perfor-
mance of the SIFCON composites is in accordance with these
results. In other words, FA or GGBS replacement decreased the
porosity and hence leads to higher mechanical performance com-
pared to the control mixture which is more porous. Moreover,
decreasing the water to binder ratio and GGBS incorporation de-
creased the porosity and provided ultrahigh mechanical perfor-
mance.
The results of the differential thermal analysis 共DTA兲-
thermogravimetric analysis 共TGA兲 analysis can also be seen in
Fig. 13. The peak of Ca共OH兲2 in control mixture can be seen at
about 450° C which is less pronounced in the thermograph of the
slurry samples containing FA or GGBS. This finding indicates the
pozzalanic reactions between Ca共OH兲2 and FA or GGBS. The
weight loss around 120° C is attributed to the loss of absorbed
water. On the other hand, the adsorbed water loss is at the tem-
perature ranges of 120– 200° C. Furthermore, the measured
weight loss in the temperature range of 200– 600° C is due to the
loss of chemical bound water of hydrated cement and due to the
decomposition process of the hydraulic cement phases. Decom-
position of the CaCO3 at around 750° C can be attributed to lime-
stone aggregate and limestone powders.
It can be concluded that the results of microstructural investi-
gations are in accordance with those mechanical test results. For
example, control slurry 共without FA or GGBS兲 that revealed the
lowest mechanical performance has the maximum total porosity
in porosimeter test, clear Ca共OH兲2 peak in thermogravimetric
analysis and visible porous microstructure in SEM analysis. How-
ever, decreasing water/binder ratio and high volume GGBS re-
placement in I-GGBS slurry caused maximum mechanical
performance, the minimum total porosity, less pronounced
Ca共OH兲2 peak and dense microstructure in microstructural analy-
sis. Further improvement in SIFCON composite was obtained by
orienting the fibers.
Conclusions
Test results showed that FA replacement with cement resulted an
increase in the viscosity of slurry however GGBS did not change
the viscosity remarkably. On the other hand, it was observed that
the viscosity can be controlled by using proper amount of SP.
Thus, SIFCON slurry having proper flowability and filling ability
properties can be produced with high volume FA or GGBS re-
placement.
Class C fly ash or GGBS replacement improved the mechani-
cal behavior of autoclaved SIFCON slurry and SIFCON compos-
ites remarkably. Test results indicated that FA or GGBS can be
used as a fine silica source for autoclaved specimens. Thus, Class
C FA or GGBS replacement seems to be a feasible solution for
SIFCON production especially under autoclave curing. In other
words, cement content of SIFCON slurry can be reduced 50%
共from 800 to 400 kg/ m3兲.
Test results indicate that fiber alignment is also important fac-
tor for SIFCON. Flexural performance of SIFCON could be im-

1100 / JOURNAL OF MATERIALS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING © ASCE / NOVEMBER 2010

J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 2010.22:1093-1101.

 proved by fiber orientation. The effect of fiber orientation on
fracture energy is considerably higher than flexural strength.
Ultrahigh performance can be achieved with an improvement
in the matrix phase 共low water/binder ratio, GGBS replacement
and autoclave curing兲 and with fiber orientation. Flexural strength
and fracture energy of this composite 共I-GGBS50兲 are 138 MPa
and 195,815 N/m, respectively. The improvement of the fracture
energy with fiber orientation is 3,107 times compared to the hard-
ened slurry itself. This ratio is 15.4 times in flexural strength.
Improvement on the flexural strength and fracture energy are be-
tween the 58 and 138% in I-GGBS matrix compared to the ran-
dom fiber case.
Using an oriented fiber network generally decreased the com-
pressive strength compared to the slurry strength itself probably
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due to the anisotropy. This negative effect diminished when the
matrix phase improved. On the other hand, the compressive
strength of hardened slurry has been improved greatly in the case
of random fibers. However, all composites have great energy ab-
sorption capacity compared to the very brittle nature of hardened
slurry itself under compressive loading. Class C FA or GGBS
replacement has also positive effect on compressive strength.
SEM investigations revealed the very dense microstructure of
GGBS or FA incorporated slurry. Furthermore, tobermoritelike
structures having different morphology such as foiled, fibrous,
and honeycomb with low Ca/Si ratio were observed in the spheri-
cal pores. Mercury porosimeter tests showed the decreasing of
total porosity and pore refinement with FA or GGBS. TGA/DTA
analysis also revealed the FA or GGBS reacted with Ca共OH兲2.
Acknowledgments
This study is a part of the project supported by the Scientific and
Technological Research Council of Turkey 共TÜBİTAK, Project
No: 106M283兲. The writers gratefully acknowledge TÜBİTAK.
In addition, the writers acknowledge Mr. Osman TEZEL from
BASF, Mr. Okan TOĞRUL from Draco, Mr. Hakan ŞENVARD-
ARLI from Karçimsa, and Mrs. Nagehan HALDENBİLEN from
Modern Beton for their material support.
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