CE5604- Advanced Concrete Technology

• History and origins

– Greeks: Addition of
naturally occurring
materials from volcanic
origin to hydraulic
limes

– Romans adopted &

extended Greek
technology (e.g.
Parthenon)
 Fiber-Reinforced Concrete
• Ductal
• Five times as strong
as regular concrete
• Eliminate the need for
reinforcing steel bars,
or rebar
• Several pedestrian
bridges around the
world, as well as a
light rail transit station
were built
FACING THE FUTURE. A light-rail
transit station in Calgary, Alberta,
The canopies that form the roof
over the station's platform and Lafarge
the roof's support columns are
made entirely of Ductal.
 Self-Compacting Concrete

• Eliminate vibration
• Reduce noise
• Save manpower
• Suitable for heavily
reinforced
structures

Regular concrete:
irregularities, bug-holes,
and surface defects

SCC concrete: Excellent

surface finish
 Translucent Concrete
• Concrete contains glass optical
fibers. They transmit light from one
side of the material to the other.
• By using fibers of different diameters,
designers can achieve different
illumination effects.
• Applications:
– translucent concrete walls
– floors lit from below.
– One firm in New York has
proposed using the new concrete OPTICAL TRICKS. A
in its design of a police college in translucent concrete material
Kuwait City. Because concrete is contains glass optical fibers
that transmit light through
an excellent insulating material,
the entire length of the block.
the building would protect against
It can bring sunlight through
the desert heat while letting a wall.
through some sunshine. LiTraCon
 Self-Cleaning Concrete
• Scientists at the Italcementi
Group in Bergamo, Italy, have
developed a self-cleaning
concrete that keeps buildings
from turning black from
pollutants in the atmosphere.
• The concrete was made by
addition of photocatalyst TiO2.
• When TiO2 absorbs ultraviolet
light, it becomes highly
reactive and breaks down
pollutants that come into
contact with the concrete
surface. SACRED SURFACES. The
• The reactive material can kill modern church Dives in
bacteria and fungi and also Misericordia located in Rome, is
break down pollutants that made from a self-cleaning
contribute to concrete's concrete.
darkening. G. Basilico/Italcementi
 CE 5604 – Advanced Concrete Technology

Text book: “Concrete” 2nd edition, 2003

by S. Mindess, J. F. Young, & D. Darwin
–Chapter 3 – Portland cement
–Chapter 4 - Hydration of Portland cement
–Chapter 5 – Mineral admixtures and blended cements
–Chapter 8 – Chemical admixtures
–Chapter 9 – Fresh Concrete
–Chapter 10 – Proportioning of concrete mixes
–Chapter 13 – Response of concrete to stress
–Chapter 16 – Time-dependent deformation
–Chapter 18 – Durability
–Chapter 19 – High-strength concrete
–Chapter 20 – Lightweight Concrete
–Chapter 21 – Cement-polymer composites
–Chapter 22 – Fiber-reinforced concrete
 CE 5604 – Advanced Concrete Technology
• Reference books
– “Properties of Concrete,” by Adam Neville, 4th edition,
published by Longman House, 1995.

– “Concrete: Microstructure, Properties, and Materials”, 3rd ed.

by P. K. Mehta & P. J. M. Monteiro, published by McGraw-Hill,
2005.

• Reading materials

• Electronic teaching materials

– “Cement for use in concrete” by M. Thomas & P. Tennis
– “Supplementary cementing materials” by M. Thomas & M. L.
Wilson
 Manufacture of Portland Cement
• Raw materials
– CaO: found in limestone, chalks, shell deposits
– SiO2: iron-bearing aluminosilicates, e.g. clays, silts,
shale and other argillaceous rocks

• Compounds of Al and Fe from siliceous raw

materials
– contribute little to Portland cement as regards to
strength
– can cause durability problem and abnormal setting
– act as fluxing agents, lowering the production
temperature of cement clinker
 Preparation of Materials
• The objective of processing raw materials is to ensure
that the raw feed entering the kiln is of constant
composition and in a thoroughly pulverized and blended
state.
• Wet process
– Raw material is crushed and stockpiled separately
– Blending may take place during fine grinding or after each
material has been ground separately
• Clay can be broken down to finely divided slurry by
mechanical agitation
– Evaporation of water consumes heat, high cost
• Dry process (used in modern cement plants)
– If source of silica is an argillaceous rock, grinding is
required
– Improvements in grinding mills have made the wet process
uneconomic and obsolete
 The burning process
• In cement kiln, partial melting takes place; only about ¼
of the charge is in liquid state at any time, but it is in
this fraction that the necessary chemical reaction
proceeds

• Four processes take place in the kiln

– Evaporation
– Calcination
– Clinkering
– Cooling
 (3) Clinkering
-Final chemical
combination occurs
to form calcium
silicates
-1400 to 1600 oC
-15 to 45 min.

(4) Cooling
-Liquid phase
solidify to produce
hard clinker
-Exit temp 1000-
(1) Evaporation: free water lost 1200 oC
(2) Calcination
– Water from Argillaceous materials lost at ~600 C
– CO2 from limestone lost at ~900 C (CaCO3  CaO + CO2)
– Calcium aluminates and ferrites form at ~1200 C, act as fluxes,
melting at ~1350 C to begin the clinkering zone
• Grinding
– A small amount of gypsum is interground with the
clinker nodules (6-50 mm)
• to control the early reactions of calcium aluminate
• to avoid flash setting
• Economic consideration

• Environment consideration, CO2

 Composition of Portland Cement

• Alite – impure C3S; Belite – impure C2S; Contains Al2O3,

Fe2O3, MgO
• More reactive than pure calcium silicates
 Composition of Portland Cement
• Calculation of phases (Bogue equation)

* C4AF has a different composition from that in Case A.

C2F may also present.
 Minor components
• Some can be of considerable significance with regard
to cement performance
– Unsoundness problem
• MgO
– Slow hydration of crystalline MgO (periclase) may cause
expansion and cracking
– Limit is specified in ASTM standard
• Free lime
– Content is not limited in ASTM standard
– Typically < 0.5%, >1.5% indicates poor control of
burning process
• High gypsum level
– Alkalis (Na2O, K2O)
• Generally does not cause problem except when certain
aggregates are used that can participate alkali-aggregate
reaction
 Hydration of cement
• Hydration - reaction with water
• Reaction products formed – hydration products
Rate of hydration for pure cement compounds

In pastes of pure
compounds

In a Type I ordinary
Portland cement
Compressive strength development

• C3S provides
most of the
early
strength (in
the first 3-4
weeks)

• Both C3S
and C2S
contributes
to ultimate
strength
 Type of Portland Cement (ASTM)
• Type I – ordinary portland cement (OPC)
– most commonly used in construction
• Type II – Modified cement
– Moderate sulphate resistance
– Moderate heat of hydration
• Type III – Rapid hardening portland cement (RHPC)
– Used for obtaining high early strength, cold weather
concreting, precast concrete
• Type IV – Low heat portland cement (LHPC)
– Used for mass concrete, hot weather concreting
• Type V – Sulphate resisting portland cement (SRPC)
– Used in situation where ground water or soil have high
sulphate contents
Types of Portland Cement
Rate of heat evolution measured as temperature rise of
mass concrete stored under adiabatic conditions
Strength of concrete made with different cements

(Concrete Manual, 8th ed. Bureau

of Reclamation, 1975)
Specifications of Portland Cement (ASTM C150)

0.658
 Physical and Performance Tests
• Fineness
– Important as it affects the rate of cement hydration
– Blaine air-permeability method (ASTM C 204): determine
specific surface
• Time of setting:
– refers to continuous stiffening of cement paste, defined as
time since the addition of water to the point at which
cement paste reaches a certain stiffness
• Initial set – indicates that the paste is beginning to
stiffen considerably and can no longer be molded
• Final set – indicates that the cement paste has
hardened to the point at which it can sustain some load
– Methods: ASTM C 191 by Vicat needle or ASTM C 266 by
Gillmore needle
 Physical and Performance Tests
• Unsoundness
– Autoclave expansion test (ASTM C 151)
– Excessive expansion indicates unsoundness (excess
MgO or excess free lime)
• Heat of hydration
– Defined as the amount of heat evolved during setting and
hardening of portland cement at a given temperature
measured in J/g of unhydrated cement
– Heat of solution method (ASTM C 186)
– Limits: Type II and Type IV cements (Table 3-10)
• Compressive strength
– ASTM C 109, 50-mm mortar cubes, sand/cement ratio
2.75/1, w/c=0.485 for all portland cements, w/c=0.460 for
air-entraining portland cement
– Singapore (follow EN 196) 40x40x160 mm prism