Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 115–125

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Construction and Building Materials

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Fresh and hardened properties of self consolidating Portland limestone

cement mortars: Effect of high volume limestone powder replaced by
cement
Serhat Demirhan a,⇑, Kazim Turk b, Kubra Ulugerger c
a
Batman University, Engineering Faculty, Department of Civil Engineering, Batman, Turkey
b
Inonu University, Engineering Faculty, Department of Civil Engineering, Malatya, Turkey
c
Harran University, Engineering Faculty, Department of Civil Engineering, Sanliurfa, Turkey

h i g h l i g h t s

Fresh and hardened properties of self-consolidating Portland limestone cement mortars are considered.

High volume limestone powder is replaced by cement up to 35% (by weight).

15% of LSP as a replacement is the most crucial beyond which performance properties are affected at different rates.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The main purpose of this experimental study is to elucidate the performance of self-compacting mortars
Received 23 July 2018 (SCMs) composed of high volume limestone powder (LSP). In accordance with this purpose, four different
Received in revised form 12 November 2018 SCMs at which limestone content varied as 0%, 15%, 25% and 35% were designed and later on fresh, hard-
Accepted 14 November 2018
ened and durability properties of the mixtures were investigated for different curing ages depending on
Available online 21 November 2018
the testing method. Compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, rheological properties, mini-slump
cone, carbonation, UPV and capillary water absorption were investigated in terms of fresh and hardened
Keywords:
performance properties. In term of fresh properties, test results showed that there was a clear increase in
Portland limestone cement
Limestone powder
the yield stress up to LSP content of 15% and beyond this level there was a tendency of reduction of the
Rheology yield stress with the increase of limestone addition and also slumps values increased and pointed out a
Yield stress satisfactory fresh property in accordance with the increase in the replacement level of LSP. For mechan-
Fresh properties ical properties, there was a steady decrease in the compressive strength values with the increase in LSP
Compressive strength content while the addition of LSP in SCMs more than 15% did not improve splitting tensile strength of the
Carbonation mixtures for all curing ages. As a durability property, carbonation resistance of SCMs samples decreased
Durability with the increase in LSP replacement level for all of the mixtures and also UPV values were in an accept-
able range of good (for 15%) and doubtful (for 35%) category intervals. Furthermore, the control mixture
with the only PC had the lowest sorptivity coefficient as 2.73 cm/s1/2 followed by SCMs with 15%, 25% and
35% LSP as 5.11, 6.13 and 6.14 cm/s1/2, respectively.
Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Cement. Particularly, limestone powder belonging to technical

The largest footprints belong to cement in terms of carbon diox-
ide release to the atmosphere and also energy consumption. In
order to decrease CO2 release to the atmosphere, many experimen-
tal studies have been performed on the mineral addition of supple-
mentary materials or limestone powder to Normal Portland
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: serhat.demirhan@batman.edu.tr (S. Demirhan).
and economical superiority has been widely used as a replacement
material in the production of cement and clinker by being inter-
grinded with variable amounts. In accordance with ASTM C 150-
04, Normal Portland Cement may include up to 5% minor addi-
tional constituents for which limestone is one of the most appro-
priate material since many benefits such as better workability
and reduced bleeding could be obtained with it [1]. Both of CEM
II/A-L and CEM II/B-L which are also known as Portland Limestone
Cement (PLC) composed of 6% to 20% and 21% to 35% grounded

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.11.111
0950-0618/Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
116 S. Demirhan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 115–125
limestone, respectively, where CEM II/B-L contain the highest lime-
stone content.
Fresh and hardened properties such as hydration mechanism,
compressive strength development, carbonation resistance and
microstructure are indispensable parameters for convenient use
of PLC. Elgalhud et al. [2] found that factors affecting pore structure
sustained unimpaired up to a replacement level of 25% while the
pore structure started to deteriorate beyond this replacement
level. Bentz et al. [3] reported that early age strength of PLC con-
crete improved comparing to reference concrete. Parrott [4] and
Balayssac et al. [5] reported that concrete carbonation depth
increased with the replacement of limestone amount. In addition,
mineral addition with larger specific surface area results in lower
capillary porosity and therefore increment in compressive strength
[6]. Lecomte et al. [7] found that the properties of PLC were
affected by grinding and also the use of limestone powder
increased matrice sorptivity and altered porosity characteristics.
It was found by several researchers [8,9] that addition of lime-
stone powder increased both yield stress and plastic viscosity and,
thus, this condition induced a decrease in workability while the
rest of them reported that incorporation of limestone powder led
to a reduction in both yield stress and plastic viscosity [10].
The goal of this experimental study is to investigate and analyze
the effect of high volume limestone powder content of up to 35%
by weight. In the current article, particularly the test results
including the fresh and hardened properties of SCMs with 0%,
15%, 25% and 35% limestone are presented while the fresh and
hardened tets results of mortars with LSP are compared to the con-
trol mixture with the only PC to evaluate the performance of SCMs
having high-volume limestone powder content.
2. Experimental program
2.1. Materials and mixture proportions
In order to produce self-compacting mortars (SCMs), commer-
cially available CEM I 42.5N normal Portland Cement (PC) which
satisfy the requirement of ASTM Type I cement with a specific
gravity of 3.11 and Limestone Powder (LSP) with a specific gravity
of 2.31 were used as cementing materials. Their particle size
Fig. 1. Particle size distributions of cement and limestone powder.
distributions are represented in Fig. 1. Chemical properties of PC
and LSP are given in Table 1. Fine aggregate river sand, whose par-
ticle size distribution is given in Fig. 2, with a maximum grain size
of 2,36 mm was used. In addition to these, to produce all SCMs
with identical and also adequate workability characteristics water
and Glenium 27 (which is a polycarboxylate ether based high
range water reducing chemical admixture-HRWRA) were used.
LSP (with a maximum grain size of 125 lm) replacement levels
used throughout the current experimental study were %0, %15, %
25 and %35. Water/binder ratio was kept constant as 0.48. Four dif-
ferent mixtures were designed and Table 2 represented the compo-
sition and also notations of SCMs. It is seen that all mixtures are
labelled and they have a notation by which ingredients are identi-
fied. For instance, the 3th mixture in Table 2 has been labeled as
LSP_25 that means to 0.25 of LSP/Binder ratio, that is, 25% of the
mixture was occupied by LSP.
2.2. Mixing, sample preparation and testing
In order to produce SCMs, ingredients were homogeneously
mixed by a standard mortar mixer satisfying related standard
[11] requirements until being assured the complete homogeneity
of the mixture. To investigate the fresh and hardened properties
of SCMs, fresh samples were prepared and then fresh mortars were
poured into the moulds. For determining fresh and hardened prop-
erties, two steps were followed. In the former one mini-slump flow
and viscosity properties as fresh properties and in the latter one
compressive strength, splitting tensile test, capillary water absorp-
tion capacity, carbonation and ultrasonic pulse velocity as hard-
ened properties were investigated. Some hardened property tests
were performed for different curing ages.
In order to determine mini-slump flow, a truncated cone with a
dimension of 60 mm in high and with the diameters of 70 mm and
100 mm in top and bottom, respectively, was used. Mini-slump
cone was filled up with the fresh mortar and then the cone was
immediately lifted upward to led the fresh mortar to be spread
out on a smooth surface. After spreading out of the mortar was fin-
ished, the average of perpendicular two spreadings was assumed
an approximate diameter for mini-slump flow.
 S. Demirhan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 115–125 117

Table 1 of 28 and 56 days. Splitting tensile strength test was performed in

Chemical properties of PC and LSP. accordance with TS EN 12390-6 (2010) which is ‘‘Testing hardened
Chemical Composition, % PC LSP concrete-Part 6: Tensile splitting strength of test specimens”.
SiO2 20.22 0.5 Since carbonation as a durability issue is a time-dependent pro-
Al2O3 4.82 0.29 cess, an accelerated test manner must be performed in order to
Fe2O3 3.32 0.20 carbonate cementitious materials throughout a short time. There-
MgO 1.90 0.44 fore, an accelerated carbonation tank (ACT) (which makes CO2 con-
CaO 63.83 54.69
Na2O – –
centration, temperature and relative humidity stable in the tank)
K2O – – was used in the current research (Fig. 3). SCM cubes with a dimen-
Loss on ignition 2.10 – sion of 100  100  100 mm were produced and cured in water
curing conditions of 23 ± 2 °C until the testing age of 28 days. After
curing term, cast specimens were placed into the ACT and gate of
Yield stress and plastic viscosity of cement pastes as a rheolog- the tank was tightly closed. Each sample was undergone to carbon
ical property were measured by a commercially available rota- dioxide exposure at 40% of CO2 and 55% relative humidity through-
tional viscometer with a smooth-walled concentric cylinder out the periods of 7, 15 and 30 days. At the end of 7, 15 and 30 days
(Brookfield DV-E) at 23 ± 2 °C room temperature. To determine of accelerated carbonation periods, the samples were removed
yield stress of each cement paste, results were recorded at three from the tank and carbonation depths of specimens were mea-
delaying times of 0, 20 and 40 min. Measurements of rheological sured by applying a pH indicator (phenolphthalein) to the surface
parameters (i.e. yield stress and plastic viscosity) were performed of split broken specimen surfaces. By applying phenolphthalein to
at rotational speeds ranging between 0 and 100 rpm. Then, reading the split surfaces, a purple-like colour was occurred as a non-
at the appointed speeds were used to draw flow curve for both carbonated cross-section while no colouration was appeared (as
down-curve (increased shear rate) and upward-curve (decreased a result of reduced alkalinity) in carbonated part. Carbonated
shear rate) legs of shear rate vs. shear stress graph. Shear stresses depths were measured and their average was considered as Car-
were measured for each fresh cement paste at each shear rates of bonation Depth. In addition to this, weight gain due to the carbon-
50 s1, 25 s1, 10 s1, 5 s1, 2.5 s1, 1.25 s1, 0.50 s1 and 0.25 s1 ation process was also reported for carbonation periods of 7, 15
and then shear rate vs. shear stress graph drawn. Plastic viscosity and 30 days.
(gradient/slope of the line) and yield stress (the point to which line Three cylindrical samples of 75  150 mm per each mixture
of graph intersects) was easily obtained from the graph by assum- were prepared to perform the sorptivity test. In order to calculate
ing Bingham behavior for each mixture by linear regression [12]. the sorptivity coefficient of mortars, capillary water absorptions
were measured. First of all, mortar samples were placed in an oven
s ¼ syB þ K B c ð2:1Þ
at 110 ± 5 °C until a dry weight and then being cooled in a desicca-
where s (Pa), syB (Pa) and K B c (Pa.s) are constants and they refers to tor. Just after determining dry weight of the mortars, all sides of
the applied shear stress to the cement paste, yield stress and plastic samples (except upper and bottom sides) were sealed to ignore
viscosity, respectively. evaporation and to lead water flow only upward direction
For each curing age, three 50-mm cubic samples per mixture (Fig. 4). Before starting the test, the initial dry weight of mortars
were produced and compressive strength test was conducted on were recorded. The bottom surface of cylindrical samples was
the produced samples according to ASTM C-109 [13]. Cast mortars exposed to water and all specimens were being placed in the tray
were tested to determine compressive strength at the curing ages just to allow easier penetration of water into the bottom surface.
of 3, 28 and 56 days. Average strength values were reported. In After the specimens were immersed into the water, water absorp-
addition, cylinders of size 75 x150 mm were produced in order tion of each sample was recorded with the time intervals of 5, 10,
to examine splitting tensile strength of SCMs and tested at the ages 30, 60, 240 and 1440 min. Then, the coefficient of sorptivity of each

Fig. 2. Particle size distribution of sand.

118 S. Demirhan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 115–125

Table 2
Ingredients of SCMs mixtures.

Mix ID Ingredients
Cement Limestone Powder/Binder Binder/Sand Water/Binder SP*, % (Binder Weight)
PC LSP/Binder

LSP_0 1 0 0.5 0.48 0.62

LSP_15 1 0.15 0.5 0.48 0.54
LSP_25 1 0.25 0.5 0.48 0.44
LSP_35 1 0.35 0.5 0.48 0.40
*
High range water reducing chemical admixture.

visco-elastic material starts to flow [10]. In the other words, it is

Fig. 3. Accelerated carbonation tank.
Fig. 4. Capillary water absorption set-up.
sample was calculated by the following formula using the smallest
squares methods:
Q pffiffi
¼ k: t
A 15% may be explained by the physical property of LSP in term of
where the notation of Q, A, t and k indicate the amount of
absorbed water in (cm3), contacting the cross-section of the spec-
imen (cm2), time (s) and coefficient of sorptivity of the sample (cm/
s1/2), respectively. Finally, the coefficient of sorptivity was deter-
pffiffi
mined from the tangent of Q/A and t .
All of the specimens were also tested for ultrasonic pulse veloc-
ity (UPV) at the curing ages of 3, 28 and 56 days. A commercially
available testing system was used to measure UPV. UPV measuring
system of tico display unit with nonvolatile memory for 250 mea-
sured values, 128  128 graphic LCD) was composed of a pulse and
receive component with an embedded data receiving system and a
couple of tight band of 150 kHz transducers. Ultrasonic pulse
velocity measurements were conducted on 75  150 mm cylindri-
cal specimens and their UPV values were non-destructively
monitored.
3. Result and discussion
3.1. Fresh properties
3.1.1. Rheological properties
Yield stress is one of the fundamental factors for characterizing
rheological properties and also a plastic deformation initiating
shear stress. It is the minimum shear stress when the
the maximum stress under which the viscoelastic material remains
at rest and beyond which the material tends to deform [14].
Yield stress values and relevant flow curves for T = 0 min with
Bingham approach for self-compacting mortars (SCMs) containing
limestone powder replaced by cement are given in Fig. 5 for delay-
ing times of T = 0, 20 and 40 min and Fig. 6, respectively. It is pos-
sible to detect from the Figures that, for all three reading times,
there is a steady increase in the yield stress up to LSP content of
15% and beyond this level, there is a tendency of reduction of the
yield stress with the increase of limestone addition. Similar beha-
viour was also observed in the experimental research of Neto and
Campiteli [15]. Since rheological properties of cementitious mate-
rials are governed by many dominant factors such as yield stress,
viscosity and density of cementing matrix [16], LSP content higher
than 15% provides remarkable improvement in flowability of the
mixture as an evidence of its descending yield stress just after
LSP content exceeds 15% [17].
In addition to the statements mentioned above, during the
hydration mechanism of cementitious systems, such structures
are formed between the solid particles and early-age hydration
products. These structures may be regarded as solid particles
which change the behaviour of the paste [18]. Thus, a decrease in
yield stress (which, in general, corresponds to higher slump flow)
of the SCMs beyond 15% of LSP content may be attributed to this
phenomena.
Moreover, enhancement in workability (in the other words
ð2:2Þ decrease in yield stress) in the case of LSP content more than
particle size. A maximum grain size of LS was 125 lm while it
was at about 90 lm for cement (because 86% of grain size of
cement must be lower than 90 lm in accordance with the related
standard). The difference in both binders may result in low fluid
demands. Namely, the increase in coarse-grounded binder content
(LSP) in cementitious systems brings about the modification in
rheology of cement paste and therefore the influence of workabil-
ity of mortar. It is generally excepted that the replacement of Port-
land cement by a coarser admixture will induce a decrease in water
requirement due to the reduction in the specific surface area [19].
All these statements could also be valid for LSP in term of grain
size.
3.1.2. Mini slump cone
Mini-slump flow diameters and relative slump (Cm which has
been calculated by the formula of 3.2) values are given in Table 3.
As seen in the Table, slumps values increase and point out a satis-
factory fresh property in accordance with the increase in the
replacement level of LSP. This increment shows that there is a
noticeable reduction in water demand [20] and 7.14%, 6.12% and
3.06% increments in relative slumps were observed for 15%, 25%
and 35%, respectively. This implies that increment in LSP usage
resulted in an increase in the consistency [21] of the SCMs. In addi-
tion, cement viscosity is known to decrease with decreasing
 S. Demirhan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 115–125 119

Fig. 5. Yield stress vs. LSP content for T = 0, 20 and 40 min.

a) LSP_0 b) LSP_15

c) LSP_25 d) LSP_35
Fig. 6. Flow curves with Bingham approach for T = 0 min.

cement content and also fresh properties of cement-based materi- ing lower cement content (replaced by LSP and etc.) would show
als are directly affected by cement and the rest of the ingredients better fresh properties in term of slump flow. Thus, as seen in
[22,23]. Since cement particles enhance the interparticle attraction the Table, an increment in LSP resulted in higher slumps flow
between cement particles resulting in higher viscosity, SCMs hav- values.
120 S. Demirhan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 115–125

Table 3 pore structure. In general, compressive strength and all the other
Mini slump flow diameter and relative slump flow performance properties of PLC composed of more than 15%
results.
replacement level of LS were worse than those of ordinary Portland
Fresh Property cement [25] and up to replacement level of 15% is the best usage
Mix ID Mini Slump Flow Test interval [26]. In addition to results of 15% LS addition, compressive
d (cm) Um strength values of SCMs composed of 25% and 35% LS addition
LSP_0 24.30 4.90 were also resulted in lower results compared to control mixture.
LSP_15 25.00 5.25 This drop in the compressive strength is related to a dilution effect
LSP_25 24.90 5.20 that reduces the hydration of cement [25].
LSP_35 24.70 5.05
LS exhibits both positive and negative affect in term of com-
pressive strength. An enhancement in hydration is observed when
LS is used lower than replacement level of 15%. When this level is
 2 exceeded, namely the amount of cement is reduced, a decrease in
d
Cm ¼ 1 ð3:1Þ compressive strength is observed [1]. Even though the lowest com-
do pressive strength was obtained with 35% LS content, its strength
where do is bottom diameter of mini slump cone while d is the aver- was higher than that of normal concrete (30 MPa-C30) and it is still
age diameter of spreading out fresh mortar. sufficient for conventional cement based applications. Based on
this result, it can be said clearly that it will be possible to reduce
CO2 release substiantially because of the use of high-volume lime-
3.2. Mechanical properties
stone powder instead of cement in mortar/concrete mixtures.
3.2.1. Compressive strength
Average compressive strength test results and relative compres- 3.2.2. Splitting tensile test
sive strength development for self-compacting mortars (SCMs) Test results for curing ages of 28 and 56 days splitting tensile
containing limestone powder replaced by cement at 3, 28 and strength test results and splitting tensile strength-to-compressive
56 days are given in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, respectively. It can be easily strength ratio are shown in Fig. 9 and Table 4, respectively.
seen that, regardless of curing age, in addition to Portland Cement Fig. 9 indicates that the addition of LS in SCMs more than 15%
which results in higher hydration products and also which is one of did not improve splitting tensile strength of the mixtures for all
the most important even superior parameters that effects com- curing ages. There is a stable decreasing trend that the addition
pressive strength value, there is a steady decrease in the compres- of LS with a replacement level of 15%, 25% and 35% leads to lower
sive strength test results with the increase in LS content. Moreover, splitting tensile strength comparing to control mixture. At the
for 28 days, a decrease in SCMs is 13.9%, 22.37% and 28.22% for the 28 days curing age, 24.6%, 33.26% and 43.14% decreases were
replacement of 15%, 25% and 35% LS with Portland cement, respec- observed for replacement levels of 15%, 25% and 35%, respectively,
tively, compared to specimens of control mixture. These results as LS addition ratio increases. Concrete hardened properties and its
show that LS content over than 15% don’t take a part in ongoing mechanical behaviour mostly depend on and also will be affected
hydration reactions and as a result of this, an undensified matrice by its intrinsic microstructure [27]. Because the replacement level
resulting in lower compressive strength is obtained [24]. Perfor- of mineral admixture (LS) is one of the key parameter that princi-
mance properties depending on concrete pore structure remained pally affects concrete microstructure and thus, tensile splitting
unimpaired up to a maximum replacement level of 15% and strength development is mainly attributed to binder rather than
beyond this level, namely, when 15% replacement level has the other ingredients [28]. The increment in the replacement level
exceeded a deterioration of performance is appeared in concrete of LS ratio resulted in less amount of hydration products and this

Fig. 7. Compressive strength test results.

 S. Demirhan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 115–125 121

Fig. 8. Relative compressive strength development.

Fig. 9. Splitting tensile strength development of SCMs at 28 and 56 days.

Table 4 Splitting tensile strength-to-compressive strength ratios are

Splitting tensile strength to compressive strength ratios. given in Table 4. The ratio decreases with the increase in the addi-
SCM Mixture Splitting tensile strength/compressive tion of LS powder. As a result of ongoing hydration reaction and
strength ratio (%) enhancement in the interfacial transition zone, an increase in the
28 Days 56 Days ratio was observed between 28 and 56 curing ages. Table 4 shows
LSP_0 10.65 11.54
that splitting tensile strength and compressive strength values
LSP_15 9.38 10.89 were differently affected by the replacement level of LSP. Because,
LSP_25 9.06 9.96 in terms of splitting and compressive strengths, the performance
LSP_35 8.37 9.42 properties of cement paste and the interfacial transition zone is
affected by the mineral admixture content [30]. In addition, the
splitting tensile strength-to-compressive strength ratios given in
Table 4 are in line with the previously conducted experimental
mainly leads to higher porosity, weak interfacial transition zone studies [30,31]. Splitting tensile strength to compressive strength
and lower bonding strength [29]. All these resulted in a decrease ratios are approximately 8–9% and 7% for moderate and high
in splitting tensile strength as seen in Fig. 9. strength conventional concretes, respectively.
122 S. Demirhan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 115–125
3.3. Durability properties
3.3.1. Carbonation
Carbonation depth measurement and weight gain values in car-
bonation process of SCMs at 28 days are given in Fig. 10 for 7, 15
and 30 days of CO2 diffusion periods, respectively. This Figure indi-
cates similar decreasing trends for all replacement levels of LSP
and there is a discernable negative effect of LSP amount on carbon-
ation resistance of SCMs.
Carbonation of concrete is the term being used to determine the
effect of carbon dioxide (CO2) and also one of the most important
durability issues of reinforced concrete structures [32]. Because
high pH of cementitious matrix results in performing a thin passive
layer by which reinforcing steel bar is protected against corrosion.
The carbonation in concrete reduces pH [33,34] of the matrix to a
certain level below which a protective thin passive layer is started
to be destroyed [35,36]. This issue may become a particular prob-
lem whenever a high amount of LSP is incorporated in PLC since
the carbonation as a durability parameter is directly influenced
by both of microstructure and chemical reactions between car-
bonic acid and alkali components [37], namely, the carbonation
process is dependent on both material properties and the sur-
rounding environment [1]. This is because the content of carbonate
ingredients such as calcium hydroxide (CH) and C-S-H is related to
the amount of cement and supplementary cementing material
(such as pozzolanic materials, limestone powder etc.).
It is seen from the Figure that the carbonation resistance of
SCMs samples decreased with the increase in LSP replacement
level for all of the mixtures. This behaviour may be attributed to
low hydration products that cause the hardened SCMs including
a more porous microstructure. The carbonation phenomenon
increases due to the porous structure that accelerates the transport
of CO2 gas [38] which reacts with calcium hydroxide (CH) and C-S-
H. As a result of this occurred carbonation process, carbonation
depth increased with an increase in LSP content of PLC [4,5,39].
In addition, as mentioned previously, several chemical reactions
occurred by the ingress of CO2 gas from the atmosphere into the
cementitious matrix and then physical and chemical properties
of concrete altered when carbon dioxide gas reacts with hydration
Fig. 10. Carbonation depths and weight gains for 7, 15 and 30 days period of CO2 diffusion.
products [40–42]. One of the physical change in SCMs is weight
gain due to calcium carbonate formation. As seen in the Figure, it
is revealed that as a result of ongoing chemical reactions of unhy-
drated CH and C-S-H with the diffused carbon dioxide, weight gain
has taken place with different levels at 7, 15 and 30 days through-
out which carbon dioxide gas was applied to surrounding environ-
ment of SCMs. It is also clear that the increase in carbonation depth
is in line with weight gain for all mixtures throughout all CO2 dif-
fusion days. As seen in Fig. 10 that increase in carbonation depths
at 30 days period of CO2 are 20%, 45% and 55% for the replacement
of LSP with 15%, 25% and 35%, respectively, compared to control
mixture with only cement while this increase is greater for weight
gain due to calcium carbonate formation. Consequently, more
increase in the weight gain of specimens may be attributed to
the more highly carbonated calcium hydroxide (CH) and C-S-H
because of the increasing pore structure as result of the reducing
of cementing materials.
3.3.2. Ultrasonic pulsive velocity (UPV)
Ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) is one of the widely used non-
destructive techniques to determine mechanical and durability
properties of concrete in terms of damage, hydration reactions
and degree of deterioration which show performance properties
of cementitious matrix microstructure [43]. In other words, the
non-destructive method of UPV is used as a measuring method
of interior microstructural soundness, micro-cracking, homogene-
ity and compactness of cement-based materials [44].
Test results of UPV for the mixtures at 3, 28 and 56 days are
given in Table 5. As an expected result of hydration reactions, as
seen in Table 5, increase in concrete curing age causes an increase
in UPV [45,46]. Due to ongoing hydration reactions of binder mate-
rials, unhydrated binder particles were reacted with time to form a
denser and interlocked microstructure (meaning that closure of
cracks and elimination of microstructural defects) which provides
(1) high-velocity ultrasonic waves to pass through and (2) higher
UPV values. In addition to this, there is a decreasing rate in the
UPV values with an increase in the LSP ratio in all of the SCMs.
Because the use of most supplementary materials (mineral admix-
tures, LSP, etc.) causes a decrease in both compressive strength and
 S. Demirhan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 115–125
Table 5
3, 28 and 56 days UPV values.
UPV Values, km/s
Mix ID 3 Days 28 Days
LSP_0 3.16 3.60
LSP_15 3.11 3.52
LSP_25 2.69 3.36
LSP_35 2.57 3.27
UPV values [47]. This result implies that the control mixture (with-
out the LSP replaced by cement) is denser because of the higher
cement content. Due to the reasons mentioned above, as the
replacement of LSP by cement increased, the microstructure dete-
riorated in term of hydration products and the UPV values
decreased. Even though there is a considerable decreasing effect
of LSP as a partial replacement of cement on UPV, UPV values are
still within a good category interval by which quality classification
of cement-based material is determined [48]. SCMs were exhibited
UPV values of 3,52 km/s and 3,27 km/s for 28 days with a LSP con-
tent of 15% and 35%, respectively. These values are still in an
acceptable range of good (for 15%) and doubtful (for 35%) category
intervals.
The relationship and the correlation between compressive
strength and UPV values is given in Fig. 11 from which another
remarkable implication would be drawn. As the content of LSP
increases, both UPV and compressive strength decrease comparing
to reference SCMs (LSP_0). Namely, decrease in UPV value is in line
with the decrease in compressive strength [49]. UPV value of con-
crete is affected by several parameters such as curing age, moisture
content, porosity, supplementary type and interfacial transition
zone properties [50]. Therefore, test results confirm that the
replacement level of LSP is an important variable that leads to a
reduction in microstructural performance of SCMs. Since it has
been determined in many studies that there is a high correlation
between compressive strength and UPV values of concrete [51–
53], this expected interaction between UPV and compressive
strength may be attributed to lower hydration products and higher
porosity of SCMs microstructure which causes a reduction in the
compressive strength of SCMs.
Fig. 11. The effect of LSP replaced by cement on the relationship between compressive strength and UPV for curing ages of 3, 28 and 56 days.
123
3.3.3. Capillary water absorption
In Fig. 12, the sorptivity coefficient values of SCMs containing
only PC and LSP as cementitious materials were given to display
56 Days the effect of the use of high volume LSP replaced by PC. It was
clearly seen from Fig. 12 that the replacement of LSP by PC in SCMs
3.78
3.56
induced an increase in the capillary water absorption for all per-
3.41 centages of LSP compared to the control mixture containing only
3.29 Portland cement as a binder. Moreover, SCMs with only PC had
the lowest capillary water absorption followed by the mixtures
containing 15%, 25% and 35% LSP while the sorptivity coefficient
values of SCMs were 2.73, 5.11, 6.13 and 6.14 cm/s1/2 for the mix-
tures with the only PC, 15%, 25% and 35% LSP, respectively. In addi-
tion to these, it can be said that the resistance of water absorption
of SCMs with 15% LSP was worse 1.87 times compared to the con-
trol mixture with only PC while that of SCMs with 25% and 35% LSP
was worse approximately 2.25 times. These results can be attribu-
ted to the structure of LSP that was non-reactive except for early
ages because of its crystal structure and, thus, the use of high vol-
ume LSP (more than 15%) instead of PC caused an undensified
matrice resulting in higher the sorptivity coefficient [1,54].
4. Conclusion
Since the performance of clinker or cement could be enhanced
by the replacement of cementitious materials, understanding and
elucidating performance characteristics of cementitious materials
composed of a high volume of replacement material is very impor-
tant. This paper covers the effect of high volume limestone powder
content replaced by cement and focuses on experimental results of
fresh and hardened properties of SCMs. Therefore, properties of
different SCMs were investigated by workability and rheological
testing, strength testing and also durability testing.
Based on the experimental data of this research, the following
conclusions could be drawn;
1. Results of previous studies and the current experimental
research showed that 15% of LSP as a replacement is the most
crucial beyond which performance properties are affected at
different rates.
124 S. Demirhan et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 115–125
Fig. 12. The change of the sorptivity coefficient of SCMs depending on the replacement of LSP content by PC.
2. LSP higher than 15% provides remarkable improvement in
flowability of the mixture as an evidence of its descending yield
stress just after LSP content exceeds 15%.
3. SCMs having lower cement content (replaced by higher LSP
content) showed better fresh properties in terms of slump flow.
4. LSP content over than 15% don’t take a part in ongoing hydra-
tion reactions and as a result of this, an undensified matrice
resulting in lower compressive strength may be obtained.
5. Increase in the LSP content did not improve splitting tensile
strength of the mixtures for all curing ages.
6. Attributing to low hydration products which cause the hard-
ened SCMs including a more porous microstructure, carbona-
tion resistance of SCMs samples decreased with the increase
in LSP replacement level for all of the mixtures.
7. Using of most supplementary materials (i.e. LSP) causes a
decrease in UPV.
8. As a result of using high volume of LSP, the undensified matrice
resultes in higher sorptivity coefficient.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgements
The research has been supported by the Scientific Research Pro-
jects Committee of Harran University (Project No: HUBAK–12148).
Their support is gratefully acknowledged.
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