ISSN 2348–2370

Vol.06,Issue.07,
September-2014,
Pages:698-702

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Comparative Study of Accelerated and Normal Curing of Silica Fume Concrete
AHMED NAJM ABDULLAH AL-ASKARI1, SHAIK MASOOD2, DR. M.V.SESHAGIRI RAO3
¹PG Scholar, Infrastructure Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, JNTUH, Hyderabad, India.
Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works – IRAQ, E-mail: ahmednajim1985@gmail.com.
²PG Scholar, structural Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, JNTUH, Hyderabad, India.
Email: Shaikmasood_20@yahoo.com.
3
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, JNTUH, Hyderabad, India. Email: rao_vs_meduri@yahoo.com.

Abstract: Use of mineral admixture like fly ash, silica fume, blast furnance slag, etc. has become quite popular in the present
day construction projects to obtain beneficial properties including strength. In the present day construction practice where large
quantities of concrete are being poured daily, accelerated curing techniques are quite popular to predicting the 28 days strength
within a short time. The accelerated strength procedure and the co-relation formula given by the IS Code are being adopted in
the case of normal concrete without admixtures. In the present experimental investigation silica fume admixture has been
employed as a replacement to cement at various percentages. Two basic grades of concretes are considered and the 28 day
strengths are predicted using the codal procedure and the co-relation formula. The co-efficient of variation is useful in the
strength prediction of silica fume concrete mixes are considered at any age up to 60 days. The investigation has high practical
importance and use.

Keywords: Mineral Admixture, Silica Fume Concrete.

I. INTRODUCTION Pozzolanic materials are siliceous and aluminous materials

The advancement of technology and increased field of
applications of concrete and mortars, the strength,
workability, durability and other characters of the ordinary
concrete need modifications to make it more suitable for any
situation. Added to this is the necessity to combat the
increasing cost and scarcity of cement. Under these
circumstances the use of admixtures is found to be an
important alternative solution of late, the revolutionary
global industry is resulting in production of industrial waste
by products causing ecological hazards. The disposal of
these industrial waste by-products has become a buzzing
concern to the international research community. It is under
these circumstances, use of industrial wastes such as fly ash,
silica fume, slag etc. in building materials is being given the
due importance. Extensive research work is in progress in
this direction at global level. The use of industrial wastes,
particularly silica fume, fly ash, slag as pozzolanic materials
in cement concrete paved a solution for
1. Modifying the properties of the concrete.
2. Controlling the concrete production cost.
3. To overcome the scarcity of cement and finally.
4. The economic advantageous disposal of industrial wastes
The use of industrial wastes with cementitious properties
can result in major savings of energy and raw materials.
1. General Over View on Pozzolanas
In recent years, pozzolanic materials are being used as an
addition or partial replacement for the more expensive
Portland cement to improve the properties of the concrete.
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which possess little or no cementitious value, but will, in
finely divided form and in the presence of moisture,
chemically react with calcium hydroxide (lime) liberated on
hydration at ordinary temperatures to form compounds
(calcium, silicate, hydrate gel) possessing cementitious
properties. The calcium hydroxide, otherwise a water
soluble material is converted into an insoluble cementitious
material by the use of pozzolanic materials The action is
termed as pozzolanic action. The rate of reaction is slow at
early age and pozzolanic action is more pronounced when
the admixture concrete is 90 days old. It has been amply
demonstrated that the best pozzolanas mixed with Portland
cement in optimum proportions improve the qualities of
concrete, such as
 Lower heat of hydration & thermal shrinkage.
 Increase the water tightness.
 Reduce the alkali aggregate reaction.
 Improve resistance to attack by sulphate soil and sea
water.
 Improve extensibility.
2. Silica Fume
Silica fume is a mineral admixture made up of very fine,
solid, glassy spheres and amorphous solids of silicon
dioxide. Silica fume is highly pozzolanic. The high amount
of silica present, the super fineness, the high specific surface
area up to 25000 m2/kg are the main characters of silica
fume which impart high strength to concrete with enhanced
qualities when mixed as a partial replacement to cement
 AHMED NAJM ABDULLAH AL-ASKARI, SHAIK MASOOD, DR. M.V.SESHAGIRI RAO
thus achieving economy. Silica fume, has thus found a place linearly with maturity of concrete. The increase in strength
to be in the group of pozzolanic admixtures and made a way with increased curing temperature is due to speeding up of
for the research community to develop high strength chemical reactions of hydration. This increase affects only
concretes of the order up to M50 or more. The silica fume the early strengths without any harmful effects on ultimate
concretes (SFC) are found to possess improved permeability strength and cracking of the concrete due to thermal shock.
properties. The sulphate resistance of SFC is also Hence the curing of concrete and its gain of strength can be
considerably good. speeded up by raising the temperature of curing in which
curing period is reduced. This type of curing is called as
3. Properties of Silica Fume accelerated curing.
Silica fume is a by-product of the silicon metal and Ferro Accelerated curing has many advantages in the manufacture
silicon industries. This is a mineral admixture composed of of precast concrete products since:
mainly very finely graded with high content (up to 97% by a) The mould can be reused within a shorter time.
weight) of amorphous silica dioxide, SiC>2 and the rest b) The product can be delivered as quickly as possible to
being other oxides like AI2 03, Fe2 03. the user, thus increasing the turnover and reducing the
costs.
4. The Physical Properties c) Reducing the storage space required in the factory.
A typical silica fume exhibits particles smaller than 0.50
microns in diameter with particles ranging in size from 1. Need for Accelerated Concrete Curing
0.001 to 0.3 microns with an average diameter of 10 The consequent rapid strength gain of concrete has many
microns. The silica fume particles are generally 50 to 100 advantages in the concrete manufacturing industry, such as
times smaller than the average cement or fly ash particles. the increased production and rapid turnover of products in
The particle surface area ranges greater than 10000 m2 /kg, precast plants. There are several ways to cure in the field.
although 20000 m / kg seems to be the most common for the One form of curing that has become popular at precast pre-
commercial silica fume used in concrete. Specific gravity of stressed concrete plants is accelerated curing. This type of
silica fume ranges between 1.91 to 2.0 which is less than curing is advantageous where early strength gain in concrete
that of Portland cement. is important or where additional heat is required to
accomplish hydration, as in cold weather. Accelerated
5. The Chemical And Mineral Composition curing reduces costs and curing time in the production of
The extreme and high silica content makes it an efficient precast members. The use of accelerated curing in the
pozzolana which can reach with ordinary portland cement to production of precast members has been an industry practice
create secondary cementing materials in hydrating concrete. for many years. Early research focused on developing
Silica fume acts in two major ways in concrete as a curing cycles to optimize concrete strength while providing
pozzolana and as a filler material First, due to its high economy and efficiency in plant production. With the
pozzolanicity, it contributes to the following hydration greater use of high-strength concrete in precast/pre-stressed
reaction between ordinary portland cement and water by concrete beams, however, some of the traditional practices
reacting with the calcium hydroxide to produce additional for the accelerated curing need to be reassessed.
gel OPC + water —> CSH gel + calcium hydroxide CSF
+calcium hydroxide +water —> CSH gel. The calcium 2. Accelerated Curing Procedures
silicate hydrate gel is the glue that binds the aggregates The accelerated curing procedures conformed to the
together and give concrete its strengths. Second, due to their Indian Standard method of making, curing and determining
extreme fineness, the CSF particles as a filler reduce the the compressive strength of accelerated curing concrete test
porosity resulting in durable concrete with less permeability. specimens. The two methods of such accelerated techniques
The pozzolanic reaction starts early from around 7 days at a are given as follows:
20°C curing temperature and from around 2 days at a 35°C A. Warm Water Method.
curing temperature. B. Boiling Water Method.

II. ACCELERATED CURING OF CONCRETE In the present investigation boiling water method is used
Accelerated curing of concrete is designed to increase or which confirms to IS: 9013 – 1978.
accelerate the rate at which the concrete gains strength. The
rate of development of strength not only depends upon the III. EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION
period of curing but also on the temperatures during the The following materials are used in the present
period of curing. It can be seen that the optimum investigation. A brief description is given below regarding
temperature during the curing period is 15°C to 38 °C. The the materials used:
strength of concrete can be shown to be a function of the 1. Cement (53 Grade)
sum of the time of curing and temperature of curing. This 2. Fine Aggregate
product is called the ‗maturity of concrete‘. The origin for 3. Coarse Aggregate
the measurement of temperature is -13 °C and time is 4. Silica Fume
reckoned in hours or days. The strength is found to increase 5. Water.

International Journal of Advanced Technology and Innovative Research

Volume. 06, IssueNo.07, September-2014, Pages: 698-702
 Comparative Study of Accelerated and Normal Curing of Silica Fume Concrete
The properties of various materials used in the present
experimental investigation are given in Tables (1to 6)
Table1. Physical properties of ordinary Portland cement
(53 grade).
Table2. Sieve analysis of fine aggregate
(Sand is confirming to zone I).
Table3. Physical properties of fine aggregate.
Table4.Sieve analysis of 20 mm coarse aggregate
Table5. Physical properties of coarse aggregate.
International Journal of Advanced Technology and Innovative Research
Volume. 06, IssueNo.07, September-2014, Pages: 698-702
Table6. Physical properties of silica fume.
In the present investigation work two grades of concrete
mixes (M 20 and M 30).The Indian standard mix design
procedure is adopted (IS:10262 – 1982) to arrive the mix
proportion for each grade of concrete. In each grade of
concrete mix some amount of cement is replaced by silica
fume in various percentages (0,5,10,15 and 20%).The
quantities of materials required per one cubic meter of
concrete including silica fume percentages are given in the
tables 7 and 8.
Table7. Quantities of materials required per one cubic
meter of silica fume concrete (M 20 grade).
Table8. Quantities of materials required per one cubic
meter of silica fume concrete (M30 grade).
IV. RESULT
The present study deals with the correlation of normal
curing strength with 28 days predicted strength on the basis
of accelerated curing. Different percentages of silica fume
have been used as a replacement to cement in two grades of
concrete namely M 20 and M 30. Silica fume percentages
used as a replacement to cement have been varied from 0%
to 20 %. The test result obtained at various curing periods
like (7,21,28,45and 60)days have been correlated with 28
days strengths obtained on the basis of accelerated curing.
Coefficient of strength variation is arrived at different mixes
and tabulated.
 AHMED NAJM ABDULLAH AL-ASKARI, SHAIK MASOOD, DR. M.V.SESHAGIRI RAO
Table 9. Compressive strength results of M 20 grade.

Table10. Compressive strength results of M 30 grade.

Figure2. Percentage of silica fume with compressive

strength at different age of normal curing (M 30 grade).

Table11.Values of coefficient of strength variation with

age in different silica fume percentage (M 20 grade).

Table12. Values of coefficient of strength variation with

age in different silica fume percentage (M 30 grade).

Figure 3. Effect of silica fume percentage on accelerated

and normal 28 days compressive strength of concrete for
M 20 and M 30 grade.

Figure1. Percentage of silica fumes with compressive Figure4. The typical relation between accelerated and 28
strength at different age of normal curing (M 20 grade). – day compressive strength of concrete.

International Journal of Advanced Technology and Innovative Research

Volume. 06, IssueNo.07, September-2014, Pages: 698-702
 Comparative Study of Accelerated and Normal Curing of Silica Fume Concrete
V. CONCLUSIONS [11] Tan K, Gjorv OE. Performance of concrete under
Based on the present experimental investigation the different curing conditions. Cement and Concrete Research
following conclusions are drawn: 1996:26(3):355-61.
1. When silica fume admixture is used in the concrete at [12] IS: 2386(Part I)-1963, ―Methods of Test for Aggregates
various percentages from 5-15%,the 28 day strength is for Concrete‖, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
more compared to basic concrete without silica fume,
and at 15% silica fume in the mix (used as a Author’s Profile:
replacement to cement) the strength increase is AHMED NAJM ABDULLAH AL-
optimum at the age of 28 days. ASKARI, Iraq / Babylon / Hilla.
2. Silica fume concrete continues to gain strength Received his Bachelor Degree in Civil
substantially at longer ages, even beyond 28 days, Engineering from University of
whereas in the case of concrete without silica fume Babylon –IRAQ. Presently he finished
strength increase beyond 28 days over long ages is his Master of Technology in
insignificant. Jawaharlal Nehru Technological
3. The 28 days normal strength of silica fume concrete University, College of Engineering,
cannot be directly predicted based on the accelerated Department of Civil Engineering, specialization in
curing formula given by the code, as in the case of Infrastructure Engineering, Hyderabad, INDIA.
normal concrete mixes. The formula requires certain
modifications. SHAIK MASOOD, Received his
4. The predicted accelerated curing strength (28day) does Bachelor Degree in Civil
not represent the normal curing strength of silica fume Engineering from Muffakham jah
concrete at 28 days or even beyond. The accelerated college of engineering and
curing strength is more than the normal curing strength technology (MJCET). He finished
in the case of silica fume concrete for all ages. his Master of Technology in
5. A modified equation is obtained for predicting the 28 Jawaharlal Nehru Technological
days strength of silica fume concrete of standard University, College of Engineering,
grades. Department of Civil Engineering, specialization in structural
6. The predicted equation is R 28 = 0.476 Ra +20.7, The Engineering ,Hyderabad, INDIA.
equation modified is for M 20 and M 30 grades
concrete and for higher grades it needs modification. DR. M.V.SESHAGIRI RAO, Ph.D.
(Structures), M.Tech (Structures),
VI. REFERENCES MS(Software), FIE, MICI, MISTE.
[1] Akroyd, T.N.W., and Smith Gander, R.G., ―Accelerated Professor of Civil Engineering in
Curing of Concrete test Cubes‖, Engineering, London, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological
Vol.81, Febrauary.1956, pp. 153-155. University Hyderabad, India.
[2] Brent Vollenweider, ―Various Methods of Accelerated
Curing for Precast Concrete Applications and their Impact
on Short and Long Term Compressive Strength‖, CE 241
Research Paper, Aberdeen Group, New York City Area,
USA, March.2004, pp. 1-21.
[3] Detwiler, R., and Mehta, K.(1989). ―Chemical and
physical effects of silica fume on the mechanical behaviour
of concrete‖, ACI Mat. J. 86(6), 609-614.
[5] IS: 456-2000, ―Code of Practice for Plain and
Reinforced Concrete‖, Bureau of Indian Standards, New
Delhi.
[6] IS: 516-1959, ―Methods of Test for Strength of
Concrete‖, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
[7]IS: 10262-1982, ―Recommended Guidelines for Concrete
Mix Design‖, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
[8] IS: 12269-1987, ―Specification for 53 Grade Ordinary
Portland Cement‖, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
[9] IS: 3812-1981, ―Specification for Fly ash for use as
Pozzolana and admixture‖, Bureau of Indian Standards,
New Delhi.
[10] Shetty, M.S., ―Concrete Technology Theory and
Practice‖, S. Chand & Company Ltd, New Delhi, 2005,
pp.306,498.
International Journal of Advanced Technology and Innovative Research
Volume. 06, IssueNo.07, September-2014, Pages: 698-702