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RAPID FLEXURAL TOUGHNESS DEVELOPMENT DRY-MIX SHOTCRETE FOR

MINING APPLICATIONS

Conference Paper · May 2015

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ISRM Congress 2015 Proceedings - Int’l Symposium on Rock Mechanics - ISBN: 978-1-926872-25-4

RAPID FLEXURAL TOUGHNESS DEVELOPMENT DRY-MIX SHOTCRETE FOR MINING

APPLICATIONS

* N. Ginouse and S. Reny

King Packaged Materials
3825 rue Alfred Laliberté
Boisbriand, QC, J7H 1P7, Canada
(*Corresponding author: nginouse@KPMIndustries.com)
 ISRM Congress 2015 Proceedings - Int’l Symposium on Rock Mechanics - ISBN: 978-1-926872-25-4

RAPID FLEXURAL TOUGHNESS DEVELOPMENT DRY-MIX SHOTCRETE FOR MINING

APPLICATIONS

ABSTRACT

In the mining industry time is critical as production depends on the speed of the mining cycle.
During the mining process, the time required to re-open access for the next phase of an underground
heading is a key point that strongly depends on the ability of the selected ground support technique to
promptly ensure the safety of workers. Fiber reinforced dry-mix shotcrete has been proven to be an
efficient and well adapted technique, able to produce a ground support material with the required energy
absorption or flexural toughness in a single application phase. In this context, this paper demonstrates the
possibility of significantly speeding up the mining process by using a new fiber reinforced dry-mix
shotcrete. The new fiber reinforced dry-mix shotcrete is capable of developing flexural toughness in only
24 hours that is equivalent to what is typically achieved after 28 days using current fiber reinforced dry-
mix shotcrete technology.

KEYWORDS

Dry-Mix Shotcrete, Energy Absorption, Flexural Toughness, Ground Support, Mining Process.

INTRODUCTION

Shotcrete is often used for ground support when using the drill and blast method or other
tunnelling methods. But before re-opening access for the next phase of the underground heading, the
applied shotcrete is required to reach a minimum compressive strength and in case of fiber reinforced
shotcrete, a minimum flexural toughness (energy absorption) in order to ensure the safety of the workers
going into the heading. Combined with bolts, the use of conventional fiber reinforced shotcrete becomes an
interesting method for ground support as it is applied very soon after excavation and works to stabilize
ground movements (Bernard E. S., 2009). In this case, the toughness development of fiber reinforced
shotcrete becomes an important feature of the material when looking to speedup the mining cycle.
However, early re-entry criteria in underground openings are difficult to ascertain as the load carrying
capacity of fiber reinforced shotcrete is usually assessed after 7 or 28 days. For this reason, re-entry criteria
varies from one mining area to another and are usually based on compressive strength requirements. For
example, in northern Ontario, Canada, one of the current practices in the mining industry consists of
allowing safe re-entry once fiber reinforced shotcrete has developed a compressive strength of higher than
4 MPa (Dufour, O’Donnell, & Ballou, 2003). Flexural toughness requirements on fiber reinforced
shotcrete are also typically based on evaluation after 28 days.

In order to speed up the mining and tunnelling process, King Packaged Materials Company,
Burlington, ON, Canada, a specialized company in pre-packaged, pre-blended dry cementitious material,
has conducted a testing program to develop a fiber reinforced shotcrete mix that reaches the compressive
strength and the flexural toughness required as fast as possible.

Before going deeper into the description of this testing program, the paragraphs below help to
provide a quick overview of the two shotcrete processes commonly found in the industry.
 ISRM Congress 2015 Proceedings - Int’l Symposium on Rock Mechanics - ISBN: 978-1-926872-25-4

Wet-Mix Shotcrete

In non-accelerated wet-mix shotcrete, all of the ingredients including water are mixed together
before the delivery phase. The fresh mixture is then pumped through hoses to be sprayed onto a receiving
surface using compressed air which is introduced at the nozzle. As reported in Table 1 below, the amount
of mixing water added to the mixture is known before the pumping and the shotcreting phases, which
therefore makes the implementation of in-situ quality control quite simple. However, because of the
material delivery phase, the wet-mix process requires management and control of all parameters
influencing workability/pumpability of the mixture in order to ensure proper material delivery. Even if a
mixture is found to be pumpable that does not necessarily mean that the same mixture can be shot, as it is
required to adhere to the receiving surface after impact. In the case of accelerated wet-mix shotcrete, the
set accelerating admixture is introduced at the nozzle, in order to provide rapid hardening while
overcoming any potential issues with workability. Normal dosages of accelerator that range from between
2-6% of the binder content are typically used by the industry. In addition to the obvious impact on the final
material cost, the dosage of set accelerating admixtures must be carefully selected and monitored as higher
dosages reduce the later age compressive strength and durability of Portland cement based concrete
(Neville, 2008).

Dry-Mix Shotcrete

Fundamentally different to the wet-mix shotcrete, the dry-mix shotcrete process consists in
pneumatically conveying the dry mixture through hoses and adding the mixing water generally ten (10)
feet before the nozzle outlet (Figure 1). In this case, all of the mixture ingredients, including the admixtures
such as accelerator, are conveyed in dry form using compressed air. Because the mixing water is added to
the dry mixture in only the fraction of a second before impact onto the receiving surface occurs, the dry-
mix process allows for the efficient and robust placement of low workability mixtures such as a rapid
hardening material.

Figure 1 – Typical setup for dry-mix shotcrete operations

 ISRM Congress 2015 Proceedings - Int’l Symposium on Rock Mechanics - ISBN: 978-1-926872-25-4

Comparison of Both Processes

Both processes present their own advantages and disadvantages that must be taken into account.
Table 1 below briefly summarizes the main features of each shotcrete process.

Table 1 – Main features of wet and dry-mix shotcrete processes

Wet-mix process
Pros Known water to binder ratio before
pumping
Lower rebound and dust
High volume output
Cons Use of pumping and/or set
accelerating admixtures on site
High volume output to manage
Dry-mix process
Instantaneous adjustment of shooting consistency at the
end of the delivery phase
Well adapted for low workability mixtures (fast setting,
light-weight aggregates, fibers)
Long delivery distance
High flexibility: Simple start-stop operations
Low volume output

Development of a Rapid Toughness Fiber Reinforced Shotcrete

From a material standpoint, the strength gain of the cementitious matrix, the type of fibers used,
the in-place fiber dosage after impact and the cementitious matrix/fiber interaction are key elements
controlling the development of the flexural toughness produced by fiber reinforced shotcrete. All of these
elements need to be accounted for when developing a shotcrete mix capable of achieving toughness rapidly.

As stated in previous works (Reny & Ginouse, 2014), a significant acceleration of the
performance of fiber reinforced shotcrete required a review of the cement technology used while paying
attention to fiber type and the cementitious matrix/fiber interface. On the other hand, the placement of such
rapid hardening fiber reinforced material has to be addressed as well (Lemay, Jolin, & Gagné, 2014). This
technology is currently used in different mines in Canada as a part of their standard ground control
protocol for specific areas.

The use of an ettringite based cement such as Calcium Sulfo-Aluminate (CSA) cement can
provide very rapid strength gain when compared to the use of high early strength Portland cement (Type III
or Type HE) with a high accelerator dosage (Reny & Ginouse, 2014). At an early age this rapid strength
gain is mainly due to rapid ettringite formation occurring when the CSA based cement is in contact with
the mixing water. Unfortunately this rapid ettringite formation is also accompanied by an early decrease in
workability of the mixture leading to placement issues. Even though it is possible to increase the
workability period by using retarding admixtures, it also generally causes an increase in set time and a
delay in strength gain. In order to overcome this workability issue while ensuring a rapid hardening
behaviour, the use of the dry-mix shotcrete processappeared to be the ideal choice. This is due to the fact
that the mixing water is added to the mixture in only a fraction of a second before impact/placement onto
the receiving surface. Thus, when using an ettringite based dry-mix shotcrete it is typically possible to
obtain a compressive strength of about 20 MPa after only 2 hours (Lemay, Jolin, & Gagné, 2014) (Reny &
Ginouse, 2014) in contrast to 8 MPa after 4 hours with accelerated Portland cement based shotcrete.

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the performance development of fiber reinforced
dry-mix shotcrete by combining the dry-mix shotcrete process with an ettringite based cementitious matrix
and steel fiber reinforcement.
 ISRM Congress 2015 Proceedings - Int’l Symposium on Rock Mechanics - ISBN: 978-1-926872-25-4

METHODS

Materials

Two shotcrete mixtures using CSA cement based binder and steel fibers were used during the
testing program. The steel fiber dosage was similar to the dosage used in dry-mix shotcrete for ground
support in mining applications in Northern Ontario, Canada. The main ingredients used in each mixture are
listed in Table 2.

Table 2 – Mixture composition

Mix #1 Mix #2
Main mixture ingredients CSA cement CSA cement
Coarse Aggregates Pozzolans
Sand Admixture
Coarse Aggregates
Sand
Steel fiber dosage (kg/m3) 55 55

Both steel fiber reinforced mixtures were produced at a dry-mix packaging plant located in
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. All ingredients were mixed together in dry-form and supplied in 600 liter, 1000
kg bulk bags. The coarse and fine aggregates used were combined in order to meet the gradation
requirements of ACI Gradation No.2 (ACI Committee 506, 2005) and were oven dried to avoid cement
hydration before use.

Shotcreting Procedure and Equipment

Shooting operations were conducted using an Aliva® 246 dry-mix shotcrete machine as
illustrated in Figure 2. Standard shooting procedures were followed as described in the Guide to Shotcrete
(ACI Committee 506, 2005). The dry material was fed into the machine by suspending the bulk bag over
the hopper. Once the air flow was adjusted the dry material was conveyed through a 2 inch diameter hose
connected to the machine (Figure 2).

Figure 2 - ALIVA® 246 shotcrete machine used to project the fiber reinforced dry-mix shotcrete mixture

As recommended by the Guide to Shotcrete (ACI Committee 506, 2005), a hydro-mix nozzle
configuration presented in Figure 3 was used. With this setup the pressurized water is introduced into the
material stream through a water ring located 10 feet from the nozzle outlet in order to create a longer zone
 ISRM Congress 2015 Proceedings - Int’l Symposium on Rock Mechanics - ISBN: 978-1-926872-25-4

of mixing action within the hose. This larger zone of mixing action helps to disperse the steel fibers, reduce
dust and reduce rebound.

Due to logistic constraints, both shotcrete mixtures were not shot on the same day. In order to
account for the effect of temperature on the results, the dry material and water temperatures were measured.
For Mix #1 the water and dry material temperatures were 15 and 12°C respectively, while the water and
dry material temperatures for Mix #2 were 10 and 19°C respectively.

Figure 3 - Two (2) inch diameter hydro-mix nozzle adding the mixing water to conveyed dry material ten
(10) feet before the nozzle exit

Compressive Strength Development

Early age compressive strengths were determined using the end-beam test method (Heere &
Morgan, 2002) which is adapted from ASTM C-116 (1990). This method requires shooting directly into a
rectangular mold to produce 75 X 75 X 100 mm (3 X 3 X 14 in.) beam specimens. Each end beam is then
tested at a specific age using the end beam testing apparatus illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 4 – End-beam test apparatus

According to the literature, this method is the most reliable and practical method to evaluate the
early age compressive strength of shotcrete between 0.1 to 10 MPa (Bernard & Geltinger, 2007). Typically
when the compressive strength of shotcrete is low (less than 10 MPa), the drilling operations used to
extract cored samples for testing compressive strength produces unreliable results or is logistically
challenging. In this study the end-beam test method was used to obtain the compressive strength of both
steel fiber reinforced mixtures at 3 and 24 hours.

In addition to the rectangular steel molds, used for early-age compressive strength, wooden panels
(presented in Figure 5) were also used for later age compressive strength evaluation. After shooting, the
shotcrete test panels were covered with wet burlap and a plastic sheet in order to prevent drying shrinkage
 ISRM Congress 2015 Proceedings - Int’l Symposium on Rock Mechanics - ISBN: 978-1-926872-25-4

and to ensure proper curing conditions. Twenty four (24) hours after placement, the shotcrete panels were
drilled and core samples were extracted according to the ASTM C-1604 (2012) and placed in a fog room
(100% relative humidity) until testing. This test method (ASTM C-1604, 2012) was used to measure the
compressive strength of the mixtures at 28 days.

Figure 5 – Nozzle operator shooting test panel with steel fiber reinforced mixture for testing later age
compressive strength

Flexural Toughness Evaluation

In addition to the steel molds and wooden panels shot for compressive strength evaluation, round
determinate panels (Figure 6) were used to evaluate the flexural toughness, also called energy absorption,
in accordance with the ASTM C-1550 (2008).

Figure 6 - Shotcreting fiber reinforced dry-mix shotcrete mixture into a round determinate panel (RDP) for
testing flexural toughness in accordance with the ASTM C 1550

Once the round determinate panels were filled the surface was finished, and then wet burlap and a
plastic sheet was placed on top of each panel to help ensure the panel thickness requirement was met and to
ensure proper curing conditions for the panels until testing.

In this study, the fiber reinforced round determinate panels were tested after 24 hours and 28 days
using the setup illustrated in Figure 7, in accordance with ASTM C-1550 (2008).
 ISRM Congress 2015 Proceedings - Int’l Symposium on Rock Mechanics - ISBN: 978-1-926872-25-4

Figure 7 – Round determinate panel (RDP) during flexural toughness testing in accordance with the ASTM
C1550

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This section presents the compressive strength and flexural toughness results obtained at early and
later ages for both steel fiber reinforced dry-mix shotcrete mixtures.

Compressive Strength

Table 3 and Figure 8 present the compressive strength development obtained for both mixtures.

Table 3 – Compressive strength development obtained for steel fiber reinforced shotcrete mixtures
Average Compressive Strength (MPa)
Age
Mix #1 Mix #2
3 hours 24.0 22.0
1 day 44.4 31.6
7 days 70.2 48.2
28 days 78 67

For both mixtures, the compressive strength obtained after 3 hours confirms the rapid strength
gain of an ettringite based dry-mix shotcrete as documented in previous works (Lemay, Jolin, & Gagné,
2014) (Reny & Ginouse, 2014).

The use of special admixtures and pozzolans with CSA cement in Mix #2 caused a reduction in
compressive strength development after 3 hours in comparison to Mix #1. However, this obvious reduction
in strength development is still satisfactory from a relative standpoint as Mix #2 still provides a much
higher compressive strength at 3 hours in comparison to typical Portland cement and set accelerator based
shotcrete technology.
 ISRM Congress 2015 Proceedings - Int’l Symposium on Rock Mechanics - ISBN: 978-1-926872-25-4

Figure 8 – Compressive strength results obtained on fiber reinforced shotcrete mixtures

Energy Absorption

The flexural toughness results obtained after 24 hours and 28 days (see Table 4 and Figure 9) are
very interesting. First, these results show that it is possible to reach more than 400 Joules after only 24
hours using this new rapid hardening fiber reinforced shotcrete, instead of 7 or 28 days following the
current testing procedures for Portland cement based shotcrete. Second, the flexural toughness obtained for
both mixtures is obviously not related to the compressive strengths discussed in the previous section. While
the compressive strength of Mix #1 at 24 hours and 28 days is higher than the corresponding compressive
strength of Mix #2, the energy absorption results show the opposite trend.

Table 4 – Energy absorption results obtained at 40 mm deflection in accordance with ASTM C1550
Average Flexural Toughness at 40 mm deflection
Age
Mix #1 Mix #2
1 day 229 419
28 days 338 465

This result confirms the fact that compressive strength is not the only factor that attributes to a
fiber reinforced material with a high level of flexural toughness. In fact, several studies have shown that
when compressive strengths are too high, it may result in lower flexural toughness due to an obvious
embrittlement of the cementitious matrix/fiber system (Oyvind, Myren, Klemetsrud, & Kompen, 2014)
(Bernard E. S., 2008). However, in the present case the higher energy absorption results observed for Mix
#2 are mainly due to the use of pozzolans and special admixture to enhance the cementitious matrix/fiber
interface and reduce fiber rebound.
 ISRM Congress 2015 Proceedings - Int’l Symposium on Rock Mechanics - ISBN: 978-1-926872-25-4

Figure 9 – Energy absorption results obtained at 40 mm deflection in accordance with ASTM C1550

In this case where the fiber dosage remained unchanged, the optimization of the CSA cement
based matrix from Mix #1 to Mix #2, was the key step towards increasing the toughness level and the
toughness development of the steel fiber reinforced dry-mix shotcrete.
Even though these results are very promising, in-situ underground testing of such materials is required in
order to confirm the robustness of this rapid flexural toughness dry-mix shotcrete.

CONCLUSIONS

The testing program presented in this paper allowed for the development of a rapid
strength/toughness gain dry-mix shotcrete. Basing on the results obtained, the following conclusions can be
outlined:
1. It is possible to obtain 20 MPa or even higher compressive strengths in only a few hours after
shooting in the right conditions, using dry-mix shotcrete with Calcium Sulfo-Aluminate cement.
2. By optimizing the CSA cement based matrix containing steel-fibers it is also possible to obtain a
flexural toughness in excess of 400 Joules at 40 mm deflection in only 24 hours after shooting by
means of the dry-mix shotcrete process.
3. In-situ testing must be conducted in order to evaluate the robustness of the mixture in
underground conditions.

Based on this work, the use of ettringite based cementitious materials in mining and tunneling
appears very promising as it provides new possibilities to speed-up mining and tunnelling methods in the
future. In the case of shotcrete used for mining, the optimization of a mixture incorporating CSA based
cement and steel fibers seems to be a very promising avenue for reducing the time-cycle of ground support
and excavation operations. It is still important to note that different factors such as temperature,
water/cement ratio, fibers rebound, shooting techniques and equipment maintenance can affect the
quality/performance of shotcrete. In order to realize the benefits of the reduced time-cycle using this new
technology it is still necessary to monitor and control all of the aspects mentioned in the underground
environment.

REFERENCES

ACI Committee 506. (2005). Guide to Shotcrete (ACI 506R-05). Farmington Hills, MI, USA: American
Concrete Institute.
 ISRM Congress 2015 Proceedings - Int’l Symposium on Rock Mechanics - ISBN: 978-1-926872-25-4

ASTM C-116. (1990). Test Method for Compressive Strength of Concrete Using Portions of Beams
Broken in Flexure (Withdrawn 1999). West Conshohocken: ASTM International.

ASTM C-1550. (2008). Standard Test Method for Flexural Toughness of Fiber Reinforced Concrete
(Using Centrally Loaded Round Panel). West Conshohocken: ASTM International.

ASTM C-1604. (2012). Standard Test Method for Obtaining and Testing Drilled Cores of Shotcrete. West
Conshohocken: ASTM International.

Bernard, E. S. (2008). Embrittlement fo Fiber Reinforced Shotcrete. Shotcrete Magazine, 10(3), 16-21.

Bernard, E. S. (2009). Design of Fibre Reinforced Shotcrete Lining with Macro-Synthetic Fibres. Shotcrete
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Bernard, E. S. (2009). Early-Age Re-Entry under Fresh Fibre Reinforced Shotcrete. Shotcrete for
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Bernard, E. S., & Geltinger, C. (2007). Determination of Early Compressive Strength for FRS. Shotcrete
Magazine, 9(4), 22-27.

Dufour, J.-F., O’Donnell, J. D., & Ballou, M. (2003). Determination of Early-Age Ductility of Steel Fiber
Reinforced Shotcrete Lining Systm at Inco`s Stibe Mine. Shotcrete Magazine, 10-15.

Grimstad, E., Kankes, K., Bhasin, R., Magnussen, A. W., & Kaynia, A. (2002). Rock Mass Quality Q Used
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Heere, R., & Morgan, D. (2002). Determination of Early-Age Compressive Strength of Shotcrete.
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Juenger, M., Winnefeld, F., Provis, F., & Ideker, J. (2011). Advances in Alternative Cementitious Binders.
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Lemay, J.-D., Jolin, M., & Gagné, R. (2014). Ultra Rapid Strength Development in Dry-Mix Shotcrete for
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