Types

of Admixtures
• Water reducing
• Set retarding (retarders)
• Set accelerating (accelerators)
• Air entrainer
• Coloring admixtures
• Corrosion inhibitors
• Shrinkage reducers
• Mineral admixtures (silica fume, fly ash, GGBS)
• Hydration-control admixtures

2
Mineral Admixtures
• Also known as supplementary cementitious materials (SCM)
• Fly Ash (FA)
• Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS)
• Silica Fume or Microsilica (SF - MS)
• Rice Husk Ash (RHA)
• Natural pozzolans
◦ Pozzolans are siliceous and aluminous materials that possess little or no cementitious
value but which react chemically with calcium hydroxide to form compounds with
cementitious properties.

3
Fly Ash
• Most common pozzolan used
• Current production is over 500 million tons per year
• By product of the coal industry
• Combustion of coal
◦ Small particles agglomerate forming bottom ash
◦ Most of the fine particles fly out with the flue gas stream -> Fly Ash
• The ash is removed from the gas by cyclone separation,
electrostatic precipitation, and bag-house filtration
• Majorly made of silica and alumina
• S.S.A = 4,200 cm2/g (cement = 3700 cm2/g)

4
Fly Ash
• Primarily silica glass, spherical shapes -> enhances workability
• Extends the hydration process
◦ Allows greater strength development, reduced heat of hydration, & reduced porosity
◦ Concrete containing more than 20% fly ash has much smaller pore sizes
◦ Lower heat of hydration reduced early strength gain of concrete and the extended reaction
permits higher ultimate strength.
• Classified based on calcium content as per ASTM C618:
◦ Low-calcium (<10%)
◦ Class F – fly ash with pozzolan properties
◦ High-calcium (15-40%)
◦ Class C – fly ash with pozzolan and cementitious properties.

5
Fly Ash Uses
• Cement replacement (up to 30%)
◦ Pozzolanic properties
◦ S + CH → C-S-H
◦ It reduces the carbon footprint of cement
◦ No CO2 generated in fly ash production
◦ One of ton CO2 generated in cement production
• Embankment
◦ Fly ash has a large uniformity coefficient and it consists of clay-sized particles
• Soil stabilization
• Flowable fill
◦ Replacement of fine aggregates or cement
6
Fly Ash Uses
• Asphalt Concrete
◦ Class F and Class C fly ash can typically be used as a mineral filler to fill
the voids
◦ They provide contact points between larger aggregate particles in
asphalt concrete mixes
◦ It has also been shown to increase the stiffness of the asphalt matrix,
improving rutting resistance and increasing mix durability
• Geopolymers
◦ It serves as the aluminosilicate source
◦ It is activated in an alkaline solution
◦ Cement-free concrete

7
GGBS
• Ground Granulated Blast Furnace
• Portland cement replacement
◦ Typically up to 40-50%
• Nonmetallic hydraulic cement consisting of silicates and
aluminosilicate of calcium
• Molten slag quenched and then ground to less than 45 microns
• S.S.A = 4000 cm2/g
• Hydrates and sets in manner similar to Portland cement. (generally
has 30 – 45% of cementing material in mix)
◦ Classified by grades according to reactivity
◦ Grade 80, 100 or 120

8
GGBS Effect on Concrete
• Use of GGBS significantly reduces the risk of
damages caused by alkali–silica reaction (ASR)
• It provides higher resistance to chloride ingress
• It reduces the risk of reinforcement corrosion
• It provides higher resistance to attacks
by sulfate and other chemicals
• It gives a brighter color to the concrete given its
near-white color
• Higher long-term compressive strength compared
to OPC concrete

9
GGBS Effect on Concrete
• Concrete made with GGBS cement sets more slowly than
concrete made with OPC
• Concrete continues to gain strength over a longer period in
production conditions
• It results in lower heat of hydration and lower temperature
rises, and makes avoiding cold joints easier
• It may affect construction schedules where quick setting is
required.

10
 Silica Fume (or Microsilica)
• Byproduct of production of silicon metal or ferrosilicon
allows
• Majorly composes of silica (>85%)
• S.S.A = 150,000 – 300,000 cm2/g
• Used as a mineral admixture in concrete (1/100th size of
cement)
◦ Because of this it is a high quality reactive pozzolan when used in
concrete
◦ Need special attention during placing, finishing and curing
• Produces high strength concrete that can reduce corrosion
induced by marine salts or deicing (and highly resistant to
penetration by chloride ions)
• About 4 times the cost of cement

11
Rice Husk Ash (RHA)
• Rice hulls are the coatings of seeds, or grains, of
rice
• The husk protects the seed during the growing
season, since it is formed from hard materials
• The hull is mostly indigestible to humans
• Combustion of rice hulls affords rice husk
ash (RHA)
• This ash is a potential source of amorphous
reactive silica

12
Rice Husk Ash (RHA) Uses
• Toothpaste
• Fertilizer
• Fireworks
• Fuel
• Juice extraction (apples)
• Pet food fiber
• Pillow stuffing
• Insulating material

13
Metakaolin (MK)
• Stone that are rich in kaolinite are known as china clay or
kaolin, traditionally used in the manufacture of porcelain
• The dehydroxylation of kaolin to metakaolin is an endothermic
process due to the large amount of energy required to remove
the chemically bonded hydroxyl ions
• Above the temperature range of dehydroxylation, kaolinite
transforms into metakaolin
• The particle size of metakaolin is smaller than cement
particles, but not as fine as silica fume
14
Metakaolin (MK)
• Considered to have twice the reactivity of most
other pozzolans
• It is a valuable admixture for concrete/cement applications
• Replacing Portland cement with 8–20% (by weight) metakaolin
produces a concrete mix, which exhibits favorable engineering
properties, including:
◦ Immediate filler effect
◦ Acceleration of OPC hydration
◦ Pozzolanic reaction occurs between 3 and 14 days

15
Metakaolin (MK) – Advantages
• Increased compressive and flexural strengths
• Reduced permeability (including chloride permeability)
• Reduced potential for efflorescence
• Increased resistance to chemical attack
• Increased durability
• Reduced effects of alkali-silica reactivity (ASR)
• Enhanced workability and finishing of concrete
• Reduced shrinkage, due to particle packing, making concrete
denser

16
Metakaolin (MK) – Uses
• High performance, high strength, and lightweight concrete
• Precast and poured-mold concrete
• Fiber cement products
• Glass fiber reinforced concrete
• Countertops and art sculptures
• Mortar and stucco (architectural plaster)

17
Effect of Pozzolans on Fresh Concrete

18
Effect of Pozzolans on Hardened Concrete

19
End of Lecture 8
QUIZ – CO NCRETE A D MIXTURES

20