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Pervious Concrete Mixture Proportions for Improved Freeze-Thaw Durability

Article in Journal of ASTM International · February 2008

DOI: 10.1520/JAI101320

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 Journal of ASTM International, Vol. 5, No. 2
Paper ID JAI101320
Available online at www.astm.org

J. T. Kevern,1 V. R. Schaefer,1 K. Wang,1 and M. T. Suleiman1

Pervious Concrete Mixture Proportions for Improved

Freeze-Thaw Durability

ABSTRACT: Recent stormwater management regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency
共EPA兲 and greater emphasis on sustainable development has increased interest in pervious pavement as
a method for reducing stormwater runoff and improving stormwater quality. Pervious concrete is one of
several pervious pavement systems that can be used to reduce stormwater runoff and treat stormwater on
site. Pervious concrete systems have been used and are being proposed for all parts of the United States,
including northern climates where severe freezing and thawing can occur. The purpose of the research is
to develop pervious concrete mixtures that have sufficient porosity for stormwater infiltration along with
desirable porosity, strength, and freeze-thaw durability. In this research, concrete mixtures were developed
with single-sized river gravel aggregate 共4.75 mm兲 and constant binder contents, together with high range
water reducer. River sand was used as a replacement for up to 7 % coarse aggregate. Two different types
of polypropylene fibers 共a shorter fibrillated variable-length and a longer fibrillated single-length兲 were
incorporated at several addition rates from 0 to 0.1 % by volume of concrete. The engineering properties of
the aggregate were evaluated along with the porosity, permeability, strength, and freeze-thaw durability of
selected concrete mixtures. The results indicate that the use of sand and fibers provided beneficial effects
on pervious concrete properties, including increased strength, maintained or improved permeability, and
enhanced freeze-thaw resistance.
KEYWORDS: pervious concrete, freeze-thaw durability, freeze-thaw resistance, stormwater
management

Introduction
Pervious pavements are mainly used to allow stormwater to percolate through the voids of the pavement,
which reduces the amount of runoff water. In the United States, pervious pavements are used in sidewalks,
parking lots, and low traffic density areas 关1兴. Unlike other pavement systems, the pervious layer needs not
only to possess the required strength to support the applied loads and freeze-thaw durability to resist
environmental conditions, but is required to have adequate permeability for the design storm of a specific
region. There are many examples of pervious concrete installations in severe freeze-thaw environments
关2–4兴. The general recommendation for pervious concrete systems in freeze-thaw environments is to install
a layer of aggregate base below the pervious concrete pavement to store stormwater in order to avoid
saturation of the pervious concrete during freeze-thaw events 关5兴. There are no documented cases of
freeze-thaw failures of existing installations when these recommendations are followed. However, there is
still some potential for saturation of the pervious concrete layer and it is therefore prudent to design
pervious concrete mixtures to be freeze-thaw resistant in case the pervious concrete does become saturated
during freeze-thaw events.
This paper summarizes the results of research performed at the National Concrete Pavement Technol-
ogy Center 共CP Tech Center兲 located at Iowa State University, to develop a freeze-thaw resistant portland
cement pervious concrete 共PCPC兲 that has the required compressive strength and adequate permeability,
utilizing sand and polypropylene fibers. The engineering properties of the aggregate and the porosity,
permeability, strength, and freeze-thaw durability of pervious concrete mixtures were evaluated and are
summarized herein.

Manuscript received June 21, 2007; accepted for publication January 7, 2008; published online February 2008.
1
Ph.D. Student, Professor of Civil Engineering, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, and Lecturer, respectively, Iowa State
University Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental, Engineering, Ames, Iowa 50011, e-mail: kevernj@iastate.edu

Copyright © 2008 by ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959.
2 JOURNAL OF ASTM INTERNATIONAL

Background

Advantages of Using Pervious Concrete

To meet the requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control and Flood Disaster Protection Acts of the
United States Government, Franklin Institute Research Laboratories used porous asphalt pavement sys-
tems in the early 1970s 关6兴. More recently the amendments of the Clean Water Act, which require
reduction in the quantity of stormwater runoff and initial water quality treatment, increased the interest in
developing new porous pavement materials and enhancing the properties of currently available materials
关7兴.
Pervious concrete is one of a number of methods employed to reduce the volume of direct water runoff
from pavements and to enhance the quality of stormwater 关8兴. Other reported advantages of pervious
concrete include: reducing noise, improving skid resistance, reducing cost, and preserving native ecosys-
tems, while minimizing the heat island effect in large cities 关5兴.

Typical Mixture Proportions and Material Properties

The Environmental Protection Agency 共EPA兲 关9兴 reported that approximately 75 % of current porous
pavement systems have failed, due to a variety of mechanisms including poor design and construction
practices. The National Ready Mixed Association 共NRMCA兲 关3兴 reported the mixture proportions of ten
projects where pervious concrete was used in the United States. These mixture proportions have water to
cement ratios ranging from 0.27 to 0.43 and contain no fine aggregate 共i.e., sand兲. The cement contents
ranged from 177 kg 共300 pcy兲 to 355 kg 共600 pcy兲 per cubic metre along with coarse aggregate amounts
from 1422 kg 共2400 pcy兲 to 1600 kg 共2700 pcy兲 per cubic metre. The single-sized coarse aggregate
reported in the literature ranges from 2.54 cm to 4.75 mm 共1 in. to No. 4 sieve兲. Only one of the reported
mixtures was installed in a hard wet-freeze environment with an average temperature below freezing for
90 days.
Ferguson 关5兴 and the NRMCA 关3兴 reported properties of pervious concrete used in the United States,
which includes porosity ranging from 14 to 31 %, permeability coefficients ranging from 0.03 to 0.6 cm/ s.
共85 to 1700 ft/ day兲, and 28-day compressive strengths ranging from 6.7 to 17.5 MPa 共972 to 2540 psi兲,
with most mixtures having strength less than 13.8 MPa 共2000 psi兲. In general, pervious concrete compres-
sive strength of 13.8 MPa 共2000 psi兲, or perhaps even lower, is adequate for most parking and light street
applications. However, in some cases it may be desirable to achieve higher compressive strength.

Failure Mechanisms of Pervious Concrete

When subjected to loading, pervious concrete made of single-sized aggregate transfers stress through the
aggregate to the cement paste. Generally, the strength of coarse aggregate is high when compared with that
of the paste and the interface between the aggregate and the paste 关10兴. To improve the strength of
pervious concrete, the strength of the paste, and the interface between the aggregate and the paste needs to
be improved 关11兴. These improvements can be achieved by using lower water-to-binder ratios 共w/b兲,
smaller-sized aggregates, and proper admixtures, as well as by altering the mixing process.

Experimental Work

Materials
Type II cement marketed as a Type I/II cement, with a Blaine fineness of 384 m2 / kg and a specific gravity
of 3.15, was used in all mixtures. A type of single-sized river gravel coarse aggregate was used. The
single-sized river gravel had 100 % of the material passing a 9.5-mm sieve 共3 / 8 in.兲 and being retained on
a 4.75-mm sieve 共No. 4兲. The dry rodded unit weight was 15.61 kN/ m3 of the aggregate, porosity of
38.5 %, specific gravity of 2.62, the abrasion obtained using a Micro Deval device of 14.4 %, and
absorption of 1.7 %.
River sand was used to replace up to 7 % of the coarse aggregate. The sand had a fineness modulus of
2.90, with 90 % passing a 2.36-mm sieve 共No. 8兲. It had a specific gravity of 2.62 and absorption of 1.1 %.
 KEVERN ET AL. ON CONCRETE MIXTURE PROPORTIONS 3

TABLE 1—Properties of fibers used in preparing the pervious concrete mixtures.

Fiber Name Fibermesh 300 Fibercast 500

Fiber Type fibrillated fibrillated
Specific Gravity 0.91 0.91
Length 12.7 mm, 19.1 mm 50 mm
Denier 360 360
Surface Area 20.65 cm2 / g 188.45 cm2 / g

Polypropylene fibers 共Propex兲 were incorporated into the pervious concrete proportions and their material
properties are also provided in Table 1. An air entraining agent 共AEA兲 and high-range water reducer
共HRWR兲 were used in all of the pervious concrete mixtures. The specific gravity and pH were 1.01 and 10
for the AEA 共Master Builders Everair plus兲 and 1.07 and 7.8 for the HRWR 共Master Builders Glenium
3400 NV兲, respectively.

Mixture Proportions
The mixture proportions consisted of seven groups, each group included one mixture with sand and one
mixture without sand, for a total of 14 mixtures. Fibers were added to the baseline mixtures at varying
quantities and the proportions are summarized in Table 2. The manufacturer’s recommended fiber dosage
is 0.9 kg/ m3 共1.5 lb/ yd3兲 of concrete, which represents 0.1 % by volume 关12兴.

Specimen Preparation
Initial trial batches were mixed using a 0.01 m3 共0.5 ft3兲 open pan mixer for evaluation of porosity,
permeability, unit weight, and seven-day compressive strength. Selected mixtures were mixed again using
a larger 0.04 m3 共1.5 ft3兲 rotating-drum mixer in order to determine strength development with time,
splitting tensile strength, and freeze-thaw resistance, in addition to the previously mentioned characteris-
tics. For the mixtures included in this study, data reported for those mixtures containing no fibers and fibers
added at 0.3 and 0.9 kg/ m3 were samples placed from the larger mixer 共Mixtures 1-3 and 6 and 7兲.
Mixtures containing fibers added at 0.6 kg/ m3 were mixed using the smaller mixer 共Mixtures 4 and 5兲.
Since initially the concrete strength was hindered by poor bonding characteristics between the cement
paste and the smooth, yet strong river gravel aggregate, two different sample preparation procedures were
used to increase the strength of the pervious concrete. The first procedure was the one traditionally used for
concrete where aggregate, water, and admixtures were combined before the addition of the cement. Using
this procedure for Mixture 1, it was observed that the samples failed at the interface between the cement
paste and the aggregate. The bond between the cement paste and the aggregate was increased by dry

TABLE 2—Mixture proportions used in this study.

Water Fibers

Mixture Cement Gravel Sand

ID 共kg/ m3兲 共kg/ m3兲 共kg/ m3兲 共w/c兲 共kg/ m3兲 Type 共kg/ m3兲
1 343 1602 … 0.27 93.0 … …
1S 343 1498 104 0.27 93.0 … …
2 343 1602 … 0.27 93.0 FM300 0.3
2S 343 1498 104 0.27 93.0 FM300 0.3
3 343 1602 … 0.27 99.5 FC500 0.3
3S 343 1498 104 0.27 99.5 FC500 0.3
4 343 1602 … 0.27 93.0 FM300 0.6
4S 343 1498 104 0.27 93.0 FM300 0.6
5 343 1602 … 0.27 99.5 FC500 0.6
5S 343 1498 104 0.27 99.5 FC500 0.6
6 343 1602 … 0.27 93.0 FM300 0.9
6S 343 1498 104 0.27 93.0 FM300 0.9
7 343 1602 … 0.27 99.5 FC500 0.9
7S 343 1498 104 0.27 99.5 FC500 0.9
4 JOURNAL OF ASTM INTERNATIONAL

mixing a small amount of cement 共⬍5 % by mass兲 with the aggregate until completely coated 共about one
minute兲. Next, the remaining cement and water 共with HRWR兲 were added. Finally, the concrete was mixed
for three minutes, allowed to rest for three minutes, and then mixed for an additional two minutes before
casting. Samples that employed this modified mixing procedure failed more often through the aggregate,
which increased the seven-day compressive strength of the mixture. All specimens were placed by lightly
rodding 25 times in three layers to ensure uniform compaction in each lift. In addition to rodding, the
samples were placed on a vibration table for five seconds after rodding each layer to ensure the layers
properly meshed together, since the rodding did not penetrate the underlying layer. This procedure was
designed to uniformly compact the specimens without consolidation, thereby creating uniform density
across the samples. The samples were demolded after 24 hours, placed in a fog room at 98 % relative
humidity, and cured according to ASTM Standard C192-02, “Standard Practice for Making and Curing
Concrete Test Specimens in the Laboratory,” 关13兴. Before compression testing, the cylinders were capped
using a sulfur capping compound following ASTM Standard C617-98, “Standard Practice for Capping
Cylindrical Concrete Specimens,” 关14兴. When specimens were tested with unbounded caps containing a
neoprene rubber pad with a durometer hardness of 50, according to ASTM Standard C1231, “Standard
Practice for Use of Unbonded Caps in Determination of Compressive Strength of Hardened Concrete
Cylinders,” 关15兴, the failure occurred at the ends of the sample, whereas sulfur capped samples failed
through the center in a similar manner to standard concrete compression failure.
Cylinders of 100 mm 共4 in.兲 in diameter and 200 cm 共8 in.兲 in length were used for both compression
and tensile strength tests. Cylinders of 75 mm 共3 in.兲 by 150 mm 共6 in.兲 were used to perform the porosity
analysis and cylinders of 75 mm 共3 in.兲 in diameter and length were used to measure the permeability.
Beams with a cross section of 75 mm 共3 in.兲 by 100 mm 共4 in.兲 and a length of 400 mm 共16 in.兲 were
used for freeze-thaw testing.

Testing Procedures
Workability of the fresh concrete was determined by a standard slump cone test using ASTM Standard
C143-00, “Standard Test Method for Slump of Hydraulic-Cement Concrete,” 关16兴. Although, slump is not
applicable to pervious concrete as it often has zero slump or collapses without providing any useful data.
Compressive strength tests were performed according to ASTM Standard C39-01, “Standard Test Method
for Compressive Strength of Cylindrical Concrete Specimens,” 关17兴 and splitting tensile tests were per-
formed using ASTM Standard C496-96, “Standard Test Method for Splitting Tensile Strength of Cylin-
drical Concrete Specimens,” 关18兴.
The porosity of the pervious concrete was determined by taking the difference in weight between a
sample oven dry and submerged under water and using Eq 1 关19兴 and the procedure developed at the
University of South Carolina 关20兴.

冋 冉
P= 1−
W2 − W1
␳wVol
冊册 100共%兲 共1兲

where:

P⫽total porosity, %
W1⫽weight under water, kg
W2⫽oven dry weight, kg
Vol⫽volume of sample, cm3
␳w⫽density of water @21°C, kg/ cm3
The permeability of mixtures was determined using a falling head permeability test apparatus 共Fig. 1兲.
A flexible sealing gum was used around the top perimeter of a sample to prevent water leakage along the
sides of a sample. The samples were then confined in a latex membrane and sealed in a rubber sleeve
which was surrounded by adjustable hose clamps. The test was performed using several water heights
which represented values that a pavement may experience. The average coefficient of permeability 共k兲 was
determined using Eq 2, which follows Darcy’s law and assumes laminar flow.
 KEVERN ET AL. ON CONCRETE MIXTURE PROPORTIONS 5

FIG. 1—Permeameter used to test pervious concrete samples.

k=
aL
At
LN冉冊
h1
h2
共2兲

where:

k⫽coefficient of permeability, cm/s

a⫽cross sectional area of the standpipe, cm2
L⫽length of sample, cm
A⫽cross-sectional area of specimen, cm2
t⫽time in seconds from h1 to h2
h1⫽initial water level, cm
h2⫽final water level, cm
Mixtures with adequate porosity and seven-day compressive strength were further investigated by their
strength development with time and freeze-thaw resistance using ASTM Standard C666-97, “Standard Test
Method for Resistance of Concrete to Rapid Freezing and Thawing,” procedure A 关21兴, in which samples
were frozen and thawed in the saturated condition. One of the assumptions in this test is constant mass
loss, which allows direct comparison of the initial fundamental frequency with that of the sample as it
deteriorates. Since pervious concrete specimens have significantly more mass loss than standard concrete,
the rate of deterioration of the dynamic modulus is often over estimated. There was also difficulty obtain-
ing consistent, reproducible sonometer readings. Consequently, a less sensitive approach was employed to
determine freeze-thaw durability using the aggregate soundness requirements from ASTM Standard C33-
97, “Standard Specification for Concrete Aggregates,” 关22兴. When using a magnesium sulfate solution the
allowable aggregate mass loss is 18 %, and 12 % is allowed for sodium sulfate solutions. By combining
the two values, the test was completed when a sample reached 300 cycles or 15 % mass loss. Mass loss
was tested every 20 to 30 cycles. The results of other mixtures and more details are summarized in
Schaefer et al. 关23兴 and Kevern 关24兴.

Results and Discussion

Engineering properties of all pervious concrete mixtures included in this study are presented in Table 3.
The data values in the table represent the average of three test specimens. The slump of all mixtures ranged
between 0.00 and 1.27 cm 共0 to 1 / 2 in.兲. The porosities ranged from 15.0 to 33.1 %. The seven-day
compressive strength ranged from 9.9 to 22.7 MPa 共1440 to 3290 psi兲.
A statistical analysis was performed using SAS and the General Linear Model 共GLM兲 procedure with
a Type III sum of squares error to determine which variables have a significant effect on the concrete
properties. An alpha value of 0.05 was used to identify statistical significance. Table 4 shows the results of
6 JOURNAL OF ASTM INTERNATIONAL

TABLE 3—Engineering properties of pervious concrete mixtures.

Tensile
Compressive Strength Strength
Unit
Mixture Porosity weight 7 day 21 day 28 day 28 day k
ID 共%兲 共kg/ m3兲 共MPa兲 共MPa兲 共MPa兲 共MPa兲 共cm/s兲
1 25.3 1,882 14.5 16.4 17.3 2.00 0.25
1S 18.3 2,046 22.7 23.3 25.2 2.95 0.10
2 18.9 1,929 17.8 20.3 21.4 2.40 0.27
2S 16.0 1,992 16.7 18.7 20.3 2.60 0.01
3 21.7 1,916 15.4 17.1 17.8 1.30 0.02
3S 15.0 2,029 17.4 19.3 19.5 2.20 0.01
4 32.1 1,769 9.9 … … … 1.18
4S 28.9 1,832 11.7 … … … 0.57
5 33.1 1,759 10.1 … … … 1.03
5S 27.3 1,867 12.8 … … … 0.49
6 22.1 1,913 17.9 19.1 21.4 2.45 0.68
6S 19.0 1,963 20.6 22.2 26.5 2.40 0.30
7 20.4 1,888 15.3 17.7 17.7 2.05 0.20
7S 19.4 1,935 16.9 16.9 17.0 2.45 0.02
1000 psi= 6.90 MPa
1 in./ h = 7.1⫻ 10−4 cm/ s.

the GLM analysis. The statistical analysis was performed as a series of one-way ANOVA trials testing the
significance of each of the individual variables and interactions on the specific concrete property. The
analyzed mixture proportion variables are identified as yes or no 共y/n兲 as either present or not present in
the analysis. The effect of fiber addition was considered for no addition compared individually with each
of the three addition levels.

The Effect of Sand on Material Properties

The effect of using sand in pervious concrete mixtures was investigated by using 7 % sand, 共by weight兲 as
replacement for coarse aggregate. Figure 2 shows the average effect of sand on material properties for all
the mixtures discussed in this paper. The addition of sand had a statistically significant effect on all the
variables.
Among the mixtures, Mixture 1S 共baseline mixture with sand and no fibers兲 had the highest seven-day
compressive strength, although it did not occur at the lowest porosity. When sand was added to the
baseline Mixture 1 共Mixture 1S兲, the seven-day compressive strength increased from 14.5 MPa 共2100 psi兲
to 22.7 MPa 共3290 psi兲, with a corresponding 7 % decrease in porosity. The average seven-day compres-
sive strength for the mixtures not containing sand was 14.4 MPa 共2090 psi兲, while the strength was
17.0 MPa 共2460 psi兲 for the mixtures containing sand. The average tensile strength increased from
2.05 MPa 共295 psi兲 to 2.55 MPa 共370 psi兲, an increase of 24 %, when sand was added. Consequently, the
porosity was reduced by an average of 4.2 % with the inclusion of sand. The addition of sand also reduced

TABLE 4—Results of GLM statistical analysis.

Mixture Proportion Variables

Fiber Type Fiber Addition Rate
Concrete Sand
Properties 共y/n兲 FM300 共y/n兲 FC500 共y/n兲 FM300 or FC 500 0-0.3 0-0.6 0-0.9
Unit Weight S S S N N S S
Voids S N N N S S S
Permeability S S N S N S N
7-day compressive S S S N S S N
strength
Note: S⫽A statistically significant factor.
Note: N⫽Not a statistically significant factor.
 KEVERN ET AL. ON CONCRETE MIXTURE PROPORTIONS 7

FIG. 2—Effect of sand on material properties.

the average permeability of the mixtures from 0.52 to 0.21 cm/ s 共747 to 298 in./ h兲 a decrease of 60 %,
which is still higher than the maximum required permeability to drain the maximum 25-year/24-hour
storm across the United States 共i.e., 30.5 cm 共12-inch兲兲 关25兴.

The Effect of Fibers on Material Properties

The effect of fibers on pervious concrete behavior was investigated by the incorporation of two different
fibers 共FM300 and FC500兲 at three addition rates. Figures 3 and 4 show the effects of fiber addition on
concrete material properties for the 0.0, 0.3, and 0.9 kg/ m3 addition rates. The fiber addition rate produced
a significant effect above the 0.3 kg/ m3 rate; the fiber type did not affect the air voids or compressive
strength.
When the shorter fibers 共FM300兲 were added to the baseline Mixture 1 共no sand, no fibers兲, the
porosity of Mixture 2 and Mixture 6 decreased by 6.4 and 3.2 %, and 28-day compressive strength
increased 24 % for both addition rates used 共Fig. 3共a兲兲. Even though the porosity decreased, the perme-
ability increased by 8 % at the 0.3 kg/ m3 共0.5 pcy兲 addition rate and by 172 % for the 0.9 kg/ m3
共1.5 pcy兲 addition rate. Splitting tensile strength also increased by an average of 23 %, from 1979 kPa
共287 psi兲 to 2434 kPa 共353 psi兲.
When the longer fibers 共FC500兲 were added to Mixture 1, the porosity decreased by 3.6 and 4.9 %,
Mixture 3 and Mixture 7, respectively. A decrease in porosity was observed along with a slight increase in
strength of 6.2 % at the 0.3 kg/ m3 共0.5 pcy兲 addition rate and of 5.5 % at the 0.9 kg/ m3 共1.5 pcy兲

FIG. 3—Effect of fibers on material properties (mixtures without sand) (a) FM300 fibers (b) FC500 fibers.
8 JOURNAL OF ASTM INTERNATIONAL

FIG. 4—Effect of fibers on material properties (mixtures containing sand).

addition rate at seven-days 共Fig. 3共b兲兲. Although, when the longer fibers were added to Mixture 1, the
permeability decreased from the baseline mixture 共Mixture 3 and Mixture 7兲. There was not a clear effect
on tensile strength from addition of the longer fibers, with a 34 % decrease for Mixture 3 and a 4 %
increase for Mixture 7.
When the shorter fibers 共FM300兲 were added to the baseline mixture containing sand 共Mixture 1S兲, the
trend is different from that of the fibers added in the mixtures with no sand 共Fig. 4兲. The porosity decreased
2.3 % when 0.3 kg/ m3 共0.5 pcy兲 of the fibers were added 共Mixture 2S兲, but it increased 0.7 % when
0.9 kg/ m3 共1.5 pcy兲 of the fibers were added 共Mixture 6S兲. Compressive strength trends followed that of
the porosity with a decrease at the lower addition rate and an increase at the higher addition rate. Perme-
ability also showed a decrease for Mixture 2S of 90 % and an increase for Mixture 6S of 200 %. Tensile
strength was decreased for both addition rates compared to the baseline mixture containing sand.
The results of the mixtures with long fibers 共FC500兲 and sand were similar to that of the short fibers.
The porosity decreased 3.3 % at the lower addition rate 共Mixture 3S兲 and increased 1.1 % at the higher
rate 共Mixture 7S兲. The 28-day compressive strength decreased for both addition rates as well as perme-
ability and splitting tensile strength.

Material Property Relationships

The relationships between unit weight and porosity are presented in Fig. 5, between compressive strength,
permeability, and porosity in Fig. 6, and between splitting tensile strength and compressive strength in
Fig. 7.
As expected, the unit weight of the pervious concrete decreased linearly as the porosity increased. For
all reported mixtures, the seven-day compressive strength linearly reduced as a function of porosity.
However, the permeability exponentially increased as a function of porosity, especially above 25 % voids.
Figure 6 illustrates that mixtures with a porosity between 15 and 20 % achieve both the adequate seven-
day strength 共⬎20 MPa 共2900 psi兲兲 and acceptable permeability 共⬎0.01 cm/ s 共14 in./ h兲兲, which is indi-

FIG. 5—Relationship between unit weight and porosity.

 KEVERN ET AL. ON CONCRETE MIXTURE PROPORTIONS 9

FIG. 6—Relationship between seven-day compressive strength, permeability, and porosity.

cated as the limits of the target region. The observed relationships between the material properties and
porosity are consistent with those presented in the American Concrete Institute 共ACI兲 pervious concrete
522 committee report 关26兴.
It has been observed that mixtures which lie in the target region have a unit weight of about 1900 to
2000 kg/ m3 共119 to 125 pcf兲 for this particular aggregate type. This suggests that unit weight may be
considered as a key factor that controls quality of pervious concrete.
The relationship between splitting tensile strength and compressive strength, at 28 days, is slightly
higher than the 10 % ratio between tensile strength and compressive strength normally assumed for
commercially available, conventional density concrete. Other reported values for pervious concrete sug-
gest that the splitting tensile strength values represent between 65 and 90 % of the three point tensile
strength 关23兴.

Freeze-Thaw Durability
The freeze-thaw durability as a function of mass loss is shown in Fig. 8 and indicates:
1. Use of sand replacement significantly increased the freeze-thaw resistance of the pervious con-
crete. When compared with Mixture 1 共no sand兲, Mixture 1S 共with sand兲 had better freeze-thaw
resistance.
2. Addition of fiber 共0.03 or 0.1 % by volume兲 in the concrete without sand also improved the
concrete freeze-thaw resistance. However, the degree of the improvement was not as high as that
provided by use of sand. Compared with Mixture 1, which had more than 15 % weight loss at
approximately 145 freeze-thaw cycles, Mixtures 2 and 6 had more than 15 % weight loss at
approximately 200 and 175 freeze-thaw cycles, respectively.
3. Use of sand and fiber together greatly enhanced freeze-thaw resistance of the concrete, especially
the freeze-thaw resistance at the early-age cycles. Compared with Mixture 1 共without sand and

FIG. 7—Relationship between splitting tensile strength and compressive strength.

10 JOURNAL OF ASTM INTERNATIONAL

FIG. 8—Freeze-thaw results.

FIG. 9—Effect of sand on the pervious concrete freeze-thaw resistance (a) Mixture 1, (b) Mixture 1S, (c)
Mixture 2.
fiber兲 and Mixture 1S 共with sand but no fiber兲, Mixture 6S 共with sand and 0.9 % FM300 fiber兲 had
improved freeze-thaw resistance at the early freeze-thaw cycling 共up to 200 freeze-thaw cycles兲
although its freeze-thaw resistance was reduced later 共lower than that of Mixture 1S at 300 cycles兲.
Figure 9 shows beams of Mixtures 1, 1S, and 2 before and after freeze-thaw cycling. As observed, the
beam made with Mixture 1 共no sand and no fiber兲 had 19 % weight loss at 156 cycles. The beam made
with Mixture 2 共no sand but 0.3 % fiber兲 had 15 % mass loss at 210 cycles. The samples containing fibers
maintained a more uniform shape after failure than those samples that did not contain fibers. For all
samples, the initial mass loss was through splitting of the aggregate, beginning this process after only few
cycles. As the test progressed towards failure, the mechanism of mass loss was paste deterioration causing
the raveling of entire pieces of aggregate. However, the beam made with Mixture 1S 共with sand but no
fiber兲 had only 2 % weight loss at 300 cycles, primarily from the splitting of a few less durable aggregate
particles located on the beam surface. Further research is necessary to better understand the frost damage
mechanism in pervious concrete.

Conclusions
This study found that pervious concrete mixture proportions can be optimized for strength, permeability,
porosity and freeze-thaw resistance with sand, or sand and fibers. Well designed pervious concrete mix-
 KEVERN ET AL. ON CONCRETE MIXTURE PROPORTIONS 11

tures can meet strength, permeability, and freeze-thaw durability requirements for cold weather climates.
Mixture 1S which included 4.75-mm river gravel, 7 % sand, and air entrainment, showed the best freeze-
thaw durability with 2 % mass loss after 300 cycles. The addition of fibers further improved the freeze-
thaw durability of the mixtures.
From this study the following conclusions can be made:
1. Use of sand in a pervious concrete mixture significantly increased strength although it slightly
decreased the voids and permeability of the concrete.
2. Use of the short fibers improved the strength, permeability, and freeze-thaw durability of the
mixtures which did not contain additional sand. The long fibers improved the strength and freeze-
thaw durability of the mixtures which did not contain additional sand but did not improve perme-
ability.
3. A target unit weight can be used to design mixtures for the best combination of strength, perme-
ability, and freeze-thaw durability.
4. Pervious concrete mixtures that possess optimized strength, permeability, porosity and freeze-thaw
resistance can be developed by incorporating sand and fibers.

Acknowledgments
This study was sponsored by the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center at Iowa State University
through the Sponsored Research Fund by Iowa Department of Transportation, the Iowa Concrete Paving
Association, and the Iowa Ready Mixed Concrete Association. Various admixtures were donated by Mas-
ter Builders. The cement was donated by LaFarge and the aggregate by Hallett Materials. The fibers were
donated by Propex. The opinions, findings and conclusions presented here are those of the authors and do
not necessarily reflect those of the research sponsors.

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