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Procedia Engineering 195 (2017) 183 – 188

18th International Conference on Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Buildings 2016, CRRB

2016

The Replacement of the Parts of the Aggregate in Concrete with

Chalcedonite Powder
Anna Kotwa*
Kielce University of Technology, AL. 1000-lecia PP7, 25-314 Kielce, Poland

Abstract

In recent years, many researches have been conducted concerning the influence of chemical admixtures and mineral additions
on the properties of concrete mixture and the parametres of hardened concrete. The current state of knowledge is not sufficient
for effective use of concrete mixtures with the addition of chalcedonite powder. The development of concrete mixture, in which a
part of the aggregate is replaced with chalcedonite powder can become an alternative to concrete as it creates the possibility of
management of waste located near the chalcedonite aggregate mines. Chalcedonite powder has the same properties as the
aggregate it is created from. That means it is not dangerous but has a negative impact on the natural environment. Obtaining
chalcedonite powder is not expensive and will not only lower the costs of concrete mixture production but also have a positive
impact on the environment.
The article discusses the results of the laboratory tests on the influence of chalcedonite powder on the physico-mechanical
properties of concrete. The meal replaced the aggregates in the amount of 5%, 10%, 15% by their mass. The amount of cement
was unchanged. The research concerned the rheological properties of concrete mixtures, i.e. consistency, density, degree of
aeration and the parametres of hardened concrete, e.g. compressive strength, capillarity and water absorbability. The addition of
meal leads to the decrease in compressive strength. The decrease is related to the amount of the chalcedonite powder in the
concrete mixture. Improvement was noticed in water absorbability and capillarity.
©©2017
2017TheTheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier Ltd. is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
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(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 18th International Conference on Rehabilitation and
Peer-review underofresponsibility
Reconstruction of the organizing committee of the 18th International Conference on Rehabilitation and
Buildings 2016.
Reconstruction of Buildings 2016
Keywords: addition, chalcedonite meal, compressive strength, water absorbability, capillarity

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 041-34-24-376

E-mail address: a.ceglarska@tu.kielce.pl

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 18th International Conference on Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Buildings 2016
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.04.542
184 Anna Kotwa / Procedia Engineering 195 (2017) 183 – 188

1. Introduction

The addition to concrete mixtures used in the laboratory tests is chalcedonite powder with a diameter less than
0,1μm. It is a waste product obtained from chalcedonite crushed stone aggregate mines. Chalcedonite powder is
composed mainly of silica and contains small amounts of other elements, such as quartz, opal, iron hydroxides,
pyrite, manganese compounds and clay minerals. The material used in the research is the final product stored in
aggregate mines.
According to the data published in scientific literature, chalcedonite addition modifies the properties of cement
paste. The extend of these modification depends on the addition, especially on its type, amount and properties as
well as the properties of cement and the presence of other components of cement composite.
The planned research will study the influence of chalcedonite meal on the physico-mechanical properties of
hardened concrete, i.e. the change in compressive strength, water absorbability and capillarity[2,3,4,6,7,8].

2. Personal research

Concrete mixtures were made of Portland cement CEM I 42,5R at a constant ratio w/c=0.4. Chalcedonite powder
was added in various proportions of 5%, 10% and 15% of the aggregate mass in the concrete mixture. The meal was
examined with diffractogram. It consists mainly of quartz. The research analysis also confirmed the presence of the
sample of silica in the form of moganite. This form of silica is difficult to detect but is often found along with
chalcedony.
Particle size of chalcedonite meal was measured by laser diffractometer.
x10 = 0,28 μm x50 = 3,87 μm x90 = 25,53 μm SMD = 0,90 μm VMD = 9,50 μm
x16 = 0,44 μm x84 = 22,38 μm x99 = 34,99 μmSV = 6,64 m²/cm³ Sm =66392,20cm²/g
100 1.2
90
Cumulative distribution Q3 / %

1.0
80

Density distribution q3*

70
0.8
60
50 0.6
40
0.4
30
20
0.2
10
0 0.0
0.1 0.5 1.0 5 10 50 100
p article size / µ m

Fig.1. Particle size of chalcedonite powder.

Planned laboratory tests consisted of the creation of four series of concrete with the composition presented in the
Table 1.

Table 1. Composition of concrete mixtures

Components of concrete Reference Concrete with the Concrete with the Concrete with the
[kg/m3] concrete (SW) addition of 5% of addition of 10% addition of 15%
powder (5%) of powder (10%) of powder (15%)
cement 400 400 400 400
water 160 168 176 184
sand 598 579 560 541
dolomite 4/8 453 444 435 426
dolomite 8/16 691 682 673 666
chalcedonite powder ---- 86 171 248
plastisizing admixture 1,02 1,07 1,14 1,2
air entrainer 9,4 11,17 11,19 11,21
 Anna Kotwa / Procedia Engineering 195 (2017) 183 – 188 185

The admixture used in the research was CX ISOFLOW 755. It is a strong plasticizing and flowability improving
admixture used in the production of high-strength concrete. Concrete mixture with this admixture maintains
consistency for a long period of time. The admixture should be used in the amount of 0.2-3% by the weight of
cement. In the research it was dosed to the wet concrete mixture.
Air entrainer used in the research was ISOSPHERE 60. The admixture can be used along with plasticizing,
flowability improving and retarding admixtures. It should be used in the amount of 0.1-2.5% by the weight of
cement depending on the expected aeration effect. In the research it was added to the ready-made concrete mixture.
The results of air entrainment were the following: SW=4,5%; 5% = 4,6%; 10%=4,5; 15%= 4,7%.

Bulk density of concrete mixture was also measured. The results of the measurements are presented in the table 2.

Table 2. Measurements of density of concrete mixtures with chalcedonite meal.

Type of m2 m1 Density
no
mixture [kg] [kg] [kg/m3]
1 SW 7,1 19,29 2438
2 5,00% 7,1 18,18 2216
3 10,00% 7,1 17,88 2156
4 15,00% 7,1 17,64 2108

The data show that the addition of chalcedonite meal to the concrete mixture decreases its density. Consistency
of concrete mixture was also measured according to PN-EN 206-1 and S2 consistency was obtained in all four
series.
The first measured parameter of hardened concrete was its compressive strength defined after 7, 14 and 28 days
of maturing. Cubic samples with each side 10 cm long matured in water in the temperature of +18°C ±2°C.
Compressive strength was measured for three samples at the same time and the average result was analyzed.
Capillarity was measured for three samples in each series. The samples after formation matured for 7 days in
water in the temperature of + 18°C. Then, they were stored for 21 days in air dry conditions in the temperature of
+18°C. After 28 days of maturing the samples were placed in a climatic chamber and dried to constant weight. The
temperature in the chamber was gradually increased until it reached +105°C. After drying the samples were
insulated on the sides in order to prevent uncontrolled water exchange. All samples were identically protected. The
capillarity test involved placing the insulated samples in the containers with water on the grates made of plastic.
Capillarity test is the measurement of changes in the weight of the samples with the accuracy of 0.01g.
Water absorbability was measured for the cubic samples with each side 10 cm long. After formation they matured
for 7 days in water in the temperature of +18°C. Then, they were stored for 21 days in air dry conditions in the
temperature of +18°C±2°C. Next, the samples were placed in a climatic chamber and dried to constant weight in the
temperature of +105°C. For the first 24 hours the samples were placed in the containers with water at half the height
of the samples. Next, they were completely covered with water at the height of +1cm over the surface of the samples.
The samples were weighed every 24 hours [1, 5, 6, 9].

3. Research results analysis

Compressive strength was measured 7, 14 and 28 days after formation. The result presented in the chart is the
average obtained from the measurements of three cubic samples with each side 10 cm long.
186 Anna Kotwa / Procedia Engineering 195 (2017) 183 – 188

Fig. 2. The increase in compressive strength Fig. 3. The decrease in compressive strength in comparison
with the concrete without admixture after 28 days

The analysis of fig.2 shows that the greatest increase in compressive strength can be observed in the samples of
concrete without chalcedonite powder. Compressive strength after 28 days was 60.9 MPa. The samples with
chalcedonite meal are characterized by the decrease in compressive strength as compared to the concrete without
additions. It was observed that the more meal we add, the more compressive strength decreases. The greatest
decrease (of 10 %) was noticed in the case of the samples with 15 % chalcedonite powder. It should also be noticed
that the increase in compressive strength in the samples with chalcedonite powder during the first ten days was
greater than in the case of reference concrete.

Fig. 4. The increase in weight of the samples in water absorbability test, [kg/m2].

Reference concrete showed the highest water absorbability. The addition of chalcedonite powder causes the
decrease in weight of the samples in contact with water. Significant decrease in weight was observed in the concrete
with the meal (18% weight loss in the case of the concrete with 10% of the meal and 27% in the case of the concrete
with 15% of the meal as compared to the reference concrete).
 Anna Kotwa / Procedia Engineering 195 (2017) 183 – 188 187

Fig. 5. The increase in weight of the samples in capillarity test, [kg/m2].

The analysis of the results shows that the addition of chalcedonite powder causes the decrease in capillarity in
comparison with the reference concrete. The samples with 15% of the meal are characterized by the smallest
increase in weight. The more meal we add, the smallest increase in weight of the samples is, although the samples
with 5% and 10% of the meal display similar increase in weight. The improvement of the parameter was observed in
the series with 15% addition of chalcedonite powder.
12 40
35
absorptivity, [kg/m2]

10
y = 0,98x - 4,5342
30
8 25
drop fcm, [%]

6 20
y = 0,0159x2 - 1,8249x + 78,741
4 15
10
2
5
0 0
0 5 10 0 20 40 60 80
Fig. 6. The relation between the decrease in fcm and the amount Fig. 7. The relation between the weight increase in
of the powder in concrete water absorbability test and the weight increase in
capillarity test

The amount of chalcedonite powder added has a linear influence on the decrease of compressive strength. Fig.7
shows the polynomial dependence between two parameters, water absorbability and capillarity. If we know the
value of one parameter, we are able to estimate the other one.

4. Summary

The conducted laboratory tests show that the addition of chalcedonite powder to concrete mixtures has a positive
influence on the parameters of concrete, such as, capillarity and water absorbability. Adding 15% of the meal causes
the decrease in compressive strength by 10% in comparison with the reference concrete. Application of chalcedonite
powder as an addition to concrete mixtures may solve the problem of storage and management of the waste products
created during the production of chalcedonite crushed stones. Concretes containing chalcedonite powder may be
produced in the places exposed to the effects of water, humidity and other weather conditions, where the
compressive strength parameter is of secondary importance.
188 Anna Kotwa / Procedia Engineering 195 (2017) 183 – 188

The mere replacement of a part of the chalcedonite powder aggregate offers many advantages, among others, a
reduction in the price of the concrete mix, improving the performance of hardened concrete, chalcedonite powder
utilization, lower production costs of concrete mixes containing powder and the ecological aspect [5].

References
[1] PN-EN 206-1:2003, Concrete. Part 1: Specification, performance, production and conformity.
[2] Z. Giergiczny, Use of type II additions in concrete according to PN-EN 206:2014, Building Materials 10/2015, pp. 110-11.
[3] M. Dobiszewska, Concrete with mineral dust waste, Building Materials 5/2015, pp. 63-64.
[4] EN 06265:2004, National supplement standards PN-EN 206-1:2003.
[5] A. Kotwa, Properties of concrete made with cement CEM II / B-V 32.5 R and addition of mineral dust, Eco-innovations in materials and
construction technologies, Monograph, Częstochowa 1015, pp. 121-132.
[6] PN-EN 206:2014, Concrete - Specification, performance, production and conformity.
[7] PN-EN 12350-8:2012, The study of concrete mixes - Part 8: Self-compacting concrete - Test method of conical propagation.
[8] Ponikiewski T., Shaping the workability of fiber concrete self-compacting, XIII Symposium - Technical, Rheology in concrete technology,
Górażdże, Gliwice 2011., pp. 129- 138.
[9] The report of laboratory tests compiled by the Institute of Construction and Rock Mining, Kraków 2006.