HIGH PERFORMANCE CONCRETE (HPC) (REVISITED IN 2011)

P.-C. Atcin, Universit de Sherbrooke, Qubec, Canada

36th Conference on OUR WORLD IN CONCRETE & STRUCTURES: 14 - 16 August 2011, Singapore

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36 Conference on Our World in Concrete & Structures Singapore, August 14-16, 2011

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HIGH PERFORMANCE CONCRETE (HPC) (REVISITED IN 2011)

P.-C. Atcin Professor Universit de Sherbrooke, Qubec, Canada J1K 2R1 E-mail : <pcaitcin@yahoo.ca>

Keywords: high-performance concrete, self-levelling concrete, concrete sustainability, concrete rheology, curing, water/cement ratio, Jensen and Hansen model

Abstract. The book High-Performance Concrete was published in 1998, most of it is still correct. It is the objective of this presentation to update it. High-Performance concrete (HPC) behave differently from normal-strength concrete (NSC) because some phenomena that influence very little some NSC practical properties can influence significantly the same HPC properties. We know now that the w/c ratio is in direct relationship with the distance between the cement particles in the cement paste: the lower the w/c the closer the cement particles within the cement paste, the stronger the concrete and the more durable the concrete. Taking advantage of Jensen and Hansen model we learned that, at least theoretically, a 0.36 w/c HPC should be close to a perfect non-porous solid. We learned also that: -concrete must be cured according to its w/c ratio, -a partial substitution of lightweight aggregate can be used to take advantage of internal curing, -external water curing is still very important to strengthen concrete skin. Two recent examples of outstanding structures will illustrate the progresses realized in the control of HPC rheology. These progresses are due to the work of Olafur Wallevik and others. Finally the importance of education and technological transfer will be emphasized in order to promote the use of more sustainable concrete structures.
1. INTRODUCTION

The book High Performance Concrete was published in 1998. Thirteen years later, most of it is still correct. It has been translated in French, Brazilian, Check, Spanish and a Chinese version should be available soon. However, the science and technology of HPC progressed during these 13 years, it is the objective of this presentation to update it. HPC is still produced using the same materials as when making normal strength concrete (NSC), both concretes obey the same law of physics, chemistry, thermodynamics and of course the law of the market. However, HPC can behave differently than NSC because some phenomena that

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influence very little some NSC practical properties can influence significantly the same properties of HPC. 2. MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HPC AND NSC

The essential difference is the w/c: in a NSC, the w/c usually varies from 0.42 to 0.60 ( or even more) so that NSC contains more water than necessary to fully hydrate all its cement particles; in a HPC, the w/c is smaller than 0.42 so that usually HPC does not contain enough water to hydrate all its cement particles. The w/c is not a theoretical number without any physical meaning. Using Dale Bentz mathematical model of cement hydration (Figure 1) it has been possible to demonstrate that the w/c is directly proportional to the distance of cement particles in the paste (Bentz and Atcin 2008 ). The smaller the w/c, the closer the cement particles within the paste, the stronger the bonds generated during hydration. What are the w/c used currently when making HPC? 0.30 to 0.40 usually 0.25 to 0.30 in particular cases 0.18 to 0.20 in ultra high strength concrete (UHSC) Why HPC strength continue to increase when the w/c is smaller than 0.42 in spite of the fact that there is not enough water to fully hydrate all the cement particles? The compressive strength of a paste depends more of the distance separating the cement particles within the paste than of the number of particles that have been hydrated. When the cement particles are far from each other, hydrates have to grow over a large distance before meeting other hydrates that have grown from other cement particles to create some physical bonds.; consequently the bonds are not as strong as when cement particles are closer to each other. This is HPC secret.

Figure 1. Mathematical representation of a cement paste according to Dale Bentz model 3. HOW TO DECREASE THE DISTANCE BETWEEN CEMENT PARTICLES IN A PASTE?

It is possible to decrease the distance between cement particles in a paste using a superplasticizer. Superplasticizers are synthetic polymers specifically designed to decrease drastically the natural tendency of cement particles to flocculate in water. Why cement particles flocculate when they come into contact with water ?

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First, the grinding of Portland cement clinker generates a great number of positive and negative charges on cement particles. Second, water molecules are polar because the centres of gravity of their positive and negative charges are not one and the same, consequently water molecules behave like electrical dipoles. This dipoles create inter-particular bonds strong enough to create cement flocks looking like a card castle. These flocks trap a certain fraction of the mixing water so that this water is no more available to provide to concrete the necessary plasticity to facilitate its placing. Two types of polymers are used to fight cement flocculation: polysulphonates acting essentially electrostatically (Figure 2); polyacrylates acting essentially sterically (Figure 3).

ELECTROSTATIC REPULSION

Cement particle

Cement particle

Figure 2. Schematical representation of electrostatic repulsion

STERIC REPULSION

Cement particle

Cement particle

Figure 3. Schematic representation of steric repulsion

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When superplasticizer molecules recover cement particles, cement particles become electrically neutral; there is no more trapped water between cement particles so that this water is available to improve the rheology of concrete (Atcin 2008). Presently, with cements that have a low C3S and C3A content, it is possible to produce plastic concrete having a w/c as low as 0.28 and even in some cases, as 0.25.

SHRINKAGE

Level of the cement paste

Before

After

V = Volume of water that penetrated within the paste

SWELLING

Before After Figure 4a. Le Chatelier experiment

Figure 4b. Le Chatelier experiment revisited

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4.

PORTLAND CEMENT HYDRATION. A VERY SIMPLE EXPERIMENT

Over hundred years ago, Henri Le Chatelier did a very simple experiment showing the physical consequences of hydration reaction (Atcin and Mindess 2011). He filled with a cement paste two small vases surmounted by a tube (Figures 4a and 4b). In one vase, he filed the tube with water up to a mark so that hydration reaction occurred under water. In order to avoid any evaporation, he closed the two tubes with a glass cork presenting a small hole. In less than 24 hours Le Chatelier observed that the level of water in the tube decreased and continued to decrease the following days before stabilizing at a constant level. The volume of water that penetrated within the hydrated cement paste represented almost 8% of the initial volume of the paste. After a while, Le Chatelier observed that the vase was broken due to an increase of the apparent volume of the hydrated cement paste. On the contrary during the same time, Le Chatelier observed that the apparent volume of the paste that hydrated in air decreased because it did not filled any more completely the vase. These two observations are very important from a practical point of view: during hydration, the apparent volume of a cement paste changes according to its curing condition (Atcin 1999); if hydration occurs in air, the apparent volume of the paste decreases without any weight lost. if hydration occurs under water, the apparent volume of the paste increases while a certain volume of water ( 8 % of the initial volume of the paste) penetrates in it. From these observations, le Chatelier concluded : the absolute volume of a cement paste decreases by 8% during hydration because the hydrates formed have absolute volume smaller than the sum of the absolute volume ( solid volume) of the cement particles and the volume of water that are combined; the apparent volume of the cement paste increases or decreases according to its curing condition: when hydration occurs in air, the apparent volume decreases ; when hydration occurs under water, the apparent volume increases. The reduction of the absolute volume is called chemical contraction ( in the French literature it is also called Le Chateliers contraction). It is possible to explain simply the contraction of the apparent volume when hydration occurs in air: the menisci appearing in the porosity created by the chemical contraction generate tensile stresses in the paste that generate a contraction of the apparent volume of the paste. The swelling of the paste that is hydrating under water is not so easily explained: it could be due to the preferential growth of crystals having a rapid growth ( portlandite and ettringite crystals) that are acting like nano-jack that increase the apparent volume of the hydrated cement paste. Moreover, it has been observed recently that when hydration occurs in quasi-adiabatic conditions, the initial swelling is increased significantly (Duran Herrera and al 2008) (Figure 5). This significant increase of the initial apparent volume in quasi-adiabatic conditions can be very important from a practical point of view because it could possible to decrease significantly or even eradicate autogenous shrinkage in HPC. Such an eradication would have a significant impact on the durability of HPC structures and consequently on their sustainability. 5. THE DECREASE OF THE APPARENT VOLUME OF A CEMENT PASTE CURED IN AIR WITHOUT ANY EVAPORATION (AUTOGENOUS SHRINKAGE)

When there is not an external source of water that fills the capillaries created by the chemical contraction, menisci appear in these capillaries. The finer the capillaries, the stronger the tensile stresses generated by the menisci, the greater the contraction of the apparent volume. This contraction of the apparent volume is called autogenous shrinkage. As in HPC, the initial capillary network and the one created by chemical contraction are much finer than the capillaty network of a NSC, in HPC the volumetric contraction due to autogenous shrinkage occurs earlier and increases very rapidly. Autogenous shrinkage develops in any concrete because it is an avoidable consequence of hydration reaction when it occurs in the absence of an external source of water. However, in NSC, this contraction is negligible because menisci are developed in large capillaries where they generate weak tensile stresses. On the contrary, in the case of HPC, these menisci are developed in very fine capillaries so that the tensile stresses generated are much greater. The lower w/c, the greater autogenous shrinkage. Moreover, as autogenous shrinkage is developed very early during the

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hydration process, the high tensile stresses usually result in an early cracking of the paste. Consequently, HPC durability is decreased: HPC is only impervious between its cracks. In any concrete drying shrinkage is generated by the menisci that are formed when capillary water evaporates from concrete. NSC presents a greater drying shrinkage than HPC, but this shrinkage occurs usually late when concrete has developed a significant tensile stress. In HPC, drying shrinkage is small because when it occurs autogenous shrinkage has already decreased considerably the diameter of the menisci in the capillary network so that it become difficult to water to evaporate.

Figure 5. Swelling observed in adiabatical conditions with a partial substitution of a saturated lightweight sand

6.

A VERY SIMLPLE GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF HYDRATION REACTION

Around 1950, Powers studied quantitatively hydration reaction. He demonstrated that in order to reach full hydration, it is necessary to have a w/c equal to 0.42. This w/c is much greater than the 0.22 w/c necessary to equilibrate the chemical reactions occurring during hydration because a part of the mixing water is physically bound ( strongly) to the hydrates. In 2001, Jensen and Hansen presented a very simple graphical representation of hydration reaction. In Figure 6, the x axis represents the degree of hydration. During the hydration process, this degree of hydration increases from 0 to 1, when cement particles are put in contact with water and that all cement particles become hydrated. The y axis represents the relative volume of cement and water in the paste. There is no entrapped air in the paste.

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Figure 6. Jensen and Hansens schematical representation

W/C = 0.60

Figure 7. Schematical representation of a cement paste having a W/C equal to 0.60 without any external source of water

6.1

Hydration of a paste having a w/c equal to 0.60 in the absence of an external source of water.

In Figure 7, it is seen that, at the end of hydration, the hydrated cement paste is composed of 4 parts: the hydrates the water of constitution physically bound on the hydrates

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a residual volume of capillary water (because the w/c is greater than 0.42) a porosity of 8% due to chemical contraction. Obviously, the higher w/c the greater the amount of residual capillary water at the end of the hydration process. 6.2 Hydration of a paste having a w/c equal to 0.42 in the absence of an external source of water

This w/c results in the full hydration of the cement particles, consequently, at the end of the hydration process there is no more any residual capillary water, but the 8% porosity due to chemical contraction is still there as seen in Figure 8.

W/C = 0.42

Figure 8. Schematic representation of a cement paste having a W/C equal to 0.42 without any external source of water

6.3

Hydration of a paste having a w/c equal to 0.36 in the presence of an external source of water

In this case, Jensen and Hansen have demonstrated that the external water is able to hydrate the additional cement (as compared to the 0.42 w/c paste) and fill the 8% porosity due to chemical contraction. When all the cement particles are hydrated, theoretically at least, the hydrated cement paste is perfect solid without any porosity: it is only composed of the hydrates and the physically bound water (Figure 9). Of course, this situation never occurs in the real world because not all cement particles can be fully hydrated (particularly the coarse ones) and, as the cement paste is becoming more and more impervious when hydration proceeds, the external water cannot penetrated easily in all the parts of the cement paste. But in any case, concretes having a w/c equal 0.36, that are carefully water cured, present a very low porosity, there are very impervious and consequently more durable and sustainable than NSC. 6.4 Hydration of a cement paste having a w/c smaller than 0.36 in the absence of an external source of water

As seen in Figure 10, there is not enough water to fully hydrate all the cement particles so that hydration stops due to lack of water. At the end of the hydration process, the hydrated cement paste is composed of: residual anhydrous particles

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some hydrated cement paste some adsorbED water and some porosity If there is an external source of water, this porosity can disappear. Therefore in order to obtain a durable HPC, it is necessary to cure it in the presence of an external source of water (external to the paste).

Figure 9. Schematic representation of a cement paste having a W/C equal to 0.36 with an external source of water

Figure 10. Schematic representation of a cement paste having a W/C equal to 0.30 without any external source of water

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7.

CURING OF HPC WITH AN EXTERNAL SOURCE OF WATER

The best way to cure HPC with an internal source of water is to substitute a certain volume of aggregate by the same volume of saturated lightweight aggregate. Preferably it is better to use a saturated lightweight sand because it is more porous than lightweight coarse aggregate, consequently there is less material to be substituted. During mixing, these porous particles saturated with water are spread homogenously in concrete so that in the paste there is always a source of water close to any cement particles. (Figure 11)

Figure 11. Internal curing with a saturated lightweight sand

As soon as hydration reaction starts, the very fine porosity created by the volumetric contraction of the hydrated cement paste start to suck the water contained in the coarse capillaries of the lightweight aggregates. In this manner, no menisci are appearing in the fine capillaries in the hydrated cement paste. On the contrary, large menisci appear in the lightweight aggregates but without any consequence on the autogenous shrinkage of the paste. If there are no menisci in the capillaries of the paste, there is not any tensile stresses developed in the paste and if there are not tensile stresses, there is no autogenous contraction. In addition it is necessary to cure HPC structural elements with an external source of water ( external to the concrete this time ) (Morin et al. 2002) in order to hydrate as completely as possible all the cement particles present in the skin of the concrete that recover the first rank of reinforcing steel. It is mandatory to cure HPC appropriately in order to obtain out of them all their potential. Field specifications must very precise in detailing the curing procedures that have to be put into practice and contractors have to be paid specifically to cure concrete. Personally, I like very much the specifications of HPC curing enforced by the City of Montreal because they include the specific payment of this activity (Figures 12 a and b). The use of fogging devices as the ones found in nurseries to cultivate flowers is very efficient. These fogging devices are not expensive, there are easy to install and there are very efficient to fight the different type of shrinkage ( plastic, autogenous and drying) (Figure 13)

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Figure 12. External curing

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Figure 13. Fogging in order to avoid plastic shrinkage

Sa me load

fc=75 MPa

fc=25 MPa

kglm'
C = 450 CA = 1050 F.A. =675

kglm'

C = 300
CA = 1050 FA = 800

3A

Cross section area (A)

Figure 14. HPC is more sustainable than NSC

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8.

HPC AND SUSTAINABILITY

It is easy to prove that HPC is more sustainable than NSC. In Figure 14, the amount of cement and aggregates used to built two un-reinforced columns that are supporting the same load but that are built with 25 and 75 MPa concretes are compared. In order to make this comparison it is supposed that it is necessary to use about 450 kg of cement to make 1 cubic metre of 75 MPa concrete, 1050 3 kg of coarse aggregates and 675 kg of sand and that in order to make 1m of 25 MPa, it is necessary to use 300 kg of cement and approximately the same amount of aggregates. As the construction of the 25MPa column requires the use of 3 more times concrete, it is necessary to use three more times aggregates. In order to built the 75 MPa column, 2 time less cement will be 3 used with, of course, 5 to 6 litres superplasticizer per 1m . In HPC the efficiency of the binder is improved because the w/c is decreased and the cement particles are getting closer to each other so that the mechanical bonds created by hydration are stronger. Moreover, at present, usually the binders used to make 75 MPa concrete contains 20 to 30 % of supplementary cementitous materials. It is my opinion that, with the technology presently available, the level of substitution of Portland cement could be raised to 50 % in a such way that with the present amount of cement used to built a 25 MPa column four HPC columns could be built with a blended cement and some superplasticizer. Of course in structural elements that are working in flexion, the decrease of the amount of Portland cement is not as large when using a HPC but it is still significant. 9. SOME RECENT EXEMPLES OF HPC STRUCTURES

Since the publication of the book High Performance Concrete in 1998 HPC has been used in numerous outstanding structures. In this presentation I selected 2 cases that I consider particularly interesting from a rheological point of view: the Burj Khalifat Tower in Dubai the liquid gas tanks of Osaka Gas in Osaka in Japan 9.1 Burj Khalifat Tower in Dubai

Presently this 828 m high building is the highest building in the world ( the Eiffel Tower is only 300 m high and the Petronas Towers 450 m high). The 610 first metres of this building were built by pumping a 80 Mpa HPC and the 218 last metres with a steel structure. It was Professor Kamal Khayat and his assistants of the University the Sherbrooke that optimized the composition and the rheology of this concrete with the materials available in Dubai. The contractor was Samsung of Korea, the pump was German (Pfeimitzeir) and the engineer in charge of the control of the pumping was Australian. A good example of a multi-national cooperation! The weight of the 100-mm aluminium tubes through which the concrete was pumped weighted 50 t and necessitate to be filled by 12 cubic metres of concrete before reaching the 610 m level. Presently Pofessor Kamal Khayat and his assistants are optimizing the composition of a 80 MPa selfcompacting HPC that will be used to built a higher Tower in Djeddah in Saudi Arabia. This building will be 1200 m high and its structure will be entirely built with HPC. In fact, the engineers of Samsung did not like to build the higher part of Burj Khalifat Tower in steel because the two available cranes were busy nights and days, during two months to raise the pieces of steel and the concrete by tremies to cast the floors without having the possibility of completing the construction of these floors. Therefore, the period of construction was lengthened which was costly. In order to build the 1200 metres of tower of Djeddah two scenarios are presently under study; the first consists in pumping concrete up to 1000 metres with a new powerful pump that is presently developed in Germany and to complete the pumping of the tower between 1000 and 1200 metres with a second pump; the second scenario consists in using two 600-metre pumps in series It will be the same Australian engineer that will supervise the pumping trials. In such innovative construction a winning combination is not changed!

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9.2

The Liquid Gas Terminal of Osaka, Japan

At the beginning the liquid gas was stored in insulated steel tanks having a protection perimeter of concrete in case of an accident. As there was less and less space available to build new gas tanks in the artificial island Obayashi company proposed to Osaka Gas to build a post-tensioned insulated concrete tank using a conventional 30MPa concrete in order to store two times more gas per square metre of artificial island. The first concrete tank was not yet completed that Osaka Gas ordered a second one, but during the construction of this second tank, the engineers of Obayashi proposed to build a third post-tensioned concrete tank with a 60 MPa self-levelling concrete to store this time 4 times more liquid gas per square metre of the artificial island and build it 3 time faster. In order to build the two first liquid gas tanks with a 30 MPa concrete having a slump of 100 to 150 mm it was necessary to limit each concrete pours to 1.20 metre and to hire a great number of workers to vibrate concrete. With a self-compacting concrete of 60 MPa, the concrete pours could be 3.6-metre high (3times higher than with the 30 MPa concrete) without necessitating to hire any workers to vibrate the self-levelling concrete. The resulting reduction of 4 construction time resulted in a great saving of moneys, much larger than the higher cost of the self-levelling 60 MPa concre. 10. EDUCATION AND THECNOLOGICAL TRANSFER.

I remember the commentaries of some people from the construction industry of Qubec about 30 years ago when they were telling that the construction industry did not need engineers with master and doctorate degrees. But, among the 65 master, doctorate and post-doctorate students that I trained during my 35-year carrier at the Universit of Sherbrooke only 4 of them are university professors, all the others work in the industry. They are very happy, very efficient and it was possible for some of them to reach a position with high degree of responsibilities. Presently some of them are even president or vice-president in their company. This trend toward a greater technological knowledge in the field of concrete will continue because the construction industry has a great need of educated personal to progress and face its future challenges. Moreover, the presence of graduated students in construction companies favours the necessary rapid technological transfer between the researchers world and the engineers world in order to increase the competivity of the construction industry and improve the sustainability of our infrastructures. REFERENCES Atcin, P.-C. (2008), Binders for Durable and Sustainable Concrete, Taylor and Francis, London, U.K., 500 p. Atcin, P.-C. and Mindess, S. (2011) The Sustainability of Concrete, E and FN SPON, London, U.K. 301p. Atcin, P.-C., Pigeon, M., Pleau, R., Gagn, R. (1998) Freezing and Thawing Durability of High Performance Concrete, Proceedings of the International Symposium on High Performance Concrete and Reactive Powder Concretes, Sherbrooke, Canada, Vol. 4, pp 383-391 Duran-Herrera, A., Petrov, N., Bonneau, O., Khayat, K. and Atcin, P.-C. (2009), Autogeneous Control of Autogeneous Shrinkage, ACI SP 256, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, Michigan, pp. 1-12. Jiang, S.P., Kim, B.-G.and Atcin, P.-C. (2000) A practical method to solve slump loss problem in superplasticized high-performance concrete, Cement, Concrete and Aggregate, Vol.22, No 1, pp 1015. Kovler, K. and Jensen, O.M. (2007) State of the Art Report: Internal Curing of Concrete, RILEM Technical Committee 196-ICC, RILEM Publications S.a.r.l., Bayeux, France, 140 p. Kreijger, P.C. (1997) The skin of concrete- Research Needs, Magazine of Concrete Research, Vol.39, No 140, pp 122-123. Pigeon, M., Pleau, R. (1995) Durabilityof Concrete in Cold Climates, E and FN SPON, London, U.K., 244 p.