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USE OF BLENDED CEMENTS AND MINERAL ADMIXTURES FOR

DURABLE CONCRETE STRUCTURES


S C Maiti1, Raj K. Agarwal2 and Srinivas Allena3
1

National Council for Cement and Building Materials, New Delhi.


2
Marketing and Transit (I) Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
3
Washington State University.

ABSTRACT
The paper deals with enhanced durability of concrete by the use of either blended
cements i.e. Portland pozzolana cement or Portland slag cement or by the use of fly ash,
blast furnace slag and silica fume in concrete construction. The processes of combating
the alkali aggregate reaction in hydro-electric projects by the use of fly ash or ggbs in
conjunction with low alkali ordinary Portland cement, has been described. The benefits of
using fly ash or ggbs in mass concrete resulting in limited rise of temperature in concrete
have been demonstrated. The use of silica fume in concrete for abrasion resistance in
spillways of concrete dams and in concrete pavements has been highlighted.
Key-words: blended cements, mineral admixtures, alkali-silica reaction, mass concrete,
temperature rise, abrasion resistance, durability of concrete.
INTRODUCTION
The blended cements Portland pozzolana cement (PPC), Portland slag cement (PSC), and
ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with fly ash (PFA), ground granulated blast furnace slag
(ggbs) and silica fume or micro-silica are being used in concrete construction. Various
standards, the Indian and International standards stipulate the use of the above-mentioned
blended cements and mineral admixtures to combat the deleterious alkali-silica reaction
in hydro-electric projects. The blended cements and OPC with mineral admixtures
produce less heat in concrete, and as a result, their use in mass concrete construction is
beneficial. The very fine mineral admixture silica fume is being used in concrete for
spillways of concrete dams and in concrete pavements, and such concrete has abrasionresistance characteristics.
USE OF BLENDED CEMENTS, FLY ASH AND GGBS TO COMBAT ALKALISILICA REACTION IN CONCRETE.
The Indian Standard Code of practice1 and American experts2 advocate the use of at least
25% good quality fly ash or at least 50% ggbs as part replacement of low alkali (less
0.6% as Na2O equivalent) OPC to prevent the durability risks associated with alkali-silica
reaction. This is because the reactive alkali is less in the alkali of fly ash and ggbs, i.e.
17% and 50% respectively3.

The Rihand dam of India suffered distress due to alkali-silica reaction, despite using
about 15% fly ash in concrete. The OPC used had a high-alkali content in the range of
1.2 to 1.8% (as Na2O equivalent)4.
The International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) recommends the following with
regard to the use of fly ash or PPC or PSC in concrete for combating the alkali-aggregate
reaction5.
There is now considerable experience on the use of Portland blast furnace slag cements
with some types of reactive aggregates, and although, the current recommendation
probably are on the cautious side, there are no known instances of deleterious alkali
reaction, when the limits of alkali i.e. 0.90% as Na2O equivalent for PSC containing more
than 50% slag, and 2.0% alkali as Na2O equivalent for PSC containing more than 65%
slag, have been observed.
In case of Portland pozzolana cements, the cement manufacturers should be able to match
the characteristics of a particular cement and pozzolana to ensure adequate compensatory
action under the conditions of the intended use, but, despite the accumulated experience
with Portland pozzolana cements, the variability in their properties, does not yet permit
the recommendation for their use in minimizing the risk of alkali-silica reaction.
Spellman6 found with a Portland cement of 1.15% alkali as Na2O equivalent, a beneficial
effect of slag on the expansion of mortar bars using pyrex glass (ASTM C227 test). The
expansion was less than 0.10% in blends with 50% slag. The German regulation
regarding the permitted amount of alkalis in cement, when the aggregates used in
concrete are potentially reactive, increases the limit of Na2O equivalent from 0.60% for
Portland cement to 2.0% for blast furnace slag cement, with an addition of 70% slag
(Table 1)7.
Table 1 - German regulation for the amount of alkali in cement in the presence of
potentially reactive aggregates.
Cement
Alkali as Na2O equiv.
Blast furnace slag cement
(%)
(%)
Portland Cement

< 0.60%

Portland Slag Cement

< 1.0

> 50

Portland Slag Cement

< 2.0

> 65

TEMPERATURE IN MASS CONCRETE


It is well known that ordinary Portland cement having 28-day compressive strength of 43
MPa or 53 MPa produce more heat in concrete, because of their high heat of hydration.
So, in mass concrete, blended cement with fly ash or ggbs should be used, PPC
containing 25% fly ash and PSC containing 50% ggbs produced by the Indian Cement

manufacturers exhibit considerably low heat of hydration. Table 2 compares the heat of
hydration for typical OPC, PPC and PSC samples8.
Sl.No.
1

Table 2 - Typical heat of hydration of cements


Cement
Heat of hydration (KJ/kg)
at 7 days
at 28 days
OPC, 33 MPa
209
238
43 MPa
320
341
53 MPa
287
347

2.

PPC

i) 181
ii) 199

i) 214
ii) 230

3.

PSC (with 55% ggbs)

i) 254
ii) 188
iii) 174

i) 292
ii) 226
iii) 231

4.

Requirement of low heat


Portland cement as per IS:12600,
Max.

272

314

Use of (OPC + fly ash) in concrete produces less heat of hydration, and hence results in
lower temperature in mass concrete construction. The benefit of fly ash in concrete is the
reduction of OPC content, and hence reducing the heat development in mass concrete
construction. Such concrete controls the thermal cracking in massive concrete structures.
Using about 20% fly ash in a mass concrete foundation (of M40grade concrete), the
temperature differential observed is in the range of 15.30C - 16.40C, against the specified
maximum temperature differential of 190C within the in-place raft foundation concrete9
(Fig.1).
The Mass concrete foundation 3.7m thick, of the highest tower of the world, Burg
Khalifa had about 40% fly ash in concrete10.
Prof. P K Mehta11 of the University of California, Berkley used high-volume fly ash
concrete (106kg OPC and 142 Kg fly ash/m3 of concrete) in the construction of
reinforcement-free and crack-free foundation structure of a Hindu temple in Hawaii
island, which had 28-day compressive strength of 15.9 MPa, and maximum temperature
rise of only 130C in concrete.

Fig. 1 - Temperature profile in a mass concrete foundation (1500mm inside and 300mm
inside concrete; bottom curve is ambient temperature).

ABRASION RESISTANCE OF SILICA FUME CONCRETE


The silica fume (8-10%) is being used in concrete in a number of on-going projects of the
National Hydro-electric Power Corporation of India, in concrete dam spillways and in
stilling basis, to resist abrasion and erosion, and to enhance the service life8. A large
repair project on the stilling basin of Kinzua dam, USA showed good performance of the
micro-silica concrete after 10 years12.
The Southern Illinois University13 test results indicate more than 100% improvement in
abrasion resistance of concrete (Fig. 2), using ASTM C779 abrasion resistance test for
horizontal surfaces (Ball revolution test method). The Indian Roads Congress advocated
the use of silica fume (upto 10%) in concrete pavements having compressive strength of
40 MPa and above, in State and National Highways14.

Fig. 2 - Abrasion Resistance of the Silica fume concrete

CONCLUSIONS
The use of Portland pozzolana cement, Portland slag cement or use of OPC along with
good quality fly ash (at least 25%) or ggbs (at least 50%) demonstrates the durability of
all concrete including those in hydro-electric projects.
Both ICOLD and German regulation highlight the use of more than 50% ggbs in concrete
instead of any fly ash, to combat the deleterious alkali-silica reaction, in the presence of
potentially reactive aggregates.
The temperature differential in the mass concrete construction is within the tolerable limit
of 190C by the use of fly ash, the quantity of fly ash being of the order of fly ash, the
quantity of fly ash being of the order of 20%. The mass concrete foundation of the
highest tower of the world included 40% fly ash in concrete. Use of still higher quantity
of fly ash (about 59%) in mass concrete foundation of a temple in Hawaii island
developed the maximum temperature-rise in concrete of only 130C.
The use of about 10% silica fume in concrete demonstrates the abrasion resistance
characteristic of concrete in the spillways of concrete dams, and in the repair of stilling
basin of the Kinzua dam of U.S.A. The Southern Illinois University test results indicate
more than 100% improvement in abrasion-resistance of concrete using 10% silica fume.
The Indian Roads Congress recommends the use of such concrete in National and State
highways, for the enhancement of service life of the rigid pavements.

REFERENCES
1.

Indian standard code of practice for plain and reinforced concrete, IS:456, Bureau of
Indian Standards, New Delhi.

2.

Malvar, L.J., Cline, G.D., Burke, D.F., Rollings, R, Sherman, T.W. and Green, J.L.,
Alkali-silica reaction mitigation : State-of-the-art and recommendation. ACI
Materials Journal, September-October, 2002, pp. 480-489.

3.

BS 5328 : Part 4 : 1970 Specification for the procedures to be used in Sampling,


Testing and Assessing Compliance of Concrete, British Standards Institution.

4.

Rihand dam Expert Committee Report, Vol. 1, June 1986. Published by Irrigation
Department, Uttar Pradesh, India.

5.

ICOLD Alkali-aggregate reaction in concrete dams: Review and


Recommendations International Commission on large dams. Bulletin No. 79, 1992,
158 p.p.

6.

Spellman, L.U. Use of ground granulated slag to overcome the effects of alkalis in
concrete. Proceedings of the 6th International Congress on Alkalis in Concrete,
Copenhagen, 1983, pp 55-60.

7.

Regourd, M.M. Cements made from blastfurnace slag, in Leas Chemistry of


Cement and Concrete, Edited by P.C. Hewlett, Fourth Edition, 1998, PP. 637-678.

8.

Maiti, S.C. and Agarwal, R.K., Challenges facing the hydro-electric dam projects in
the Himalayas. The Indian Concrete Journal, Vol.87, No.6, June 2013, pp. 56-62.

9.

Unpublished Report, Temperature rise study in a concrete block foundation for a


high-rise building. January 2013, New Delhi.

10. Baker, W.F. Burj Khalifa : A new paradigm. The Indian Concrete Journal, Vol. 85,
No. 7, July 2011, pp. 8-13.
11. Mehta, P.K. and Wilbert, S. Langley, Monolith foundation: Built to last a 1000
years. Concrete International, July 2000, pp.27-32.
12. Luther, M.D. and Halczak, W. Long-term performance of silica fume concretes in
the U.S.A. exposed to abrasion-erosion or cavitation. Proceedings, 5th CANMET/ACI
International Conference on Fly ash, Slag, Silica fume and other Natural Pozzolanas,
Detroit, American Concrete Institute, SP-153, 1995, pp. 863-864.
13. Ghafoori, N and Diawara, H Abrasion resistance of the fine aggregate replaced
silica fume concrete. ACI Materials Journal, September- October 1999, pp. 559-567.
14. IRC: 114-2013 Guidelines for use of silica fume in rigid pavement. Indian Roads
Congress, New Delhi.

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