Specifications of Concrete

- Sustainability, Productivity and Durability

21 Mar 2016

Vincent Lin
Building Engineering Group
Building and Construction Authority

Presentation Outline
1. Green Concrete
2. Self-Compacting Concrete
3. Testing of Aggregates
4. Durability Requirements for Exposed Structural
Elements
5. Summary

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Presentation Outline
1. Green Concrete
2. Self-Compacting Concrete
3. Testing of Aggregates
4. Durability Requirements for Exposed Structural
Elements
5. Summary

Sustainable Construction

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Sustainable Construction
Eco-concrete is defined as concrete with at least 50% by mass of total
aggregate content (fine and coarse) replaced by recycled materials, for non-
structural applications.

Green concrete is defined as structural concrete with:-

Use of additions such as fly ash, silica fume and ground granulated blast-
furnace slag (GGBS)
Coarse aggregates replacement of up to 20% by recycled concrete
aggregates (RCA)
Sand replacement of up to 10% by washed copper slag (WCS)

Green Concrete
Use of additions to cement following SS 544-2-2014 (Table 1):-

Type of Additions Notation Mass Fraction of Combination

Silica Fume CIIA-D 6 10%

CIIA-V 6 20%

Fly Ash CIIB-V 21 35%

CIIVB-V 36 55%

CIIA-S 6 20%

Ground Granulated CIIB-S 21 35%

Blastfurnace Slag (GGBS)
CIIIA 36 65%
CIIIB 66 80%

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Requirements for RCA

Limitations on use of RCA

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ST Submission Requirements
For projects using RCA and WCS:-

Source of supply of RCA and WCS

RMC suppliers details and record of projects using RCA and WCS
Letter of consent from QP & Builder
Clearly indicate structural elements using RCA and WCS concrete
Monthly test reports on chloride and sulphate content

Sustainable Construction

https://www.bca.gov.sg/SustainableConstruction/
others/sc_materials_book.pdf

https://www.bca.gov.sg/SustainableConstruction/
others/sc_recycle_final.pdf

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Presentation Outline
1. Green Concrete
2. Self-Compacting Concrete
3. Testing of Aggregates
4. Durability Requirements for Exposed Structural
Elements
5. Summary

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Construction Productivity
Improving Construction Productivity:-

Technologies
Building Information Modelling (BIM)

Design and construction methods

Pre-finished Pre-fabricated Volumetric Construction (PPVC)
Pre-fabricated Bathroom Unit (PBU)

Materials
Glue Laminated Timber (Glulam), Cross Laminated Timber (CLT)
Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC)

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Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC)
Concrete that is able to flow and compact under its own weight, fill the
formwork with its reinforcement, ducts, boxouts etc, whilst maintaining
homogeneity.
Advantages
- Reduced noise
- Reduced labour
- Reduced concreting time
- Consistency in concrete finish

Disadvantages
- More stringent quality control
- Difficult to use at changing levels
- Higher material costs
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Specifying Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC)

Requirements of self-compacting concrete in the fresh state depending on
the type of applications:-

Concrete element geometry

Density of steel reinforcement
Concrete placement method and site conditions

Specifications of self-compacting concrete (based on SS EN 206: 2013):-

Consistency (slump-flow value)

Viscosity (t500 or V-funnel test tv)
Passing ability (J-ring or L-box test)
Segregation resistance

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Specifying Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC)
Test for Consistency:-

Light or no reinforcements, Highly congested reinforcement,

short lateral flow distance long lateral flow distance

SF1 SF3

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Specifying Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC)

Test for Viscosity (Stability):-

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Specifying Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC)
Test for Passing Ability:-

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Specifying Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC)

Test for Segregation Resistance:-

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Specifying Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC)

No One-Size-fits-ALL solution for specifications

of Self-Compacting Concrete
Important to understand the behaviour of self-compacting concrete and
provide specifications based on the actual site conditions to optimise its
benefits.

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Presentation Outline
1. Green Concrete
2. Self-Compacting Concrete
3. Testing of Aggregates for Concrete
4. Durability Requirements for Exposed Structural
Elements
5. Summary

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 Specifications of Concrete

SS EN 206 - Concrete. Specification,

performance, production and conformity

SS 544-1 - Method of specifying and

guidance for specifier

SS 544-2 - Specification for

constituent materials and concrete

SS EN 934-2 Admixtures for

SS EN 197-1 Cement Part 1.
Composition, specifications
and conformity
SS EN 12620 - Lightweight aggregates,
concrete, mortar and grout Part 2.
Specification for Recycled aggregates,
Definitions, requirements,
aggregates for concrete Additions, Fibres, etc
conformity, marking and labelling

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Requirements on Aggregates for Concrete

Geometrical Physical Chemical Durability

Resistance to Petrographic
Aggregate sizes fragmentation description Magnesium
sulphate
Resistance to Classification of soundness
Grading wear constituents of
RA

Fines content Particle density Sulfur containing

and quality and water compounds Volume stability
absorption
Chlorides
Particle shape Resistance to
polishing Carbonate
content Alkali-silica
Shell content Resistance to Other reactivity
surface abrasion constituents

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Testing Requirements on Imported Aggregates for Concrete
Under BCA Act (Part VIA) Supply of Essential Construction Materials and BCA
(Importers Licensing) Regulations 2011:-

Petrographic examination
Water soluble chloride content
Acid soluble sulphates content
Alkali-silica reactivity

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Petrographic Examination
To determine the physical, chemical and mechanical characteristics of the
material that may be observed by petrographic methods and that have a
bearing on the performance of the material in its intended use.

ASTM C295 / BS 812-104:- Aggregates should not contain any

constituents that are deleterious
to concrete

Prepared thin sections Counting of mineral constituents under plane

polarised light (25X) (A) Quartz, (B) Plagioclase
(C) K-feldspar, (D) Biotite mica

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Water Soluble Chloride Content
To minimize risk of corrosion of embedded steel reinforcements through
limiting total quantity of chloride ions contributed by all constituent
materials in concrete.

BS EN 1744-1:- Chloride ion content 0.01% by

mass of chloride ion of combined
aggregates
Volhard method
Potentiometry (BS EN 1744-1)
Mohr method

Extract the water soluble chloride in aggregates and use reagents (i.e. silver
nitrate solution) to determine the quantity of chloride ions.

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Acid Soluble Sulphates Content

To minimize risk of expansive disruption of concrete through limiting
sulphate content of the aggregates.
Sulphate content of the
aggregates and filler aggregates
BS EN 1744-1:- for concrete 0.8% by mass for
aggregates other than air-cooled
Extracted using diluted hydrochloric acid blastfurnace slag
Sulfate ion content determined by gravimetry

Acid soluble sulphates content is expressed as a percentage by mass of the

aggregate.

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Alkali-Silica Reactivity
To minimize risk of cracking and disruption of concrete due to reaction
between alkalis present in pore fluids of concrete and certain forms of silica
present in aggregates.
Only aggregates with expansion
ASTM C1260 / BS 812-123:- value not greater than 0.20%
shall be used.

Lx comparator reading at each period minus

Expansion in length (%) = 100 x (Lx Li) / G comparators reading of reference bar at each age
Li initial comparator reading at each period minus
comparators reading of reference bar at the same
time
G nominal gauge length (250mm)
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Testing Requirements on Imported Aggregates for Concrete

For more details on BCA test requirements for imported coarse and fine
aggregates:

https://www.bca.gov.sg/ImportersLicensing/others/test_requirements.pdf

It should be noted that above tests carried out by the aggregate importers are
only screening tests.

More tests shall be carried out by the RMC plants, at regular intervals
to ensure the quality of the aggregates for structural concrete.

QP(S) should request for and ensure that the test certificates are in order
for quality control and assurance of the materials for construction.

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Presentation Outline
1. Green Concrete
2. Self-Compacting Concrete
3. Testing of Aggregates for Concrete
4. Durability Requirements for Exposed Structural
Elements
5. Summary

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Requirements for Durability

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Requirements for Durability

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Requirements for Durability

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Durability Specifications for Concrete Structures (Examples)

Are these specifications sufficient?

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Requirements for Durability

Based on SS EN 1992-1-1 Clause 4.3:-

Practice Note Published by Hong Kong Building Department can be downloaded at:
- http://www.bd.gov.hk/english/documents/pnap/APP/APP068.pdf

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Presentation Outline
1. Green Concrete
2. Self-Compacting Concrete
3. Testing of Aggregates for Concrete
4. Durability Requirements for Exposed Structural
Elements
5. Summary

35

Summary
1. Green Concrete to take note of the requirements when adopting coarse
Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA) and Washed Copper Slag (WCS) as
well as the limitations on the use of coarse RCA.
2. Self-Compacting Concrete No one-size-fits-all solution. Specifications of
SCC fresh properties should be based on actual site conditions and
applications.
3. Aggregates for Concrete tests on aggregates should be carried out at
regular intervals and QP(S) should request for the test certificates and
ensure that the quality of the aggregates are adequate for construction
use.
4. Durability Requirements for Exposed Structural Elements to include
construction details and execution requirements in the specifications;
and to design and detail the cantilever structures with lower utilisation
ratio and higher degree of redundancy for robustness.

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Thank You

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