Fracture toughness of cement mortar containing high volume fly ash

by

Shaikh Faiz Uddin Ahmed and Mohamed Maalej

SYNOPSIS:
In this paper experimental evaluation on the effect of high volume fly ash as partial
replacement of cement on fracture toughness of cement mortar are presented. The fly ash
replacement level was 50%, 60% and 70% by weight of cement. Three-point bend notch
beams were used to measure the fracture toughness of mortar. Results show that the use
of 50% fly ash as partial replacement of cement reduces the fracture toughness values
between 38% and 58% compared to that without fly ash. Reduction of compressive
strength and Young’s modulus in mortar containing 50% fly ash as partial replacement of
cement compared to that without fly ash is also observed in this study. The use of 60%
and 70% fly ash as partial replacement of cement is found to have negligible effect on the
reduction of fracture toughness of cement mortar. Long term effects of high volume fly
ash (50% cement replacement) on fracture toughness, compressive strength and Young’s
modulus of cement mortar are also evaluated in this study. Tests were conducted at 28, 56
and 91 days and at 5, 7, 10 and 12 months. Results show that the rate of increase of
fracture toughness of cement mortar containing 50% fly ash with time is very slow.
Compressive strength and Young’s modulus also increase with time.

Key words: Fracture toughness, mortar, high volume fly ash, long term evaluation
Shaikh Faiz Uddin Ahmed graduated from Bangladesh Institute of Technology, Khulna
(B.Sc. Engg. (civil) 1994), the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand (M.Eng.
1998), and the National University of Singapore (PhD 2004). His research interests
include use of supplementary cementitious materials in concrete and fiber reinforced
cementitious composites, corrosion durability of reinforced concrete structures, high
performances fiber reinforced cementitious composites, numerical modeling and
structural health monitoring using fiber optic sensor. He is currently in Tohoku
University, Japan as JSPS post-doctoral fellow.

ACI member Mohamed Maalej is Associate Professor in Civil engineering department

of the National University of Singapore. He graduated from Colorado State
University (BS 1989), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS 1991),
and the University of Michigan (PhD 1994). His research interests include Fracture
mechanics, Micromechanics of fibrous composites, Engineered cementitious composites
(ECC), Repair and strengthening of RC structures, Corrosion durability of reinforced
concrete, Externally-bonded FRP reinforcement, Structural health monitoring and Fiber
optic sensing technology.

INTRODUCTION

Supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) like fly ash, slag and silica fume
are industrial by-products, which are being used in concrete for better mechanical and
durability properties (1,2). In order to increase the utilization of SCM that are otherwise
being wasted, it will be useful to use large amounts of SCM in concrete as partial
replacement of ordinary portland cement (3,4). Their use will recycle waste products and
also reduce the production of cement, which releases large amount of CO 2 into the
atmosphere (5).

Fly ash, a principal by-product of the coal-fired power plants, is well accepted as
a SCM that may be used either as a component of blended portland cements or as mineral
admixtures in concrete. It is widely being used as a cement replacement to produce high-
performance concrete and high-volume fly ash concrete. High volume fly ash concretes,
with 50% or more cement replacement by fly ash, show high workability, high ultimate
strength, and high durability. High volume fly ash concretes also show excellent long
term mechanical and durability properties due to its slow pozzolanic reaction with the
hydration products of cement (6-10). Fly ash is also used in the development of fiber
reinforced concrete (FRC) and high performances fiber reinforced cementitious
composites (HPFRCC). HPFRCC shows strain hardening and multiple cracking
behaviors in tension and bending (11-17). They also exhibit excellent toughness and
energy absorption capacities compared to concrete and regular FRC.
 Mode-I fracture toughness, KIC, is an important material property that affects the
first crack strength and energy necessary for crack initiation of ordinary concrete and
fiber reinforced cementitious composites. Low K IC is in favor of low first crack strength.
By lowering the first crack strength and increasing the gap between the first crack
strength and ultimate strength in fiber reinforced cementitious composites the strain
hardening behaviour can be ensured. There are many factors that affect the Mode I
fracture toughness of concrete or mortar e.g. amount of fine and coarse aggregates (18),
water content (18, 19) and other additives (such as air content (19), Mica flake, etc.).
While the high volume fly ash is found to improve both mechanical and durability
properties of concrete and fiber reinforced cementitious composites only few studies have
evaluated its effect on the fracture toughness of matrix (14, 16). Therefore, this study is
designed to evaluate the effect of high volume fly ash as partial replacement of cement on
the fracture toughness of cement mortar. The fly ash contents used were 50%, 60% and
70%. Moreover, the slow pozzolanic reaction of fly ash with hydration products of
cement will affect the long term value of K IC of concrete and fiber reinforced
cementitious composites containing high volume fly ash. Long term effects of high
volume fly ash (50%) on fracture toughness, compressive strength and Young’s modulus
of cement mortar are also evaluated in this study. Tests were conducted at 28, 56 and 91
days and at 5, 7, 10 and 12 months.

MATERIALS AND MIX PROPORTIONS

The cement used in this study was ordinary portland cement which corresponds
to ASTM type I. The fly ash used in this study was class F fly ash. The physical
properties and chemical analysis of cement, fly ash and silica fume are given in Table 1.
The mix proportions are given in Table 2. Series 1 is for cement paste. Series 2 and 3 are
for cement mortar with water/binder ratio of 0.3 and 0.45, respectively. In series 1-3 no
fly ash was added. However, in series 1 only 10% cement was replaced by silica fume. In
series 2-7 5% silica fume was added. Series 4 and 5 are for mortar containing 50% fly ash
(FA) as partial replacement of cement with water/binder ratio of 0.3 and 0.45,
respectively, while series 6 and 7 are for mortar containing 60% and 70% fly ash (FA) as
partial replacement of cement, respectively. Series 5 (Matrix type 50FA45) was used to
measure and monitor the development of fracture toughness, Young’s modulus and
compressive strength of mortar containing 50% fly ash over a period of one year.

For each series, six cylinders of 100mm diameter and 150mm height and three
notch beams of 650x150x60 mm in dimensions were cast. Out of six cylinders, three
were used to measure the compressive strength while the rest were used to measure the
Young’s modulus. Cylinders and notch beams for both short term and long term studies
were kept in the fog room with a temperature of about 20 0C until the dates of testing. All
notch beams were tested in a closed-loop servo-controlled Instron testing machine. A
schematic of the bending test setup is shown in Fig. 1. Detail of the experimental
program is given in Table 3.
 MEASUREMENT OF FRACTURE TOUGHNESS

The mode I fracture toughness, K IC of various mixes was determined according

to the Two-Parameter Fracture Model proposed by Jenq and Shah (18), where the
nonlinear slow crack growth was taken into account and the values of K IC determined
were presumed independent of specimen dimensions. The crack mouth opening
displacement (CMOD) was measured by clip gauge. Cyclic beam tests were performed
in order to determine the value of the model parameter , which is the ratio between total
CMOD (CMODT) and inelastic CMOD (CMOD*) at peak load (Fig. 2). The calculation
of KIC involved an iterative numerical scheme, where the effective crack length e at peak
load was evaluated. For a given peak load, initial notch length and measured total
CMOD, an effective crack length e is first assumed and verified only when the
calculated value of elastic CMOD according to equation 1 (18) agreed with the measured
value. Once an effective crack length e is obtained the KIC is then calculated according to
equation 2 (18).

6 Pmax Sa  a 
CMOD  V1   (1)
W 2 BE W 

 
 2 3 
 a   a  a   a  0.66 
where, V1    0.76  2.28  3.87   2.04   2

 W  W  W   W   a 
 1   

 W  


a=a0+le
a0=Initial notch length
le=Effective crack length
W=Depth of beam
B=Width of beam
S=Loaded span
Pmax= Peak load
E=Young’s modulus

1.5Pmax S  a 
K IC  F1   a
W 2B W 
(2)
where,
 a  1  a  a 
  a   a  
2

F1    3
1.99  1  2. 15  3. 93   2. 7  
W   2a  a  2  W  W 
 W  W   
 1  1  
 W  W

Results and discussions

The results of compressive strength, Young’s modulus and fracture toughness,

KIC, of mortar containing different percentages of fly ash and water/binder (W/B) ratios
are shown in Fig. 3-5. Note that all results presented in this study are average of three
specimens. It can be seen from Figs. 3 and 4, by comparing matrix W/B=0.3 and 50FA30,
that the replacement of 50% cement by fly ash reduces both the compressive strength and
the Young’s modulus of cement mortar. Similar behaviour is also observed in case of
higher water/binder ratios (matrix W/B=0.45 and 50FA45). A reduction in 28-day
compressive strength of high volume fly ash concrete compared to that without fly ash is
also reported by several researchers (10,21-22). At higher level of cement replacement
beyond 50%, such as at 60% and 70%, the 28-day compressive strength and Young’s
modulus are also found low. The slow gain of strength of high volume fly ash concrete up
to 28 days is the result of slow pozzolanic reaction of fly ash.

The effect of different percentages of fly ash on matrix fracture toughness, K IC,
is shown in Fig. 5. By comparing matrix W/B=0.30 and W/B=0.45, it can be seen clearly
that a higher water/binder ratio leads to lower matrix fracture toughness K IC (i.e. 1.59
MPa.m1/2 for W/B= 0.3 compared to 1.03 MPa.m 1/2 for W/B= 0.45). Similar behaviour is
also reported by Jenq and Shah (18). The effect of replacing part of the cement by fly ash
can be seen by comparing results of Matrix W/B=0.30 and 50FA30, and Matrix
W/B=0.45 and 50FA45. In both cases, a 50% replacement of cement by fly ash appears
to reduce the fracture toughness of the matrix. For matrix with W/B ratio of 0.45, the
fracture toughness was reduced by about 38% (from 1.03 MPa m 1/2 to 0.63 MPa m1/2) and
for matrix with W/B ratio of 0.3, the fracture toughness was reduced by about 58% (from
1.59 MPa m1/2 to 0.66 MPa m1/2). The result is also consistent with other researchers
where the reduction in fracture toughness of mortar containing fly ash is also reported
(13). The inclusion of high volume fly ash in cement mortar and concrete increases the
porosity (15, 22-23). This has also been observed in the present study (Fig. 6), where the
porosity of mortar with 50% fly ash was found higher than that without fly ash as
determined using the mercury intrusion porosimetery (MIP) test. Li and Maalej (20)
reported that modulus and fracture toughness of hardened cement paste are governed by
the volume fraction of colloidal pores. Note that the colloidal pores are pores with sub-
micrometer in size (20). And from Fig. 6 it can be noticed that most of the pores in the
mortar containing 50% fly ash are less than 1m (micrometer) in radius. Therefore, the
reduction in fracture toughness of mortar with 50% fly ash is believed to be due to
reduction of strength and increased porosity. The fracture toughness of mortar with 60%
and 70% fly ash as partial replacement of cement is found slightly lower than that with
50% fly ash (Fig. 5).

As mentioned earlier the development of matrix fracture toughness, compressive

strength and Young’s modulus of cement mortar with 50% fly ash over a period of one
year were also evaluated in this study. Tests were conducted at 28, 56 and 91 days and at
5, 7, 10 and 12 months. Both compressive strength and Young’s modulus increased with
progress of time over a period of one year (Table 4) and strong relationships of rate of
increase of compressive strength and Young’s modulus with time is observed. Similar
behaviour is also reported by several researchers (10,22). This is due to slow pozzolanic
reaction of fly ash with hydration products of cement. The development of fracture
toughness of cement mortar containing 50% fly ash over a period of one year is shown in
Table 4. The values of KIC increase with time with some scattering of K IC values for 5th
and 7th month. However, the rate of increase of K IC values is relatively slow as compared
to compressive strength and Young’s modulus. The increase of KIC value with time, once
again, is believed to be due to slow pozzolanic reaction of mortar containing fly ash. With
continued hydration the pores in mortar containing fly ash are expected to reduce with
time which might be responsible for the increase of K IC values with time observed in this
study. The reduction of pores in mortar containing 50% fly ash at 6 months (22) and at 2
years (24) has already been reported by the researchers.

The reduction of matrix fracture toughness achieved in this study due to the use
of high volume fly ash will have great impact in the development of high performance
fiber reinforced cementitious composites with strain hardening and multiple cracking
behavior. The reduction of the matrix fracture toughness will ensure low first crack
strength in fiber reinforced cementitious composites and by increasing the gap between
the first crack strength and ultimate bridging strength in fiber reinforced cementitious
composites the strain hardening and multiple cracking behavior can be ensured, which is
the most desirable property for fiber reinforced cementitious composites.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of 50% fly ash as partial replacement of cement reduces the fracture
toughness values between 38% and 58% compared to that without fly ash. Reduction of
compressive strength and Young’s modulus in mortar containing 50% fly ash as partial
replacement of cement compared to that without fly ash is also observed in this study.
The use of 60% and 70% fly ash as partial replacement of cement is found to have
negligible effect on the reduction of fracture toughness of cement mortar containing 50%
fly ash. Results also show that the rate of increase of fracture toughness of cement mortar
containing 50% fly ash is relatively slow. The increase in compressive strength and
Young’s modulus of high volume fly ash mortar with time over a period of one year is
also observed in this study.
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Table 1-- Physical Properties and Chemical Composition of Cementitious Materials
Properties OPC FA SF
Type/ class ASTM Type I ASTM Class F -
Physical Properties:
Specific Gravity 3.17 2.68 2.00
Fineness
Passing 45 µm sieve (%) - 90% -
Retained on 150 µm sieve (%) - 1% -
Surface area, Blaine (cm2/gm) 3170 - 250000

Chemical Analysis:
SiO2 21.10 55.2 93.0
Al2O3 5.24 25.3 0.2
Fe2 O3 3.10 8.34 0.05
CaO 64.39 2.65 -
MgO 1.10 1.56 0.51
SO3 2.52 0.09 0.05
Na2O 0.23 0.58 0.2
K2 O 0.57 1.39 0.22
LOI 1.22 1.6 4.15

Note: OPC: Ordinary portland cement; FA: Fly ash; SF: Silica Fume
Table 2-- Mix proportions of matrix

Series Types of Binder Water/ Silica fume/ Sand/

matrix Cement Fly ash Binder Binder Binder
1 CP* 0.9 - 0.27 0.1 -
2 W/B30* 1 - 0.30 0.05 1
3 W/B45 1 - 0.45 0.05 1
4 50FA30 0.5 0.5 0.30 0.05 1
5 50FA45 0.5 0.5 0.45 0.05 1
6 60FA45 0.4 0.6 0.45 0.05 1
7 70FA45 0.3 0.7 0.45 0.05 1
*2% Superplasticizer by weight was added in the matrix.
Note: CP=Cement paste
W/B30= Cement mortar with water/binder ratio of 0.30
W/B45= Cement mortar with water/binder ratio of 0.45
50FA30= Cement mortar with 50% fly ash as partial replacement of cement and
water/binder ratio of 0.30
50FA45= Cement mortar with 50% fly ash as partial replacement of cement and
water/binder ratio of 0.45
60FA45= Cement mortar with 60% fly ash as partial replacement of cement and
water/binder ratio of 0.45
70FA45= Cement mortar with 70% fly ash as partial replacement of cement and
water/binder ratio of 0.45

Table 3-- Experimental program

Series Types of Short term study, Long term study,

Matrix 28-day 28-day, 56-day, 91-day, 5-month, 7-
month, 10-month, 12-month.

1 CP
2 W/B30
3 W/B45
4 50FA30
5 50FA45
6 60FA45
7 70FA45
x -
x -
x -
x -
x x
x -
x -

Note: “x” means tests conducted

Table 4—Long term compressive strength, Young’s modulus and
mode-I fracture toughness of mortars containing 50% fly ash as
partial replacement of cement

Properties Time of tests

28 days 56 days 91 days 5 7 10 12
months months months months
Compressive 47.3 59.3 67.4 72.3 75.1 79.6 86.0
strength
(MPa)
Young’s 17.8 19.2 20.9 23.1 25.2 27.1 28.3
modulus
(GPa)
Mode-I 0.639 0.681 0.718 0.836 0.672 0.681 0.714
fracture
toughness
(MPa.m0.5)

W=150
a0=50

S=600
B=60
650

a0

CMOD
Fig. 1-- Three-point bend notch specimens for fracture toughness
measurement. (all dimensions in mm)

Fig. 2-- Composition of CMOD due to non linear effect.

Fig. 3-- Compressive strength of cement paste and mortars with different
fly ash contents and water/binder ratios.

Fig. 4-- Young’s modulus of cement paste and mortars with different fly
ash contents and water/binder ratios.
Fig. 5-- Fracture toughness of cement paste and mortars with different fly
ash contents and water/binder ratios.

Fig. 6-- Pore distribution of cement mortar with and without fly ash.
(Note: FA denotes Fly ash; A0=Angstrom; 10,000 A0=1 micrometer)