High Performance Concrete

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High Performance Concrete
Ideal Definition:
High performance concrete is that which satisfies the
requisites in terms of all the critical aspects of the
fabrication and utilization, at the lowest possible cost.

It is a “new” type of concrete that requires

unconventional components and techniques.

There is no unique high performance concrete.

The mix design depends on the application.

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In Practice:

High performance concrete refers to a type of concrete

that offers more than just high strength.

Generally, high performance implies both high

compressive strength and durability, today.

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HPC:
water/cement ratio (w/c)
• basis of concrete technology
• simple concept as long as concrete does not contain
any cementitious material other than Portland cement
• not well-defined when blended cements are used
(because the exact amount of Portland cement in
blended cement is not always known)
• nevertheless, w/c should always be specified

water/binder ratio (w/b)

• important from technological point of view
• Binder: All material in concrete that is as fine or finer
than Portland cement (i.e., cement, blended cement,
fly ash, silica fume, fillers, natural pozzolans, etc.)
High performance concrete or High strength concrete
• Initially, compressive strength was improved over
usual concretes, at that time, to result in high strength
concrete (HSC).
• However, when superplasticizers were used to
decrease the w/c and silica fume was incorporated,
improvements were obtained in flowability, abrasion
resistance, permeability, flexural strength and
durability, in addition to compressive strength.
• Consequently, HPC is more commonly used to denote
this family of concretes.
• HPC/HSC has w/c ≤ 0.35 and/or w/b ≤ 0.40 (arbitrary
limits based on practical limitations)
High Strength Concrete: Historical perspective
• In Chicago, in the 1960s
and 70s, usual concrete had compressive
strengths of 15 to 30 MPa. Concrete producers offered to cast
experimental columns of high-rise buildings with slightly higher
strength than the design strength (at no extra cost) in order to
demonstrate the feasibility of higher strength concrete.

• Over a period of 10 years, concrete strength used in highrise

buildings went up to 60 MPa. This was the limit for the available raw
materials, especially coarse cement and lignosulfonate based
plasticizers or water reducers.

• During the 1980s, superplasticizers began to be used for reducing

w/c even further. Values of w/b as low as 0.23 have been used for
reaching compressive strengths as high as 130 MPa.

• Silica fume started to be used in Norway in the 1970s (especially in

the construction of offshore platforms).
The high-performance concrete rationale
Common Applications & Case studies
 Slabs and columns of high-rise buildings
• Aesthetically more appealing
• More floor space (income)
• Increased stiffness
 Bridge piers and decks
• More elegant
• More durable
 Marine structures
• Higher durability
• Lower weight
Benefits

For the Owner

• Cost reduction (e.g., in offshore platform)

• More profit (e.g., through floor space in buildings)
• Faster construction (due to lower material volume)
• Higher durability

For the Designer

• Higher compressive strength

• Higher elastic modulus (i.e., stiffness)
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 Benefits

For the Contractor

• Earlier formwork removal

• More profit for technically prepared companies

For the Environment

• Lower raw material consumption

• Longer service life

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High-performance concrete principles
Failure of concrete under compression
• Rupture develops in the mortar or along the aggregate-mortar
interface (this is the weakest phase of usual concrete)
• When the aggregates are relatively weaker than the mortar,
failure planes pass through the aggregates
• The weakest zone in usual concrete is the Interfacial Transition
Zone (ITZ) between the hydrated cement paste (hcp) and the
aggregate surface

The weakest zone determines the

strength of the composite material
(in this case, concrete)

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In usual concrete, zone of 0.05 to 1 mm thickness contains large
crystals of Ca(OH)2 and pores. One reason for the higher
porosity of this zone is the accumulation of bleed water at the
surface of coarse aggregate particles

If the transition zone is strengthened, the weakest link is no

longer the interface.
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(a) Diagrammatic representation of bleeding in
freshly deposited concrete;
(b) shear-bond failure in a concrete specimen
tested in uniaxial compression.
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Strengthening the hydrated cement paste
Porosity dependence of strength
• Large number of big pores (diameter > 50 nm), lower is the
strength
• Strength of a crystalline phase increases with decreasing grain size
• Microstructural inhomogeneities are a source of strength loss

Schematic representation
of two fresh cement pastes

Decrease in the entrapped air and water contents of the fresh paste
leads to lower porosity and crystallinity of the hydrated cement
paste
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Workability of the fresh concrete

• In low w/b systems, the grain size distribution and shape of the
components, as well as the initial reactivity of the cement can
affect the rheology of the fresh concrete. The mixing
characteristics and ambient temperature can also affect the
workability.

• The incorporation of a small quantity of fine spherical silica

fume particles displaces and frees water molecules from the
vicinity of cement grains, leading to more fluidity.

• When supplementary cementitious materials, with negligible

initial reactivity, are used, the rheology of a concrete mixture
becomes easier to control.
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Water reducers
1st generation: Lignosulphonates at high dosages

2nd generation:
Polysulphonates
- Sulphonated melamine formaldehyde (SMF)
-Sulphonated naphthalene formaldehyde (SNF)

3rd generation:
- Polycarboxylates
- Polyacrylates
- Monovinyl alcohols

Typical dosage: 0.7 – 1.0% by weight of cement.

Also called ‘Superplasticisers’
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Compatibility Issues

• Incompatibility may be defined as the lack of expected

level of performance when a given combination of
cement and superplasticizer is used

• Performance indicators:
- Poor slump retention
- Retardation
- Bleeding / segregation
- Low early strengths

• PCE known to have fewer compatibility problems

compared to SNF
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 Air-entraining agents
• Protect against damage due to freezing and thawing
cycles

• Side effects:
1. Improve workability
2. Reduce segregation and bleeding
3. Reduce strength due to increased porosity

Air bubbles are generated during the agitation and mixing of

the concrete. The air-entraining agents simply helps to
stabilize these bubbles by the above action.

Air entrainers are added to the concrete mixture either early in

the process – with the sand and coarse aggregate – or after
the cement has been added along with some of the mix water
With increasing air entrainment, the tendency to expand
decreases because the entrained air voids provide escape
boundaries for the hydraulic pressure
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Practical difficulties in the production of HPC/HSC

• More silos and bins are required, especially if the plant also
produces usual concrete.

• Production rate (i.e., m3/hr) is less than for usual concrete

(because mixing time is longer).

• HPC has to be often placed at night to avoid delays due to traffic,

non-interference with usual concrete production, early curing and
lower heat development.

• Quality control has to be elaborate.

• HPC is sensible to changes in mix composition and mixing

parameters.

(Forced action mixers preferred.)

Superplasticizer addition: Options
• All the superplasticizer is added along with the water
• Simple procedure and gives good control over dosage
• No time is lost for superplasticizer addition
• More superplasticizer is required, increasing cost
• Part of the superplasticizer (⅓ - ⅔) is added with the water
at the beginning of mixing, and the rest is added about 1-2
minutes later
• Savings in the total dosage of superplasticizer
• Part of the superplasticizer (⅓ - ⅔) is added during the
mixing at the plant, and the rest is added when the concrete
arrives at the jobsite
• The fluidity is restricted during transport
• Final dosage is not well controlled
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Controlling the temperature of the concrete
• The ideal temperature range for HPC/HSC is 15-20ºC.
• When the temperature is higher than 25ºC, hydration is
accelerated.
• When the temperature is lower than 10ºC,
superplasticizers are less effective (because their
viscosity increases) and setting maybe retarded.
• The allowable temperature range in a construction
project, and the remedial measures to be taken when
the temperature falls outside this range should be
specified
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 Curing

• HPC/HSC has to be water cured as early as possible.

• If water curing is delayed or not performed in HPC/HSC,

• Plastic shrinkage can lead to cracking due to low
bleeding rates
• Considerable autogenous shrinkage will occur
during hydration
• Some drying shrinkage may occur

• The duration of water curing should be as long as

possible, and never less than 3 days. Nevertheless, 7
days is long enough to reduce shrinkage significantly
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Fresh concrete
• Must be easy to place.
• Properties and behaviour should be controlled.

• Concrete for in situ construction must retain adequate

workability for at least 90 minutes; in precast
applications, 30 minutes is sufficient.

• Current problems:
- Significant and irrecoverable slump loss.
- Strong set retardation in fluid mixes, delaying
strength development.
- Segregation in highly fluid mixes.
Means of controlling the temperature increase

• Maximum internal temperatures of 60 to 80ºC have been

registered in HPC structural elements
• Decrease of the temperature of delivered concrete
• Use of crushed ice (replacing part of the mixing water)
• Introduction of liquid nitrogen
• Use of a retarder
• Use of supplementary cementitious materials
• Use of low-heat cement with less C3S and C3A
• Insulated forms should be used where thermal gradients
could occur
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Durability against attack by external chemical agents
• Lower porosity and permeability slow down the
penetration of aggressive agents.

• HPC is more durable than usual concretes because the

microstructure of hpc and the interfaces is more compact.

• Chloride ion permeability (according to ASTM C 1202) of

an HPC is about 100-500 coulombs while for a usual
concrete (e.g., w/b = 0.45) it would be 3000-5000 coulombs

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Fire resistance
• The risk of spalling in HSC, at high temperatures, is higher
than in usual concrete.

• The low porosity and permeability leads to the building up

of vapour pressure within the concrete, which results in
the spalling.

• A small quantity of polypropylene fibres incorporated

uniformly in the concrete helps decrease spalling by
melting as the temperature rises and providing channels
for the vapour to be released

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16SC603 Course material - Dr.K.B.Anand
 Pioneering applications
• Bridges (anchorage blocks, piers)
• Liquefied gas storage tanks
• Tunnel linings
• Building columns (concrete filled steel tubes)
• Sandwich structures (steel-concrete structures)
• Repair (girders, tunnel linings)
• Prefabricated elements (panels, furniture, beams)
• Building foundations and walls
• Piles and pile caps
• Structural elements (girders, culverts)
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