High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Will Haynes CEE 8813

HVFAC Lecture Overview Definition of HVFAC Why Class F Fly Ash? The Properties of Fresh HVFAC The Properties of Hardened HVFAC HVFAC Project Application Target Goals Results

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Definition of High-Volume Fly Ash Concrete

The most commonly accepted definition is:

Concrete mixtures containing more than 50% fly ash by mass of cementitious material with a low water content (w/cm < 0.4). (Reiner and Rens, 2006)

May find other definitions depending on the

source.

The term High-Volume Fly Ash Concrete

(HVFAC) originated from Dr. Malhotra in the 1980s when working with CANMET (Canada Centre for Energy and Mineral Technology).
(Burden, 2006)

Why Class F Fly Ash? Most of the research on high-volume fly ash
concrete has been done using Class F fly ash.

There was already widespread usage of

Class F fly ash in concrete prior to the research, and Class F fly ash was abundant in the area where the CANMET research was being conducted.

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Table 1: Typical mix proportions for different strength levels Strength level (MPa) 28 Days 90 Days to 1 Year Mix Proportions (kg/m^3) Water Cement, ASTM TypeI/II Fly ash, ASTM Class F w/cm Fly Ash Replacement Low 20 40 120-130 120-130 125-150 0.4-0.45 55% Moderate 30 50 115-125 115-125 180-200 High 40 60 100-120 100-120 200-225

0.33-0.35* 0.30-0.32* 60% 65%

* Moderate and high-strength concretes need a superplasticizer to obtain a low water/cement ratio

(Mehta, 2004)

Application: Mat Foundation

A Massive 3.5 ft x 129 ft x178 ft Unreinforced HVFAC Foundation-(65% Fly Ash Replacement) Shree Swaminarayan Mandir and Cultural Complex Lilburn, Georgia
(Garas, Kurtis, Lopez, Mehta, 2005)

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

I.

Properties of Fresh HVFAC

Workability Air Entraining of HVFAC Bleeding Setting Times

Workability Fly ash increases workability when compared

with conventional concrete with the same water content.

However, HVFAC normally incorporates a

very low water to cementitious material ratio (~0.30) to achieve comparable early strengths as conventional portland cement mixtures. Therefore, the use of superplasticizers is common.

(Jiang and V.M. Malhotra, 2000)

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Workability (contd) Slump values less than 5 can be achieved

high volume fly ash mixtures without the use of a superplasticizer. However, the water to cementitious materials ratio of these mixtures will be around 0.40.

(Mehta, 2004)

Air Entraining of HVFAC HVFAC often requires higher doses of air

entraining admixtures due to adsorption of the AEA by carbon in the fly ash.
(Malhotra, 1994)

(Photo: Kosmatka, Kerkhoff, and Panarese, 2002)

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Bleeding HVFAC is typically made with a very

low water to cementitious materials ratio therefore bleeding is not usually a problem.

Precautions when placing HVFAC in hot

weather should be considered to avoid plastic shrinkage cracking. (Mehta, 2004)

(Photo: Kosmatka, Kerkhoff, and Panarese, 2002)

Setting of HVFAC The low cement content of HVFAC and the

slow reacting property of fly ash increases setting times.

An additional 1 to 2 hours to final set has

been shown for HVFAC.

Special measures may be required when

using HVFAC in cold weather to avoid significant strength retardation.

(Ramachandran, 1996)

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

II.

Properties of Hardened HVFAC

Autogenous Temperature Rise Drying Shrinkage and Creep Strength Properties Durability

Autogenous Temperature Rise HVFAC has been proven to be beneficial in

reducing the potential for cracking in mass foundations due to temperature differentials.

Replacement of cement with Class F fly ash

lowers the peak temperature of concrete during hydration.

Some experiments done using 50% fly ash

replacement have been shown to reduce the peak temperature by 23%. 70% replacement has been shown to reduce the peak temperature by 45%.
(Atis, 2000)

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Fig. 1: Typical autogenous temperature rise of HVFAC compared to that of conventional concrete with similar 28-day compressive strength

(CII and CANMET, 2005)

Drying Shrinkage The water reducing effect of fly ash is

beneficial in reducing the amount of drying shrinkage.

There is less portland cement paste volume

in HVFAC which also helps to reduce shrinkage. (Mehta, 2004)

Studies have shown the drying shrinkage of

HVFAC to be equal or less than that of conventional concrete. (Malhotra and Ramezanianpour, 1994)

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Creep The creep strains of HVFAC can be higher or

lower than conventional concrete depending on the age of the concrete when loaded.

The strength gain of HVFAC is slower than

conventional concrete, therefore higher strains may be noticed early.

The quality of fly ash can also influence the

strength gain and therefore the creep strains.

(Bilodeau and Malhotra, 2000)

Strength Properties

HVFAC requires lower w/cm ratios to obtain comparable early age compressive strengths as conventional concrete. Adequate curing of HVFAC is critical to strength development. A minimum of 7 days of moist curing of HVFAC required for optimum strength and durability (for continued pozzolanic reactions). (Bilodeau and Malhotra, 2000) The early compressive strength is a function of the coarseness of the fly ash used and the amount of cement replaced with fly ash.
(Chindaprasirt, 2004)

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Strength Properties (contd)

Higher values of cement replacement with fly ash will require lower water contents to achieve the same compressive strength. The long term compressive strength of HVFAC normally exceeds that of conventional concrete. Longer term (56 day) compressive strength requirements are often specified. The ratios of the flexural and tensile strength to the compressive strength are comparable to conventional concrete.

(Langley, Carette and Malhotra)

(Malhotra, 1994)

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Compressive Strength Comparison

C ompressive Strength (M Pa) 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Age (days)
Fig. 3: Fly ash mixtures replaced 55% of cement with Class F fly ash
HVFAC 1, w/cm=0.30 PCC 1, w/cm=0.39 HVFAC 2, w/cm=0.33 PCC 2, w/cm=0.45 HVFAC 3, w/cm=0.35 PCC 3, w/cm=0.46

(Data From: Langley, Carette, and Malhotra, 1989)

Durability

The long term permeability of HVFAC is very low when the concrete has been adequately cured (at least 7 days). Using the Rapid Chloride Permeability Test, typical ranges for HVFAC are 500 to 2000 coulombs at 28 days, and from 200 to 700 coulombs at 91 days.
(Bilodeau and Malhotra, 2000)

ASTM C1202-Rapid Chloride Permeability Test (Figure: CII and CANMET, 2005)

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Durability (contd)

The freezing and thawing resistance of HVFAC is adequate as long sufficient air voids are incorporated. De-icing salt scaling has been shown to be a problem for HVFAC in the lab. HVFAC is not recommended for applications where there will exposure to de-icing salts. The causes of severe deicing scaling of HVFAC has not been determined, further research is needed.
(Bilodeau and Malhotra 2000)

(Photo: Kosmatka, Kerkhoff, and Panarese, 2002)

Durability (contd)

(ACI, 2005)

ACI 318 allows a maximum of 25% fly ash replacement when

exposed to deicing chemicals.

Therefore, HVFAC (replacement>50%) is not allowed for

de-icing chemical exposure.

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Durability (contd) Carbonation of HVFAC can be an issue. There is a reduction in the calcium hydroxide
content in the concrete due to the inclusion of fly ash.

When low w/cm ratios are used with an

extended period of curing, carbonation of HVFAC can be controlled through further reduction in permeability. (Malhotra and Mehta, 1996)

Mat Foundation in Lilburn, Georgia 3.5 ft x 129 ft x 178 ft unreinforced mat

foundation.

The project replaced 65% of the Type I cement

with Class F fly ash.

Water to cementitious materials ratio was 0.35. Target strength for the foundation was 31MPa
at 56 days.

Target maximum hydration temperature was

60oC with a maximum differential of 20oC between the surface and interior of the foundation.

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Laboratory Specimens
60 9000 8000 50 Strength (MPa) 56 Days 7000
Strength (psi)

40

6000 5000

30

4000 4x8-in Specimens 4x8-in Cores 3000 2000 1000 0 1 10 Age (days) 100 1000

20

10 6x12-in Specimens 0

Temple Foundation Plan (Numbers Represent Coring Locations)

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Foundation Compressive Strengths

50

Location 1 (Top)
7000 40 6000 5000 4000 20 3000 2000 10

Location 2 (Mid) Location 3 (Mid) Location 4 Location 5

Strength (psi)

Strength (MPa)

30

Location 6 (Top) Location 7 Location 8 Location 9 Location 10 (Bottom)

56 Days

1000 0

0 1 10 Age (days) 100

Laboratory Experiment

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Laboratory Results
50 45 40 T em p era tu re ( o C ) 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Age (days) 122

92 82 72 62 52 42 32

Heat of Hydration Graph vs Time

Foundation Results
50 45 40

Surface Middle Center Ambient

DT max=5 C

114 104

Temperature (oC)

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 -5 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

84 74 64 54 44 34 18 20 22 24 14

-10 Age (days)

Heat of Hydration Graph vs Time

Temperature (oF)

94

T em p era tu re ( o F )

Surface Middle Center Ambient

112 102

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Laboratory Results
9000 Charge Passed (coulombs) 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 1
Moderate Low Very Low High

28 days: 3.75-in diameter 31 days: 3.75-in diameter 90 days: 3.75-in diameter

2 3 Specimen number

ASTM C1202-Rapid Chloride Permeability Test

Project Results The HVFAC used for the foundation did not
exhibit any thermal induced cracking.

The foundation compressive strengths were

very close to the targeted compressive strengths.

The drying shrinkage was found to be

comparable to conventional concrete.

The Rapid Chloride Permeability Test

showed low to very low permeability for the specimens at 90 days.

High-Volume Class F Fly Ash Concrete

Conclusion
HVFAC has proven to be effective in controlling
thermal gradients in mass concrete applications, and sufficient research exists for HVFAC to be applied judiciously in other structural applications as well.

A lower w/cm ratio is normally used in HVFAC in order

to get comparable early age strengths as conventional concrete and for high durability.

Adequate curing is required (minimum 7 days) and

use well graded aggregate.

The quality control of the fly ash used is essential.

Coarse fly ashes can have a high impact on strength gain.

Do not use HVFAC when there is the potential for deicing salt exposure.