Modified water-cement ratio law for silica fume concretes

The application of condensed silica fume as a mineral admixture in concrete is almost a routine one nowadays for the production of tailor-made high-performance concretes. Abrams' Law, which was originally formulated for conventional concrete containing cement as the only cementitious material, is not directly applicable to these new-generation concretes. In the present paper, modified relationships have been proposed to evaluate the strength of silica fume concrete. An extensive experimentation was carried out to determine the isolated effect of silica fume on concrete, and, analyzing the 28-day strength results of 32 concrete mixes performed over a wide range of water-binder ratios and silica fume replacement percentages, simplified relationships have been proposed. These simplified models might serve as useful guides for proportioning concrete mixes incorporating silica fume.     

Utilization of fly ash with silica fume and properties of Portland cement-fly ash-silica fume concrete

This paper reports the normal consistency, setting time, workability and compressive strength results of Portland cement-fly ash-silica fume systems. The results show that water requirement for normal consistency was found to increase with increasing SF content while a decrease in initial setting time was found. Workability, measured in term of slump, was found to decrease with silica fume content (compared to blends without silica fume). However, it must be noted that despite the reduction in the slump values, the workability of Portland cement-fly ash-silica fume concrete in most cases remained higher than that of the Portland cement control concrete. Furthermore, the utilization of silica fume with fly ash was found to increase the compressive strength of concrete at early ages (pre 28 days) up to 145% with the highest strength obtained when silica fume was used at 10 wt%. Moreover, scanning electron micrographs show that utilization of fly ash with silica fume resulted in a much denser microstructure, thereby leading to an increase in compressive strength.     

Autogenous shrinkage of high-strength concrete containing silica fume under drying at early ages

The present study investigated experimentally autogenous shrinkage of high-strength concrete containing silica fume under drying at early ages. The influence of drying on hydration of cementitious materials in the high-strength concrete with water-binder ratios of 0.25, 0.35 and 0.45 was evaluated based on bound water content (BWC), which was exposed to drying at the ages of 0.5, 1.0 and 3.0 days, respectively. By establishing the relationship between the BWC and autogenous shrinkage strain under sealed conditions, autogenous shrinkage strain under drying conditions and drying shrinkage strain were separated from total shrinkage strain, and, then, the contribution of autogenous shrinkage in total shrinkage was discussed. The results showed that the percentage of autogenous shrinkage was macroscopically 50-20% based on the present method, while that was 70-30% based on the conventional superposition principle (SP). The latter resulted in overestimating autogenous shrinkage strain under drying conditions.     

Influence of silica fume on the tensile strength of concrete

The present paper is directed towards developing a better understanding on the isolated contribution of silica fume on the tensile strengths of high-performance concrete (HPC). Extensive experimentation was carried out over water-binder ratios ranging from 0.26 to 0.42 and silica fume-binder ratios from 0.0 to 0.3. For all the mixes, compressive, flexural and split tensile strengths were determined at 28 days. The compressive, as well as the tensile, strengths increased with silica fume incorporation, and the results indicate that the optimum replacement percentage is not a constant one but depends on the water-cementitious material (w/cm) ratio of the mix. Compared with split tensile strengths, flexural strengths have exhibited greater improvements. Based on the test results, relationships between the 28-day flexural and split tensile strengths with the compressive strength of silica fume concrete have been developed using statistical methods.     

Effect of water-to-cementitious materials ratio and silica fume on the autogenous shrinkage of concrete

This paper presents an experimental study on the autogenous shrinkage of Portland cement concrete (OPC) and concrete incorporating silica fume (SF). The results were compared with that of the total shrinkage (including drying shrinkage and part of the autogenous shrinkage) of the concrete specimens dried in 65% relative humidity after an initial moist curing of 7 days. The water-to-cementitious materials (w/c) ratio of the concrete studied was in the range of 0.26 to 0.35 and the SF content was in the range of 0% to 10% by weight of cement.The results confirmed that the autogenous shrinkage increased with decreasing w/c ratio, and with increasing SF content. The results showed that the autogenous shrinkage strains of the concrete with low w/c ratio and SF developed rapidly even at early ages. At the w/c ratio of 0.26, the autogenous shrinkage strains of the SF concrete were more than 100 micro strains at 2 days. For all the concretes studied, 60% or more of the autogenous shrinkage strain up to 98 days occurred in the first 2 weeks after concrete casting. The results indicated that most of the total shrinkage of the concrete specimens with very low w/c ratio and SF exposed to 65% relative humidity after an initial moist curing of 7 days did not seem to be due to the drying shrinkage but due to the autogenous shrinkage.     

Investigations on the compressive strength of silica fume concrete using statistical methods

The present paper deals with a mathematical model developed using statistical methods to predict the 28-day compressive strength of silica fume concrete with water-to-cementitious material (w/cm) ratios ranging from 0.3 to 0.42 and silica fume replacement percentages from 5 to 30. Strength results of 26 concrete mixes, on more than 300 test specimens, have been analyzed for statistical modeling. The ratios of compressive strengths between silica fume and control concrete have been related to silica fume replacement percentage. The expression, being derived with strength ratios and not with absolute values of strength, is independent of the specimen parameters and is applicable to all types of specimens. On examining the validity of the model with the results of previous researchers, it was observed that for results on both cubes and cylinders, predictions were obtained within 7.5% of the experimentally obtained values.     

Behaviour of lightweight expanded polystyrene concrete containing silica fume

Lightweight concrete can be produced by replacing the normal aggregate with lightweight aggregate, either partially or fully, depending upon the requirements of density and strength. The present study covers the use of expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads as lightweight aggregate both in concretes and mortars containing silica fume as a supplementary cementitious material. The main aim of this project is to study the strength and the durability performance of EPS concretes. These mixes were designed by using the efficiency of silica fume at the different percentages. The resulting concretes were seen to have densities varying from 1500 to 2000 kg/m³, with the corresponding strengths varying from 10 to 21 MPa. The rate of strength gain for these concretes shows that an increase in the percentage of silica fume increases the 7-day strength. This was observed to be about 75%, 85%, and 95% of the corresponding 28-day strength at the silica fume replacement levels of 3%, 5%, and 9%, respectively. The results of absorption, at 30 min and the final absorption, show that the EPS mixes made with sand have lower levels of absorption compared to the mixes containing normal aggregates. Further, the absorption values were seen to be decreasing with increasing cementitious content. The performance of these concretes, in terms of their chloride permeability and corrosion resistance, even at the minimal silica fume content level was observed to be very good.     

The effect of the silica content of silica fume on its ability to control alkali-silica reaction

The use of silica fume (SF) has been instrumental in the development and utilization of high-strength and high-performance concrete. In the interests of economics, questions have been raised regarding the possible use and effectiveness of “lower grade” SFs with SiO₂ contents less than 85%. Such materials do not meet current CSA and ASTM standards for SF. In this study, the performance of two SFs from the same U.S. plant but with different silica contents (68% and 88% SiO₂) were compared by examining the effect of the materials on the expansion due to alkali-silica reaction (ASR) and the composition of the pore solution. The mixtures tested with these procedures included 0%, 4%, 8%, and 12% SF replacement by mass of cement. Results show that the SF with lower than standard silica contents cannot control ASR at the levels of replacement examined in this program.     

Recycling of aluminum dross and silica fume wastes for production of mullite-containing ceramics: Powder preparation,sinterability and properties

The improper disposal of industrial wastes causes environmental pollution so their recycling for fabrication of new products became an interesting research issue. In this work, sintered mullite-containing ceramics were prepared from aluminum dross and silica fume (up to 40 wt%) waste materials after sintering up to 1500 °C. Before sintering, the starting waste materials were converted into nano powders by mechanical milling alloying method up to 15 h. The obtained waste nano powders were investigated using different techniques as X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). On the other hand, phase identification by XRD, physical properties determination (bulk density and apparent porosity), microstructure by SEM, mechanical and electrical properties of sintered bodies were investigated. The results revealed that mullite phase was formed in higher amounts with increasing both sintering temperature (1500 °C) and silica fume content. At 1300 °C, amorphous mullite was formed in addition to the alumina phase. It is also noted that the apparent porosity and bulk density were reduced with increasing silica content. However, they exhibited opposite trend when the temperature increased from 1300 into 1500 °C. Moreover, with increasing the mullite content, the microhardness, compressive strength, Younges modulus and electrical conductivity were decreased and reached 10.2 GPa, 216.9 MPa, 119.7 GPa and 4.9 × 10 ^?12 S/m, respectively, for the sample that contained higher amount of mullite, while the fracture toughness was improved and reached to 3.44 MPa m^0.5.     

Alkali silica reactivity of agglomerated silica fume

It is commonly accepted that replacement of a portion of cement in mortar or concrete with well-dispersed silica fume reduces expansion caused by alkali silica reaction. Recently there has been much discussion that large, agglomerated particles of silica fume may actually act as alkali silica reactive aggregates, thereby increasing expansion rather than reducing it. The data in the literature, from both field and laboratory studies, are inconsistent. This prompted an extensive laboratory investigation into the alkali silica reactivity of silica fume. Results from accelerated expansion testing and microscopic investigations are presented. It was seen that some agglomerated silica fumes participate in ASR while others do not. Factors determining the reactivity of silica fume agglomerates are suggested.     

Strength estimation model for high-strength concrete incorporating metakaolin and silica fume

A mathematical model is presented for estimating compressive strength of high-strength concrete incorporating pozzolanic materials, based on the strength of a control ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete made with similar mixture characteristics and curing history. In this study, metakaolin (MK) and silica fume (SF) were used as cement replacement materials at 5%, 10%, and 15% by mass. Water/cementitious materials (w/cm) ratios varied from 0.27 to 0.33, and strength testing was conducted up to an age of 180 days. It was found that the strength of a pozzolanic mixture could be related to the strength of its equivalent control by a linear function. Key parameters involved in the model are the pozzolanic and dilution factors, which can be correlated to the pozzolan content in the mixture. The study concludes that the accuracy of the model increases with concrete age. At ages 28 days and above, 97% of the estimated strengths are within ±5% of the actual value.     

Relationship between resistivity, diffusivity and microstructural descriptors for mortars with silica fume

Mortars with a sand-to-cement ratio of 3 and water-to-cement ratio of 0.5 were made with 0% and 10% silica fume (SF). Resistivities were measured with alternating current impedance spectroscopy (ACIS). Diffusivities were determined with the propan-2-ol counterdiffusion method. Microstructure was investigated with mercury intrusion porosimetry. It was found that there is a relationship relating hydration time to the product of resistivity and diffusivity. Furthermore, the product of resistivity and diffusivity was related to porosity, mean and threshold pore diameters. The influence of silica fume in refining the pore structure was marked.     

以硅灰、白炭黑、硅溶胶为硅源合成碳化硅晶须的研究

以硅灰、白炭黑、硅溶胶为硅源,炭黑为碳源,采用碳热还原法合成碳化硅晶须,通过XRD及SEM对合成产物的物相及形貌进行分析,探讨了合成温度(分别为1 400、1 450、1 500、1 550℃)、硅源、n(C)∶n(SiO2)对合成碳化硅晶须的影响.结果表明:n(C)∶n(SiO2)为2.4～3.6,合成温度为1 500 ℃,保温3 h时,硅溶胶与炭黑反应没有生成碳化硅晶须,硅灰、白炭黑与炭黑反应均生成碳化硅晶须;以硅灰为硅源合成碳化硅晶须的质量及数量明显优于以白发黑为硅源合成碳化硅晶须;合成碳化硅晶须的最佳n(C)∶n(SiO2)为3.3.     

Effect of magnesium and sulfate ions on durability of silica fume blended mixes exposed to the seawater tidal zone

The effect of silica fume on deterioration resistance to sulfate attack in seawater within tidal zone and simulated wetting-drying condition has been studied in Portland cement concretes and pastes containing silica fume (SF) with/without ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS). Changes in the compressive strength and capillary water absorption of specimens as a function of SF content have been investigated combined with phases determination by means of scanning electron microscopy and X-ray energy dispersion analysis. The strength change factors (SCFs) of specimens with SF (the more SF content, the higher strength loss) were greater than that of the mixes without SF or cured under tap water. Mg²⁺ ion originated attack found to be the dominating deterioration mechanism as confirmed by X-ray and chemical analyses.Further, the incorporation of GGBS with SF mixes in different exposure conditions led to the worst performance in all of the test environments. Lower cement content and hydration rate accompanied with particular chemical composition of GGBS made concrete and paste specimens to be more susceptible to deleterious seawater environment.     

An investigation on microstructure of cement paste containing fly ash and silica fume

In this study, high-calcium fly ash (HCFA) and silica fume (SF) were used as mineral admixtures. The effect of these admixtures on the microstructure of cement paste was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The reaction of HCFA and SF with portlandite, which occurs in Portland cement (PC), forms a new calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) gel.     

Quantitative Si MAS NMR spectroscopy of cement and silica fume containing paramagnetic impurities

The low natural abundance and the long spin lattice relaxation time of ²⁹Si lead to long measurement times and/or low signal-to-noise ratios using ²⁹Si magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy. By contrast, samples containing paramagnetic iron ions have much shorter relaxation times, making measurements up to seven times more efficient, but at the same time making quantitative analysis unreliable. To solve the problem, the spin-lattice relaxation times of ordinary Portland cement (opc) and silica fume with and without iron content has been determined with inversion recovery experiments. The effect of varying the spectrum repetition time on the quantitative analysis is demonstrated for mixtures of opc with silica fume. For opc and silica fume with iron impurities repetition times as short as 5 s has permitted accurate quantitative analysis of the silicates present in these materials.     

Rheology of cementitious paste with silica fume or limestone

The rheological behaviour of cementitious pastes where cement has increasingly been replaced by densified silica fume (SF), untreated SF or limestone has been studied. The effect of SF on the flow resistance, taken as the area under the flow curve, was found to depend on the dispersing ability of the plasticizer as illustrated by pastes with naphtalene sulphonate-formaldehyde condensate (SNF) and polyether grafted polyacrylate (PA).The gel strengths increased with increasing SF replacement of cement independently of plasticizer type. The cementitious gel strength was, however, depending on the type of SF since pastes with densified SF developed lower gel strengths than pastes with untreated SF. This phenomenon was attributed to agglomerates in the densified SF which remained unbroken by the mixing and measurement sequence.Both flow resistance and gel strength decreased with increasing limestone replacement. Thus, silica fume may have an advantage over limestone filler as stabilizing agent for self-compacting concrete preventing segregation upon standing and reduced form pressure due to a more rapid gel formation.     

硅灰加入量对含均质料的耐磨可塑料性能的影响简

为了分析硅灰加入量对含均质料的耐磨可塑料性能的影响,以60%均质料、20%特级矾土粉和氧化铝微粉、5%粘土、15%磷酸二氢铝和促硬剂为基础配方,分别用1a、2a、3a质量分数的硅灰替换等量的粘土搅拌后捣打成型。分别经烘干,850℃、1100℃热处理后,检测常温耐压强度、烧后永久线变化和磨损量。结果表明：1）由于硅灰的填充润滑作用,提高了可塑料的塑性,改善了施工性能;2）硅灰加入量从0增加到3a,110℃烘干和1100℃热处理后,耐压强度随着硅灰加入量增加而增大;3）随着硅灰加入量的增加,对烧后线变化无明显影响;4）引入少量的硅灰对耐磨性能影响不大,但当硅灰加入3a时,耐磨性能显著降低。     

Effect of treatment temperature on the early hydration characteristics of superplasticized silica fume blended cement pastes

In this investigation, two mixes were used: ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and a blended cement prepared with the partial substitution of OPC by 10 mass% silica fume (SF). The setting and hardening characteristics were monitored by the aid of electrical conductivity as a function of curing time. The shear stress and electrical conductivity were studied at different temperatures, namely, 20, 35, 45 and 55 °C. As the temperature increases, the shear stresses decrease with the increase of shear rate. The height of electrical conductivity peaks of superplasticized cement pastes increases due to the increase of the paste fluidity. In the presence of 1.0% polycarboxylate (PC), the electrical conductivity of cement pastes decreases from 1 to 28 days. PC retards the hydration of cement pastes. The presence of PC extended the setting times of cement pastes at 35 °C than at 20 °C due to the increase in the adsorption capacity at this temperature. PC extends the dormant stage of the hydration process and delays the onset of the accelerating stage, without affecting its rate.     

Reaction products of densified silica fume agglomerates in concrete

Most silica fume currently used in concrete is in the dry densified form and consists of agglomerates of sizes between 10 μm and several millimeters. Many of these agglomerates may break down only partially in normal concrete mixing. Examination of various mature silica-fume-bearing concretes using backscatter mode scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis shows that such agglomerates have reacted in situ and given rise to recognizable types of reaction products filling the space within the original outline of the agglomerate. One type is “quiescent,” and usually shows no evidence of volume instability. EDX spectra indicate that the product formed within such grains is C-S-H of very low Ca/Si ratio, with modest alkali contents. Other silica fume agglomerates may undergo a distinct alkali-silica-type reaction (ASR), with the reaction product found within the original outline of the agglomerate having significantly less calcium and usually much higher alkali contents than the quiescent type. Such reacted agglomerates show evidence of local expansion, shrinkage cracking (on drying), and other features common to ASR. Both types may be found within the same concrete, sometimes in close proximity. It further appears that exposure to seawater may convert previously formed reaction products of silica fume agglomerates to magnesium silicate hydrates.