The effect of excessive steam curing on Portland composite cement concrete

Steam curing at atmospheric pressure is an important technique for obtaining high early strength values in precast concrete production. Cement type, as well as curing period and temperature, is an important parameter in the steam-curing process. PC42.5 is the type of cement that is most commonly used in Turkish precast concrete plants. Its behavior is well known. Nowadays, the production of composite cements is becoming more popular every other day due to its advantages. The object of this study was to determine the properties of this relatively new binder comparatively with conventional PC42.5 under steam curing. For this purpose, 15-cm concrete cubes were prepared with a water/cement ratio (W/C) of 0.44 and were subjected to steam curing for five different curing periods of 4, 8, 16, 24 and 36 h under curing temperatures of 65 and 85 °C. Cement dosage was kept constant (400 kg/m³) for all specimens. The variation of compressive strength values and maturity for each condition has been presented comparatively within this study. Test results indicated that Portland composite cement (PKC/A42.5) can be used in place of PC42.5 for steam curing at atmospheric pressure in precast concrete production. However, in case of early high strength demand for early demolding purposes, curing temperature should be increased to 85 °C for PKC/A42.5 cement concretes.     

Combined effects of mineral admixtures and curing conditions on the sorptivity coefficient of concrete

The effect of mineral admixture and curing condition on the sorptivity of concrete are investigated. In the present work, the maximum particle size and the grading of coarse aggregate, the cement content and water/cement ratio of the concrete are kept constant. Then, in the ordinary Portland cement (OPC) 42.5 concrete, a portion of the sand is replaced by a mineral admixture such as fly ash (FA), limestone filler, sandstone filler or silica fume (SF). This paper presents the results of both the sorptivity coefficient and the compressive strength of OPC 42.5 concretes with these mineral admixtures, and concretes with OPC 32.5, blended cement (BC) or trass cement (TC). The results obtained indicate that the sorptivity coefficient of concrete decreases as the compressive strength of concrete increases. It is also shown that the sorptivity coefficient of concrete is very sensitive to the curing condition. The effect of curing condition on the sorptivity coefficient of concrete seems to be higher in low-strength concretes.     

Steam-cured concrete incorporating mineral admixtures

This paper explores the potential benefits of steam-cured concrete, particularly on mixes incorporating mineral admixtures. Twenty mixes with various combinations of Portland cement, fly ash (FA), slag and silica fume (SF) were investigated. For each mix, specimens were either standard-cured in a water bath of 27 °C or steam-cured at 55 °C maximum temperature over 8 h. For the materials and test conditions reported in this study, it was found that steam-cured concretes were more porous as indicated by the much higher sorptivity values compared with standard-cured specimens. Mixes with SF have the best performance and hold promise in precast manufacturing due to their high early strength development and low sorptivity values.     

Influence of hydration on the mechanical,structural, thermal,and morphological properties of cement filled epoxy composites

Different loading of Portland cement (PC) (10, 20, 30, and 40 wt%) was used to produce epoxy-based polymer concrete. The optimum loading was used to prepare another sample using hydration in presence of air circulation. The polymer concretes were characterized in terms of mechanical, thermal, structural and morphological properties. The properties showed increasing trends after cement addition. Results showed that the tensile strength of the polymer concretes were improved by 37.2%, 115.5%, 165.9%, and 40.6% for loading of 10, 20, 30, and 40 wt% cement, respectively. In addition, the flexural strength of the polymer concretes was also enhanced and found maximum (175.3% higher) in 30 wt% concrete compared to neat epoxy. Other mechanical properties of the polymer concrete were also found increasing. Moreover, decomposition temperature was raised nearly 15°C for adding 30 wt% cement which was the maximum among the other polymer concretes. For the case of hydration in presence of air circulation, the prepared composite showed the highest tensile mechanical performance with improved surface topography. From the results, it was concluded that the addition of cement into the epoxy was very effective to produce polymer concretes.     

Compressive behavior of fiber reinforced high-performance concrete subjected to elevated temperatures

In this paper, the effects of elevated temperatures on the compressive strength stress–strain relationship (stiffness) and energy absorption capacities (toughness) of concretes are presented. High-performance concretes (HPCs) were prepared in three series, with different cementitious material constitutions using plain ordinary Portland cement (PC), with and without metakaolin (MK) and silica fume (SF) separate replacements. Each series comprised a concrete mix, prepared without any fibers, and concrete mixes reinforced with either or both steel fibers and polypropylene (PP) fibers. The results showed that after exposure to 600 and 800 °C, the concrete mixes retained, respectively, 45% and 23% of their compressive strength, on average. The results also show that after the concrete was exposed to the elevated temperatures, the loss of stiffness was much quicker than the loss in compressive strength, but the loss of energy absorption capacity was relatively slower. A 20% replacement of the cement by MK resulted in a higher compressive strength but a lower specific toughness, as compared with the concrete prepared with 10% replacement of cement by SF. The MK concrete also showed quicker losses in the compressive strength, elastic modulus and energy absorption capacity after exposure to the elevated temperatures. Steel fibers approximately doubled the energy absorption capacity of the unheated concrete. They were effective in minimizing the degradation of compressive strength for the concrete after exposure to the elevated temperatures. The steel-fiber-reinforced concretes also showed the highest energy absorption capacity after the high-temperature exposure, although they suffered a quick loss of this capacity. In comparison, using PP fibers reduced the energy absorption capacity of the concrete after exposure to 800 °C, although it had a minor beneficial effect on the energy absorption capacity of the concrete before heating.     

Relationship between ultrasonic velocity and compressive strength for high-volume mineral-admixtured concrete

Ultrasound is used to evaluate the compressive strength of concrete with mineral admixtures. In addition, the relationship between ultrasound velocity and compressive strength of concrete are evaluated. High-volume fly ash (FA), blast furnace slag (BFS) and FA+BFS are used as the mineral admixtures in replacement of Portland cement (PC).

Compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) were determined at the 3-, 7-, 28- and 120-day curing period. Both compressive strength and UPV were very low for all the levels of mineral admixtures at an early age of curing, especially for samples containing FA. However, with the increase of curing period, both compressive strength and UPV of all the samples increased. The relationship between UPV and compressive strength was exponential for FA, BFS and FA+BFS. However, constants were different for each mineral admixture and each level replacement of PC.     

Influence of natural pozzolan, colemanite ore waste, bottom ash, and fly ash on the properties of Portland cement

This study has examined the effect of natural pozzolan (NP), colemanite ore waste (CW), coal fly ash (FA), and coal bottom ash (BA) on the properties of cement and concrete. The parameters studied included compressive strength, bending strength, volume expansion, and setting time. A number of cements were prepared (in the presence of fixed quantity of 10% FA, 10% BA, and 4% CW) by the replacement of Portland cement (PC) with NP in range of 5-30%. The results showed that the final setting time of cement pastes were generally accelerated when the NP replaced part of the cement. However, NP exhibited a significant retarding effect when used in combination with CW. The results also showed that the inclusion of NP at replacement levels of 5% resulted in an increase in compressive strength of the specimens compared with that of the control concrete. The replacement of PC by 10-15% of NP in the presence of fixed quantity of CW improves the bending strength of the specimens compared with control specimens after 60 days of curing age.     

Chloride resistance of high-performance concretes subjected to accelerated curing

The strengths and chloride penetration resistance of a series of high-performance concretes were measured after curing either at 23 °C or accelerated by heating to 65 °C. The results confirm that concretes containing silica fume (SF) or ternary blends of SF and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) exhibit improved chloride penetration resistance compared to those of plain Portland cement concretes. In addition, chloride penetration resistance of Portland cement concrete is adversely affected by accelerated curing. With the use of the ternary ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-SF-GGBFS binders, accelerated curing did not have detrimental effects on chloride penetration resistance and provided 18-h strengths in excess of 40 MPa.     

Residual compressive behavior of alkali‐activated concrete exposed to elevated temperatures

This paper reports the effect of elevated temperature exposures, up to 1200^°C , on the residual compressive strengths of alkali‐activated slag concrete (AASC) activated by sodium silicate and hydrated lime; such temperatures can occur in a fire. The strength performance of AASC in the temperature range of 400–800^°C was similar to ordinary Portland cement concrete and blended slag cement concrete, despite the finding that the AASC did not contain Ca(OH)₂ , which contributes to the strength deterioration at elevated temperatures for Ordinary Portland Cement and blended slag cement concretes. Dilatometry studies showed that the alkali‐activated slag (AAS) paste had significantly higher thermal shrinkage than the other pastes while the basalt aggregate gradually expanded. This led to a higher thermal incompatibility between the AAS paste and aggregate compared with the other concretes. This is likely to be the governing factor behind the strength loss of AASC at elevated temperatures. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Explosive spalling and residual mechanical properties of fiber-toughened high-performance concrete subjected to high temperatures

In this paper, an experimental investigation was conducted to explore the relationship between explosive spalling occurrence and residual mechanical properties of fiber-toughened high-performance concrete exposed to high temperatures. The residual mechanical properties measured include compressive strength, tensile splitting strength, and fracture energy. A series of concretes were prepared using OPC (ordinary Portland cement) and crushed limestone. Steel fiber, polypropylene fiber, and hybrid fiber (polypropylene fiber and steel fiber) were added to enhance fracture energy of the concretes. After exposure to high temperatures ranged from 200 to 800 °C, the residual mechanical properties of fiber-toughened high-performance concrete were investigated. For fiber concrete, although residual strength was decreased by exposure to high temperatures over 400 °C, residual fracture energy was significantly higher than that before heating. Incorporating hybrid fiber seems to be a promising way to enhance resistance of concrete to explosive spalling.     

应用灰色系统理论预测硫酸盐侵蚀环境下混凝土的强度劣化规律及服役寿命

制备了水胶比分别为0.32,0.40和0.48的纯水泥混凝土试件,水胶比0.32,粉煤灰掺量10%或20%的粉煤灰混凝土试件,矿粉掺量15%或30%的矿粉混凝土试件,粉煤灰和早强剂掺量分别为20%和1%的含早强剂粉煤灰混凝土试件,及粉煤灰和矿粉掺量分别为15%和15%的混凝土试件.将混凝土试件暴露于干湿循环-硫酸盐加速侵蚀环境中,测试试件抗压强度的演变规律.采用灰色关联理论研究了硫酸盐浓度、水胶比、矿物掺合料及外加剂等因素对混凝土抗压强度的影响.通过建立多元灰预测模型分析了硫酸盐侵蚀环境下混凝土的强度劣化规律及服役寿命.结果表明:强度影响因素的灰色关联度由大到小的排序为;水胶比,硫酸盐浓度,测试龄期,粉煤灰掺量,矿粉掺量,早强剂掺量.多元灰预测模型呈现出较高的精度以预测硫酸盐侵蚀环境下混凝土的强度劣化规律和服役寿命.     

A new way to increase the long-term bond strength of new-to-old concrete by the use of fly ash

The short-term and long-term bond strengths of new-to-old concrete were experimentally investigated with an emphasis on the influence of new concretes and binders. These new concretes included ordinary Portland cement concrete, expansive concrete and high-volume fly ash concrete, while the binders included pure cement paste (C-binder), expansive binder (E-binder) and fly ash mortar (F-binder). The results showed that the short-term bond strength of all specimens with fly ash concrete was lower than that with ordinary Portland cement concrete, which in turn was lower than that with expansive concrete. The bond strength of the specimens with F-binder was the lowest at the age of 7 days. However, the long-term bond strength of all specimens with added fly ash was the highest and strength losses were observed in the specimens repaired with expansive concrete or E-binder at the age of 3 years. The microstructure of the transition zone with F-binder was also studied by using both scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) at the ages of 28 days and 1 year, respectively.     

An investigation on the use of tincal ore waste, fly ash, and coal bottom ash as Portland cement replacement materials

The possibility of using tincal ore waste (TW), coal bottom ash (BA), and fly ash (FA) as partial replacement in concrete was examined through a number of tests. The properties examined include setting time, compressive strength, mortar expansion, water consistency of mortar, and microstructure. The results showed that compressive strength of all specimens containing 1 wt.% of TW was higher than that of the control at the 28th day of curing. At 90 days, the contribution to strength by BA+TW and FA+TW was higher than in the concrete-prepared equivalent TW beyond 3 wt.% of Portland cement (PC) replacement. With the replacement of 3-5 wt.% of PC by TW, the compressive strength of the concrete decreased compared to control concrete. However, the values obtained are within the limit of Turkish Standards (TS). Adding BA or FA with TW improved the performance relative to TW replacement only. Increasing replacement of TW gives rise to a higher setting time. As a result, TW, BA, and FA samples may be used as cementitious materials.     

Assessment of recycling use of GFRP powder as replacement of fly ash in geopolymer paste and concrete at ambient and high temperatures

Environmental issues caused by glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) waste have attracted much attention. The development of cost-effective recycling and reuse methods for GFRP composite wastes is therefore essential. In this study, the formulation of the GFRP waste powder replacement was set at 20–40 wt%. The geopolymer was formed by mixing GFRP powder, fly ash (FA), steel slag (SS) and ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with a sodium-based alkali activator. The effects of GFRP powder content, activator concentration, liquid to solid (L/S) ratio, and activator solution modulus on the physico-mechanical properties of geopolymer mixtures were identified. Based on the 28-day compressive strength, the optimal combination of the geopolymer mixture was determined to be 30 wt% GFRP powder content, an activator concentration of 85%, L/S of 0.65, and an activator solution modulus of 1.3. The ratios of compressive strength to flexural strength of the GFRP powder/FA-based geopolymers were considerably lower than those of the FA/steel slag-based geopolymers, which indicates that the incorporation of GFRP powder improved the geopolymer brittleness. The incorporation of 30% GFRP powder in geopolymer concrete to replace FA can enhance the compressive and flexural strengths of geopolymer concrete by 28%. After exposure to 600 °C, the flexural strength loss for geopolymer concretes containing 30 wt% GFRP powder was less than that of specimens without GFRP powder. After exposure to 900 °C, the compressive strength and flexural strength losses of geopolymer concretes containing 30 wt% GFRP powder were similar to those of specimens without GFRP powder. The developed GFRP powder/FA-based geopolymers exhibited comparable or superior physico-mechanical properties to those of the FA-based geopolymers, and thus offer a high application potential as building construction material.     

Effects of marble powder as a partial replacement of cement on some engineering properties of self-compacting concrete

Self-compacting concretes (SCC) are highly fluid concretes that can flow and be placed in formwork under their own weight without the requirement of internal or external energy. This fluidity is obtained with the use of high paste volume and superplasticizer. The paste of SCC is made principally of cement, which is the most expensive component of concrete. As a result, the production cost of SCC is higher than conventional concrete. However, to make the manufacture of SCC more practical and economical, the binder is often a binary, ternary even quaternary compound: Portland cement mixed with mineral additions. The primary aim of this work is to study the effect of incorporating the marble powder as a supplementary cementations material on the rheological and mechanical properties of SCC. The fresh properties were measured using the slump flow, J-Ring, V-funnel, and modified slump flow. The properties of hardened SCC such as strengths and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) were determined at age of 3, 28, and 90 days. The results have shown that using of marble powder in SCC enhances their fresh properties. At hardened state, the incorporation of marble powder decreases the mechanical strengths and UPV. It can be noted that it is possible to produce an economical SCC when the cement is partially substituted by the marble powder.     

Effect of binder content on the performance of alkali-activated slag concretes

This paper assesses the mechanical and durability performance of concretes produced using alkali silicate-activated ground granulated blast furnace slag as sole binder. Alkali-activated concretes are formulated with 300, 400 and 500 kg slag per m³ of fresh concrete, and their performance is compared with reference concretes produced using Portland cement (OPCC). Regardless of the binder content, the alkali-activated slag concretes (AASC) develop higher compressive strength than the comparable reference concretes. A higher binder content leads to increased strength in both AASC and OPCC at 28 days. However, at 90 days, the performance penalty for low binder content is more significant in the OPCC than AASC samples. Permeability, water sorption and carbonation resistance properties are also improved at higher binder contents. By controlling mix design parameters, it is possible to produce AASC with mechanical strength and durability comparable to conventional Portland cement concretes.     

Electrochemical studies on the corrosion performance of steel embedded in activated fly ash blended concrete

The use of fly ash to replace a portion of cement has resulted significant savings in the cost of cement production. Fly ash blended cement concretes require a longer curing time and their early strength is low when compared to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete. By adopting various activation techniques such as physical, thermal and chemical methods, hydration of fly ash blended cement concrete was accelerated and thereby improved the corrosion-resistance of concrete. Concrete specimens prepared with 10-40% of activated fly ash replacement were evaluated for their open circuit potential measurements, weight loss measurements, impedance measurements, linear polarization measurements, water absorption test, rapid chloride ion penetration test and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test and the results were compared with those for OPC concrete without fly ash. All the studies confirmed that up to a critical level of 20-30% replacement; activated fly ash cement improved the corrosion-resistance properties of concrete. It was also confirmed that the chemical activation of fly ash yielded better results than the other methods of activation investigated in this study.     

Eco-friendly concretes with reduced water and cement contents — Mix design principles and laboratory tests

The major environmental impact of concrete is caused by CO₂-emissions during cement production. Great potential for reducing the impact is seen especially for concretes with normal strength. The use of superplasticizers and highly reactive cements as well as optimization of particle-size distribution and reduction in water content allows a significant reduction in Portland cement clinker in the concrete. Essential is the addition of mineral fillers (e.g. limestone powder) to provide an optimal paste volume. In addition, the already practicable substitution of secondary raw materials like fly-ash or furnace-slag for cement clinker is an appropriate option which is however limited by the availability of these resources.In several test series the fresh and hardened concrete properties of concretes with reduced water and cement contents were investigated, especially their workability, strength development, design-relevant mechanical properties as well as durability aspects such as carbonation. It was shown that concretes with cement clinker and slag contents as low as 150 kg/m³ were able to meet the usual requirements of workability, compressive strength (approx. 40 N/mm²) and mechanical properties. The carbonation depth of concretes with 150-175 kg/m³ clinker and slag was equal or lower than the depth of conventional reference concretes for exterior structures. The ecological advantages were identified, using environmental performance evaluation. A reduction of up to 35% in environmental impact was calculated compared with conventional concrete and of more than 60% with granulated blast-furnace slag. Practical application was verified by means of full-scale tests in a precast and ready-mix concrete plant.     

A new model for the estimation of compressive strength of Portland cement concrete

In this article, on the basis of the existing experimental data, an empirical equation for calculating the compressive strength of Portland cement concrete is developed. The determination of the compressive strengths by the equation described here relies on accurate determination of the water to cement ratio which gives maximum compressive strength and the analysis of its variation with the curing time. The results obtained for the plain (without admixture) and latex modified concretes at the age of 28 days show that this ratio ranges from 0.18 to 0.23. These values are reasonably close to the non-evaporable water content reported for the Portland cement. On the other hand, this range as determined by the above procedure limits the usefulness of the proposed equation for predicting the compressive strength of silica fume blended Portland cement concretes. However, a general method of solving problems of this type allows the determination of upper and lower bounds of this range. This method requires the measurement of at least two compressive strengths corresponding to two different water to cement ratios.     

Properties of concrete pavements prepared with ferrochromium slag as concrete aggregate

This paper presents the results of investigation related to both the properties of the ferrochromium slag and the standard physical and mechanical properties of Portland cement concrete pavements (PCCP) made with this slag as aggregate, according to the relevant Croatian standards. Slag is formed as a liquid at 1700 °C in the manufacture of the high-carbon ferrochromium metal and, by slow cooling in the air, the slag crystallizes to give a stable CaO–MgO–Al₂O₃–silicate product with mechanical properties similar to basalt. With a proper selection of slag as an artificial aggregate, concrete pavements with compressive strengths, wear resistance and specific weight higher than in those from natural (limestone) aggregate in commercial Portland cement, type CEM II/B-S 42.5 (EN 197), can be made. The 28-day compressive strength of the concretes made with original unfractioned slag and with standard limestone as aggregates (w/c=0.64 and 350 kg/m³) reached the values of 57.00 MPa and 36.70 MPa, respectively. Volume stability, high volume mass, good abrasion resistance to wear and crushability make this reinforced slag concrete suitable for wearing courses of concrete pavements for traffic load classes 1 and 2 where carbonate stone material (limestone) mainly does not meet the Standard Technical Requirements for cement concrete slab pavements according to the relevant Croatian standard.