CBM-CI International Workshop, Karachi, Pakistan

Dr. Z. Ge and Dr. K. Wang

PROPERTIES OF TERNARY CEMENT CONCRETE UNDER VARIOUS CURING CONDITIONS

Dr. Zhi Ge Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 50011 USA Dr. Kejin Wang Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 50011
USA

ABSTRACT: Properties of ternary cement concrete, such as set time, strength, datum temperature, and maturity of concrete containing various slag-blended cements and 15% Class C fly ash, were investigated. The slag-blended cements were made of Type I or I/II cement clinker with 20, 25, or 35% ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS). The concretes were cured at temperatures of 10, 21 and 32C (50, 70 and 90F), which simulate cold, normal, and hot weather field conditions. The results indicated that fly ash replacement generally increased concrete set time, while effect of slag replacement on concrete set time was dependent on the type of clinker used. Concrete datum temperature and activation energy increased with fly ash and slag content. Curing conditions significantly influenced the concrete strength-maturity correlation.

1.

INTRODUCTION

Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash (FA) and slag are being increasingly used in cement and concrete due to environmental, economical, and concrete quality-related concerns [1]. Concrete practice has shown that the performance of concrete containing SCMs, such as workability, entrained air stability, set time, and strength development, significantly varies with the sources or characteristics of the cementitious materials, SCM replacement levels, and weather conditions. Concrete containing SCMs often displays slow hydration that is accompanied by slow setting and low early age strength. This effect is more pronounced as the level of SCM replacement is increased and when concrete is cured at a low temperature. Concrete set time is important for regulating concrete transport, placing, and finishing. Some researchers have reported the effect of curing temperature on the set time of concrete 433

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containing slag and fly ash [2-4]. They found that the set time of concrete containing FA or slag decreased as curing temperature increased, and for the same curing temperature and replacement level, FA-concrete had a longer set time than slag-concrete. The influence of curing temperature on the strength of concrete with or without SCMs has also been studied [5-7]. The research indicates that the effects of temperature and humidity largely depended on the constituent materials and mixture proportioning [8]. The strength generally decreases as the curing temperature drops [9]. The optimal curing temperature is approximately 20C for slag-concrete and 35C for FA-concrete [10]. As maturity tests are increasingly used for evaluating in-situ concrete strength, the importance of the datum temperature of concrete, below which the concrete has no strength gain, has been recognized. Concrete datum temperature is a function of concrete materials, mix proportions, and curing conditions. However, there is lack of test data on concrete containing SCMs, and the datum temperature (-10C) of ordinary portland cement (OPC) concrete is often used. Concerns have been raised by the concrete industry regarding the accuracy of maturity estimations of concrete containing SCMs using the datum temperature of OPC concrete. The present research was conducted to investigate the effects on concrete properties of cements made with different types of clinkers combined with different types and amount of SCMs. The set time, strength, datum temperature, and maturity of the concrete were measured under three different levels of curing temperatures.

2.
2.1

EXPERIMENTAL WORK
Materials

In the present research, blended cements were made with two cement clinkers (Types I and I/II) and two Grade 100 ground granulated blast-furnace slags (GGBFS). The slag contents in the blended cements were 20, 25, and 35%. 15% Class C FA was also employed together with the blended cements. Table 1 provides the chemical properties of the cementitious materials used. Note that slag 1 and slag 2 had similar properties but came from two different sources. Slag 1 was blended with Type I cement (HI) by a cement manufacturer, and slag 2 was blended with Type I/II cement (LI/II) in a concrete lab. The mean particle sizes (50% volume) of the Type I cement, fly ash, slag 1, and slag 2 were 24.5, 13.6, 8.859, and 8.934 m, respectively, and their specific gravities were 3.15, 2.66, 2.93, and 2.94, correspondingly. Table 2 provides the constituents of the binders used in the mortar and concrete studied. River sand (F. M. = 2.92) was used in both mortar and concrete. For the datum temperature tests, mortar cubes were prepared in which the mortar mixture had a sand-to-cement ratio 434

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the same as the coarse aggregate-to-cement ratio of the concrete used and a water-to-binder ratio as same as that of concrete (w/b=0.4). Concrete was used for set time, heat signature, strength, and maturity tests. Limestone (NMSA=25 mm or 1) was used for concrete coarse aggregate. The mixture proportion for one cubic meter (one cubic yard) of concrete is 1012 kg (1706 lbs) limestone; 811 kg (1366 lbs) sand; 333 kg (562 lbs) binder; and 133 kg (225 lbs) water. Water reducing agent (229 ml per 100kg or 104 ml per 100lb binder) and air entraining agent (75 ml per 100kg or 34 ml per 100lb binder) were also used in the concrete. Table 1 Properties of cementitious materials

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Table 2

Cementitious materials used in mortar and concrete samples (%)

Notes: HI-Type I cement; FA-Fly ash; S-slag; and LI/II-Type I/II cement.

2.2

Test Methods

Concrete specimens were made according to ASTM C192, standard practice for making and curing concrete test specimens in the laboratory. After mixing, the concrete mixture was wet sieved with a 4.75 mm sieve, and a mortar sample was obtained. Setting time tests were then performed based on ASTM C403, the standard test method for time of setting of concrete mixtures by penetration resistance. In the test, mortar was placed into a 150 mm x150 mm (6x 6) cylindrical container and cured under a temperature of 10, 21, or 32C (50, 70 and 90F). After the bleeding, water was removed from the surface, and the penetration resistance of the mortar (the pressure required for 1-inch penetration of a standard rod into the mortar) was measured at given time intervals. The concrete initial set time (IS) and final set time (FS) were defined as the time when penetration resistance reached 3.5 MPa (500 psi) and 27.5 MPa (4000 psi), respectively.

3.
3.1

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Concrete Set Time

Figures 3.1 and 3.2 illustrate the set times of concrete made with different binders under different curing temperatures. For concrete made with 100% Type I cement (HI in Figure 3.1a), the initial set times of the concrete were 7.7, 4.3, and 3.7 hours under curing temperatures of 10, 21 and 32C, respectively. Note that when curing temperature dropped from 21C to 10C, the initial set time of the same concrete increased approximately 1.8 times 436

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(3.4 hours). For the 100% Type I/II cement (LI/II in Figure 3.2a), the concrete setting time increased only 1.6 times (2.6 hours) for the same curing temperature drop. The results indicate that the Type I/II cement might be less sensitive to the cold weather curing temperature. As curing temperature dropped from 21C to 10C, the initial set time of the concrete made with HI and 15% FA increased approximately 2.2 times. (A similar trend is seen concrete made with Type I/II cement in Figure 3.2a). The results imply that the delay in the concrete set time due to FA replacement became more significant when the concrete was cured at a low temperature. When blended cements made with Type I clinker and slag 1 were used (Columns 3-5 in Figure 3.1a), the initial set times for concretes made with the ternary binders, HI-15% FA(20%, 25%, 35%) S, appear similar, and the values were all a little higher than that of pure Type I cement (HI) but lower than that of binary cement (HI-15% FA). This implies that the slag in blended cements did not delay concrete set time but in fact reduced the extended set times caused by FA. The initial reactivity of the slag might be higher than that of FA due to its particle size and chemical composition. When cement made with Type I/II clinker, 15% FA and 20% slag 2 were used (Figure 3.2), the initial set time of the concrete (LI/II-15%FA-20%S) further increased compared with that of the concrete made with binder LI/II-15%FA. Similar trends were observed in Vicat tests (ASTM C191) of the corresponding binder pastes [11]. The difference in setting behavior between HI-15%-20%S and LI/II-15%-20%S concrete could be caused by various factors, such as the chemistry of the portland cement clinker, the reactivity of the slag replaced, and methods of blending.

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(a)

Initial set times for concretes with Type I, slag 1

(b)

Final set times for concretes with Type I, slag 1

Figure 3.1 Effects of binder and curing temperature on concrete set time (Type I, slag 1). 438

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(a)

Initial set times for concrete with Type I/II, slag 2

(b) Figure 3.2

Final set times for concrete with Type I/II, slag 2

Effects of binder and curing temperature on concrete set time (Type I/II, slag 2).

4.

MORTAR STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT

The compressive strengths of mortar cubes made with Type I (HI) cements and cured at cold, normal, and hot weather conditions (10, 21 and 32C) are shown in Figure 4.1. The strength of the mortar made with Type I/II had a similar trend, but its strength was generally lower than that of the corresponding mortar made with Type I cements. 439

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Dr. Z. Ge and Dr. K. Wang

Figure 4.1

Effects of curing temperature on the compressive strengths of mortars (Type I, slag 1).

It is noted that the binder having a faster set did not always provide its mortar with faster strength development. It is believed that set time primarily indicates the materials mobility, which is greatly related to the distance and friction between the material particles. In contrast, the strength of a paste or concrete is largely associated with the adhesion among the solid particles, which is more significantly related to cement hydration. Figure 4.1 shows that slag in blended cements reduced the compressive strength of mortars at early ages (within approximately 2 weeks) under low and normal curing temperatures, but the mortars had comparable or higher strengths after the age of 8 days under a hot curing temperature. There is little difference in strength development observed among mortars made with 20, 25, and 35% slag-blended cements (Figure 4.1). At a high curing temperature (32C), both portland cement hydration and the pozzolanic reaction were accelerated. The effect of elevated curing temperature on the pozzolanic reaction was more effective than that on portland cement hydration. 440

CBM-CI International Workshop, Karachi, Pakistan

Dr. Z. Ge and Dr. K. Wang

Figure 4.2 demonstrates a good linear relationship between the concrete and mortar compressive strength tested for concrete and mortar made with different binders and cured at 10C. The mortar used had a sand-to-binder ratio the same as the coarse aggregate-tocement ratio of the concrete, and the w/b of the mortar was the same as that of concrete. With the good linear relationship, the mortar test results can be used to explain the strength development of the corresponding concrete.

Figure 4.2

Relationship between mortar and concrete strength (cured at 10 C).

5.

DATUM TEMPERATURE OF CONCRETE

The maturity of concrete is usually expressed in one of two ways: (1) temperature-time factor (TTF), calculated from the Nurse-Saul equation, or (2) equivalent age index, te, from Arrhenius equations. Two parameters, datum temperature, To, and activation energy, E, are needed in the two equations, respectively; both of these vary with the concrete ingredients and proportions. Based on the Nurse-Saul equation, TTF is expressed as: , where dt

is a time interval (days or hours); T is the concrete temperature, which is a function of time, (C); and T0 is the datum temperature. For portland cement concrete, the datum temperature value is approximately 10C. Concrete continues to hydrate at temperatures below 0C due to the existence of fine pores and high alkali concentrations in the pore solution, which depresses concrete freezing. Since concretes made with different cements and different mix proportions and cured at different conditions have different pore structures and different chemistry in the pore solutions, the datum temperatures of the concretes will vary. The Nurse-Saul equation is based on the assumption that the rate of concrete strength gain is a linear function of temperature. It has been realized that this approximation may be only 441

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valid when curing temperature varies within a relatively small range (approximately -5C to 35C). A series of alternatives to the Nurse-Saul function have been proposed; however, none of them has received widespread acceptance [12, 13]. The equivalent age (te) is defined as the amount of time for a given concrete sample at a specified temperature to attain the maturity that the tested concrete has achieved under an actual curing condition. Based on the Arrhenius equation, the equivalent age, te, is expressed as: te = eQ(1/T 1/Ts)t , where t is time, Q is the activation energy (E) divided by the gas constant (R), T is the concrete temperature during the time interval of t, and Ts is the specified temperature. Figure 5.1 shows that concrete made with a binder containing FA and/or slag stops hydration at a higher temperature than concrete made with pure portland cement. In other words, blended cement concrete should be placed and cured at a higher temperature than OPC to gain certain strength at a given age because the pozzolanic reaction may cease at a higher cold temperature than portland cement hydration does. Alternatively, concrete made with slag-blended cement had higher energy than concrete made with cement without slag. These results are consistent with those from some previous research [14]. Figure 5.1 also illustrates that as slag content increased, the datum temperature of the concrete (with 15% FA) increased linearly while activation energy of the concrete increased exponentially. Concrete having higher activation energy is more sensitive to curing temperature.

Figure 5.1

Concrete datum temperature and activation energy (15% FA). 442

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6.

CONCRETE STRENGTH AND TTF CORRELATION

Figure 6.1 illustrates the effect of curing temperature on the strength-TTF correlation of a selected concrete (H1-15% FA-25%S). As observed in Figure 6.1(a), where the datum temperature of -10C was used, the strength-TTF curve lowered when the curing temperature dropped from 21C to 10C. Thus, the required TTF for a concrete compressive strength of 24 MPa was 3090C-hours when the concrete was cured at 21C, while it was 4266C-hours when the same concrete was cured at 10C. Based on Figure 6.1 (b), it would take approximately 10 days for the concrete cured at 10C to reach the TTF value of 4266Chours, or to reach the compressive strength of 24 MPa. If the actual datum temperature of -2.9C was used in the TTF calculation (Figure 6.1 (b)), the curing times required for the concrete to reach the compressive strength of 24 MPa were the same as those obtained from actual datum temperature of -10C. Therefore, the difference in concrete datum temperatures does not influence the required curing time for a given concrete strength as long as the correct strength-TTF- age (curing time) relationship is used. However, if the TTF value of 3090C-hours obtained from a normal curing condition is required for concrete cured at a cold weather condition, the concrete would be considered to reach the specified strength in approximately 8 days, at which point the concrete strength is actually approximately 20 MPa (3000 psi), rather than 24 MPa (3500 psi) (Figure 6 1a). As a result, using the TTF value developed from concrete cured at a normal temperature to estimate the time necessary for concrete cured in cold weather to reach a specified strength is not appropriate. Similar observations were made about the strength-TTF-age correlations of the LI/II-15%FA-20%S concrete mix.

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Dr. Z. Ge and Dr. K. Wang

(a) To = -10 C

(b) To = -2.9 C

Figure 6.1

Effect of curing temperature on the strength-TTF relationship.

7.

CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions can be drawn from the present study: 1. For the given concrete materials and mix proportions, fly ash replacement for cement generally increased concrete set time, while slag could either increase or reduce the concrete set time depending on the type of cement clinker and the characteristics of the slag used. When curing temperature dropped from 21C to 10C (70 F to 50F), the set times of the ternary cements used almost doubled. When curing temperature increased from 21 to 32C (70 to 90F), the set times of the cements decreased only about a half hour. 444

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2. Concrete and mortar containing slag and FA reduced compressive strength at an early age (about 2 weeks) under low and normal curing temperatures (10C and 21C). However, they had a comparable or higher strength after the age of 8 days under a hot curing temperature (32C). Concrete made with HI-slag 1 blended cement appeared more sensitive to a low curing temperature than concrete made with LI/II-slag 2 cement. 3. The datum temperature and activation energy of concrete increased with the fly ash replacement and slag content in the binders. However, use of different datum temperatures in concrete time-temperature factor (TTF) calculations might not influence the final determination of the time for concrete to reach specified strength as long as a consistent datum temperature was used in the strength-TTF-age correlations for the concrete. Curing conditions significantly influenced the concrete strength-TTF correlation. As a result, predicting the strength of field concrete should be based on the strength-TTF correlation developed under the field curing conditions. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research was sponsored by the Center for Portland Cement Concrete Pavement Technology (PCC Center), Iowa State University, and the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT). Some concrete strength and maturity tests were performed at Iowa DOT. REFERENCES
[1] Strategic Development Council, Roadmap 2030: The U.S. Concrete Industry Technology Roadmap. Strategic Development Council, December 2002 [2] Mailvaganam, N. P., Bhagrath, R. S., and Shaw, K. L, Effect of Admixtures on Portland Cement Incorporating Blast-Furnace Slag and Fly Ash, Proceedings, 1st International Conference on Fly Ash, Silica Fume, Slag and Natural Pozzolans in Concrete, ACI SP 79, vol. 1, Japan Concrete Institutes, 1983, pl 519-535 [3] Yoshida, H. Iisaka, T., and Sugiyaima, A., Effect of Curing Temperature on Properties of Concrete, Transactions, vol. 8, Japan Concrete Institutes, 1986, p. 103-111 [4] Eren, O., Brooks, J., and Celik, T. , Seeting Time of Fly Ash and Slag-cement Concrete as Affected by Curing Temperature, Cement,Concrete and Aggregate, vol. 17, no.1, 1995, p.11 17 [5] Ramezanianpour, A. A. and Malhotra, V. M., Effect of Curing on the Compressive Strength, Resistance to Chloride-Ion Penetration and porosity of concrete incorporating slag, fly ash or silica fume, Cement and Concrete Composites , vol. 17, 1995, p. 125-133 [6] Gopalan, M. K. and Haque, M. N., Effect of curing regime on the properties of fly ash Concrete, ACI Materials Journal, vol. 84, no. 1, Jan.-Feb. 1987, p. 14-19

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[7] Roy, D. M. and Idorn, G. M. , Hydration, Structure, and properties of blast-furnace slag cement, mortars, and concrete , ACI Materials Journal , vol. 79, 1982, p. 444-457 [8] Folliard, K. J., Du, L., and Trejo, D., Effects of Curing Conditions on Strength development of controlled low strength material, ACI Materials Journal, vol. 100, no. 1, 2003, p. 79-86 [9] Wimpenny, D. E., Ellis, C., Reeves, C. M., and Higgins, D. D., The development of strength and elastic properties in slag cement concrete under low temperature curing conditions Proceedings, 3rd CANMET/ACI International Conference on fly ash, silica fume, slag and natural pozzolans in concrete, Trondheim, Norway, June 18-23, 1989, Editor, V. M. Malhotra, ACI SP-114, 1989, 1283-1306 [10] Eren, O., Strength development of concrete with ordinary Portland cement, slag or fly ash cured at different temperatures, Materials and Structures, vol. 35, no. 253, November 2002, p. 536-540 [11] Wang, K. and Zhi, G., Evaluating properties of blended cements for concrete pavements, Final Report, the Center for Portland Cement Concrete Pavement, Iowa State University, December 2003 [12] Malhotra, V. M. , Maturity concept and the estimation of concrete strength, Information Circular, IC 277, Department of Energy Mines Resources (Canada), Nov., 1971, p 43 [13] Carino, N.J., Nondestructive testing of concrete: history and challenges, Concrete Technology: past, present, and future, Proceedings, V. Mohan Symposium, edited by P. K. Mehta, American Concrete Institute , Detroit, SP-144, 1994, pp. 623-678 [14] Ma, W., Sample, D., Martin, R., and Brown, P.W., Calorimetric Study of Cement Blends Containing Fly Ash, Silica Fume, and Slag at Elevated Temperatures, Cement Concrete and Aggregates, p. 93-99, 1994.

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