1. Discribe the benefit of using fly ash to improve the properties of fresh and hardened concrete.

Answer.
The use of fly ash in portland cement concrete (PCC) has many benefits and improves
concrete performance in both the fresh and hardened state. Fly ash use in concrete improves the
workability of plastic concrete, and the strength and durability of hardened concrete. Fly ash use is
also cost effective. When fly ash is added to concrete, the amount of portland cement may be
reduced.
Benefits to Fresh Concrete. Generally, fly ash benefits fresh concrete by reducing the mixing water
requirement and improving the paste flow behavior. The resulting benefits are as follows:
Improved workability. The spherical shaped particles of fly ash act as miniature ball bearings
within the concrete mix, thus providing a lubricant effect. This same effect also improves concrete
pumpability by reducing frictional losses during the pumping process and flat work finishability.
Decreased water demand. The replacement of cement by fly ash reduces the water demand
for a given slump. When fly ash is used at about 20 percent of the total cementitious, water demand
is reduced by approximately 10 percent. Higher fly ash contents will yield higher water reductions.
The decreased water demand has little or no effect on drying shrinkage/cracking. Some fly ash is
known to reduce drying shrinkage in certain situations.
Reduced heat of hydration. Replacing cement with the same amount of fly ash can reduce
the heat of hydration of concrete. This reduction in the heat of hydration does not sacrifice long-term
strength gain or durability. The reduced heat of hydration lessens heat rise problems in mass
concrete placements.
Benefits to Hardened Concrete. One of the primary benefits of fly ash is its reaction with available
lime and alkali in concrete, producing additional cementitious compounds. The following equations
illustrate the pozzolanic reaction of fly ash with lime to produce additional calcium silicate hydrate
(C-S-H) binder:
(hydration)
Cement Reaction:

C3S +

H C-S-H + CaOH

Pozzolanic Reaction: CaOH + S C-S-H

silica from ash constituents
Increased ultimate strength. The additional binder produced by the fly ash reaction with
available lime allows fly ash concrete to continue to gain strength over time. Mixtures designed to
produce equivalent strength at early ages (less than 90 days) will ultimately exceed the strength of
straight cement concrete mixes (see Figure 3-2).
Reduced permeability. The decrease in water content combined with the production of
additional cementitious compounds reduces the pore interconnectivity of concrete, thus decreasing
permeability. The reduced permeability results in improved long-term durability and resistance to
various forms of deterioration.
Improved durability. The decrease in free lime and the resulting increase in cementitious
compounds, combined with the reduction in permeability enhance concrete durability. This affords
several benefits:
- Improved resistance to ASR. Fly ash reacts with available alkali in the concrete, which makes them
less available to react with certain silica minerals contained in the aggregates.

- Improved resistance to sulfate attack. Fly ash induces three phenomena that improve sulfate
resistance:
+Fly ash consumes the free lime making it unavailable to react with sulfate
+The reduced permeability prevents sulfate penetration into the concrete
+Replacement of cement reduces the amount of reactive aluminates available
Improved resistance to corrosion. The reduction in permeability increases the resistance to
corrosion.
2. What types of interfacial transition zones are present in reinforcement concrete members? Also,
explain about wall effect related to ITZ.
Answer
The interfacial transition zone (ITZ), which represents the interfacial region between the
hydrated cement paste and the particle of coarse aggregate or reinforcement, is a thin shell around
the aggregate or reinforcement and is generally weaker than either of the cement paste, aggregates
and reinforcement, and therefore it exercises a far greater influence on the mechanical behavior of
concrete than is reflected by its size. The ITZ contains less cement and CSH and more porosity and
CH than the bulk paste. The ITZ, the strength-limiting phase in reinforcement concrete, is
considered to be a zone of weakness and significant influence on engineering properties, in terms of
both strength and permeation of fluids, and durability of concrete structure.
On the surface of aggregate and reinforcement acts as a wall, making packing of the cement
particles inefficient is so-called wall effect. In other words, wall effect prevents effective filling
of the space adjacent to the aggregate or reinforcement surface by cement or other particles. Because
of the inefficient packing of the cement particles near the aggregate and steel bars surface, the ITZ
cement paste is observed to contain much less cement and much more water-filled capillary porosity
than the cement paste far away from the aggregate surface. This inefficient packing of cement
particles is one of the major reasons for the formation of the ITZ in cement-based composites.
ExperimentalStudyonInterfacialTransitionZonesinReinforcedConcrete
3. Discuss the two opposing effects on strength that are caused by air entraining admixture in the
condition that the slump and water cement ratio are constant.
Answer
Air entraining admixtures pertain to the class of surface-active chemical known as surfactants.
Except benefits for concrete such as resisting to freezing and thawing, increasing workability,
reducing water demand, decreasing segregation, bleeding, and reducing permeability, air entraining
admixture causes opposing effects on strength. With entrained air, the concrete strength is usually
less than that of normal concrete in the condition that the slump and water cement ratio are constant,
because of the effect of entrained-air voids and air entraining surfactants render the cement particles
hydrophobic. For every 1% entrained air, concrete loses from about 2 to 6 percent of its compressive
strength depending on the particular mix.
4. What do you know about anti washout underwater concrete? Also, explain this type of concrete
has poor resistance against freezing and thawing action.
Answer

Underwater concrete has been in use for a long time. Anti-washout underwater concrete offers
superior performance when the concrete is in fresh state under water. By adding an anti-washout
admixture, containing main components as cellulose-based water soluble polumer or
polyacrylamide-based water soluble polumer, to concrete, its viscosity is increased and its resistance
to segregation under the washing action of concrete can be enhanced. Moreover, except excellent
characteristics, underwater anti-washout property, advantages of its superior features are selfcompacting property, filling property, flow property and self-leveling property or retarded setting.
The resistance to freezing-and-thawing resistance of anti-washout concretes under water is
considered to be inferior to that of ordinary concrete. However, attempts have been made to improve
the resistance to freezing and thawing by adding aluminum powder, blast furnace slag or improve
the agent.
5. Describe the advantage of the light weight aggregate concrete.
Answer
Light weight aggregate concrete has been gaining in application to prestressed construction. The
main reason for using light weight concrete is to reduce the weight of the structure, thus minimizing
both the concrete and the steel required for carrying the load. This is especially important when the
dead load is major portion of the dead load on the structure, or when the weight of the member is a
factor to be considered for transportation or erection.
6. What types of voids are present in hydrated cement paste? What are their typical dimensions?
Discuss the significance of the C-S-H interlayer space with respect to properties of the hydrated
cement paste?
Answer
Except main solid volume, hcp contains several types of voids such as interlayer spaces,
capillary voids and air voids and they have an important influence on structure of the hcp.
Interlayer space is distance among C-S-H structures. Because of the complex, morphology of
C-S-H remains unresolved. Powres assumed that is 18 nm and occupies 28 percent of porosity in CS-H structure. Feldman and Sereda suggest that this space may vary from 4 to 25 nm. This void is
too small to have an adverse effect on the strength and permeability of the hcp.
Capillary voids represent the space not filled by the solid components of the hcp. The cement
hydration may be looked upon as a process in which space originally occupied by cement and water
is being replaced gradually by hydration products. The space not taken by cement and hydration
products is capillary voids. The volume and size of capillary depend on distance between anhydrous
cement particles in the hcp and degree of cement hydration. For capillary voids are larger than 50
nm, referred to macrospores in the modern lecture, is assumed to be effect to strength, while
capillary voids
Air voids also occupy a part in the hcp. Admixtures may be added to concrete purposely to
entrain very small air voids in the cement paste. Air voids can be entrapped in fresh cement paste.
Entrapped air voids may be as large 3 mm, and entrained air voids range 50 to 200 m. Therefore,
this air voids are much bigger than capillary and are able to adversely affect its strength and
impermeability.

7. What do you know about RCC (Roller compact concrete) (and/or RCDC)? Also, describe the
meaning of and in Japanese method for RCDC.
Answer
Roller compacted concrete (RCC) is a concrete of no-slump consistency in its unhardened
state that is transported, placed, and compacted using earth and rockfill construction equipment. It
means that RCC is concrete compacted by roller compaction and in its unhardened state will support
a roller while being compacted. Properties of hardened RCC are similar to those of conventionally
placed concrete.
The success of RCC construction depends on the mixture design of RCC. There are many mixture
proportioning methods have been used for RCC structures throughout the world and Japanese
method is one of the best. This method depends on suitable coefficients and he coefficient is
the volume ratio of paste to the vacancy of fine aggregates. The coefficient is the volume ratio of
mortar to the vacancy of coarse aggregates. Usually, is around 1.3 and is around 1.1 to 1.3.
8. Do you know about epoxy reins (advantage, genneral categorization, hardeners, etc.)?

However, in addition to providing saturated freeze-thaw protection and improved salt scaling
resistance, entrained air provides several other benefits: increased workability, reduced water
demand, decreased segregation and bleeding, and reduced permeability

Experience in Texas suggests problems may occur in stabilizing the air content of entrained
concrete during and after pumping operations. In one instance, normal air entraining dosage rates
were significantly exceeded in an effort to maintain the desired amount of air content in the concrete
immediately after discharge. It was determined subsequently from hardened samples that the lost air
was fully recovered and actually was 50% greater than the desired levels. Several factors have been
noted in the literature to affect the level of entrained air in concrete. Factors such as cement content
and fineness, coarse aggregate size, amount of fine aggregate, slump, type of admixture, etc., have
been identified as factors affecting entrained air content. Preliminary test results indicate an apparent
loss of air occurs immediately after discharge from the pump and tends to return after a period of
time. This noted variation of air follows a dissolution process suggesting a shifting of the air-void
system from smaller bubbles to larger bubbles. A test program is suggested to identify significant
factors in this process.
Figure 7 illustrates the effect of entrained-air voids and cement content on the compressive strength
of concrete. With entrained air, the strength of concrete is usually less than that of similar concrete
without air. In general terms, given that the concrete mixtures are properly compacted and the slump
is kept constant, we can expect a 5 percent loss of strength for each percentage point of air content
added to the concrete. However, this may vary significantly, and can actually range from about 2 to
6 percent depending on the particular mix. For the low cement content mixes, as shown in Figure 7,
there is a slight improvement in strength since the strength reduction by incorporating air is mostly
offset by the reduced water content to maintain the same slump. Therefore, the effect of air in
reducing strength is more significant with higher cement factor mixtures.
This report applies to the use of RCC in structures that require measures be taken to cope with the
generation of heat from hydration of the cementitious materials and attendant volume change to
minimize cracking. Mixture proportioning, physical properties, mixing, placing, consolidating,
curing, protection, testing, inspection, design and construction are covered.
Roller compaction: A process for compacting concrete using a roller, often a vibrating roller. Roller
compacted concrete: Concrete compacted by roller compaction; concrete that in its unhardened state
will support a roller while being compacted.
RCC was developed as a result of efforts to design more economical concrete dams that could be
constructed rapidly. Use of continuous placement methods, similar to those used in earth dams,
would.
In the late 1970s, an extensive research program on high fly-ash content RCC was conducted. In
Japan, research into RCC for dams was initiated in 1974 under the guidance of its committee on
Rationalized Construction of Concrete Dams.

The results led to the use of RCC ( referred to as the rolled concrete dam [RCD] method in Japan)
in the main body for the Shimajigawa Dam.
The objective of RCC proportioning is to provide a compactible and stable mass that meets the
strength, durability and permeability requirements for the application.
The mixture design for Shimajigawa Dam in Japan used conventionally graded 3 inch (7.6 cm)
maximum size aggregate (MSA) with 219Ib/yd3 (130kg/m3) cementitious materials. RCC must be
proportioned so that it has the ability to support a roller and spreading equipment.
A major concern in RCC design is obtaining adequate bond between layers of RCC. Improved bond
may be obtained by restricting the time interval between placement of lifts, by providing
supplemental joint treatment such as mortar or bedding layer, or by increasing the paste content of
the mixture.
The energy required to compact RCC mixtures to their maximum densities is much greater than for
concrete of measurable slump. For example, a Vebe time of approximately 15 sec was judged to be

in time and
money as compared with traditional concrete
gravit The selected water contents for a given RCC mixture will be influenced by the
appropriate at Upper Stillwater and Elk Creek Dams. generate savings

sizeshape, and gradation of aggregates and the volume of cementitious materials.

The selected water contents for a given RCC mixture will be influenced by the size shape, and
gradation of aggregates and the volume of cementitious materials.
RCC can be made with any of the basic types of cement or a combination of cement and pozzolan.
The strength of RCC is primarily dependent upon the quality of the aggregate; degree of
compaction; and the proportions of cement, pozzolan, and water.
At the ages beyond 28days, the difference in strength contributions for the various cementitious
materials decreases, with slower strength development materials ultimately producing higher
strengths. Fig.2.1 can be used as a guide to proportioning equal strength RCC for varying
proportions of cement and Class F pozzolans.
Considerations must be given to the generation of heat by cementitious materials of the RCC mass.
It is desirable to use low or moderate heat generating cements and the maximum amounts of
pozzolans commensurate with () strength requirement.
Structures requiring higher strength or paste contents have Considerations must be given to the
generation of heat by cementitious materials of the RCC mass. It is desirable to use low or moderate
heat generating cements and the maximum amounts of pozzolans commensurate with ()
strength requirement.
Structures requiring higher strength or paste contents have used higher % of pozzolan with both
economic and reduced temperature benefit.
y dam construction.
Considerations must be given to the generation of heat by cementitious materials of the RCC mass.
It is desirable to use low or moderate heat generating cements and the maximum amounts of
pozzolans commensurate with () strength requirement.
Structures requiring higher strength or paste contents have used higher % of pozzolan with both
economic and reduced temperature benefit.

For mass applications, cements with lower heat generation are beneficial. They include Type (low
heat), Type P (portland pozzolan cement), and Type S (portland blast furnace slag cement).
Nearly all RCC projects using pozzolans have used Class F fly ash due primarily to the effect of
its spherical particles on workability. Class C fly ash has been also used(Thailand).
2.4.2 Coarse Aggregate
For RCC there is not enough material-cost savings from using aggregate sizes larger than 3in.
(76mm) to offset the added batching cost of correcting the increased segregation problems
associated with the larger aggregates.
In massive concrete placement, control of the temperature rise should have a greater significance
than material costs in the selection of MSA (maximum size aggregate).
Wall effect - packing effect; aggregate surface acts as a wall, making packing of the cement particles
inefficient => high porosity region (more important)
The formation of the ITZ in concrete is due to a wall effect that prevents effective filling of the
space adjacent to the aggregate or reinforcement by cement or other particles, as well as to internal
bleeding or settlement in the fresh mix.
The interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between cement paste and aggregates or reinforcement is an
area of particular interest, its association with and significant influence on engineering properties
and durability of concrete or cementitious composites being widely recognised. The formation of the
ITZ in concrete is due, to a large extent, to a wall effect that prevents effective filling of the space
adjacent to the aggregate/reinforcement by cement or other particles, as well as to internal bleeding
or settlement in the fresh mix. Considering the different characteristics in particle packing (due to
the increase of fine fillers) and the highly flowable and vibration-free placing nature of the SCC,
there are general concerns that the ITZs around steel bars and coarse aggregate in structural SCC
could be radically different from those in conventional vibrated concrete. In this paper, the
microstructure and properties of the ITZ around coarse aggregate in both SCC and conventional
concretes is assessed. Results of micro-mechanical properties of the ITZ obtained by a depthsensing nanoindentation method appeared to indicate that the ITZ was denser and significantly more
uniform in SCC than in conventional vibrated concrete.

The application of the microstructure model to simulate ITZ's has been described by Garboczi and
Bentz [12]. The results of a simulation similar to the system in Fig. 1, but with circular cement
particles, indicated that the ITZ's contain less cement and CSH and more porosity and CH than the
bulk paste, in accord with what has been observed in real concretes. Although particle packing
effects obviously contributed to these characteristic features of the ITZ's, a secondary one-sided
growth mechanism also plays a role. In the interfacial transition zones, available porosity is filled
with hydration products growing from one direction only, unlike the bulk paste where products grow
inward from all directions. Using simulation, it was possible to separate these two effects. By first
placing the cement particles throughout the entire system and then overlaying the aggregate and
eliminating all portions of cement particles underneath the aggregate, it was possible to remove the
effects of the initial particle packing (i.e. the wall effect) and study only the one-sided growth effect.

This system could then be contrasted against one in which the aggregate was placed first followed
by the cement particles, where both the wall effect and one-sided growth mechanism would be
present.
Figure 2 shows the results of this simulation in terms of porosity as a function of distance from the
aggregate surface for the initial and fully hydrated systems for both system configurations
mentioned above. The one-sided growth mechanism appears to be a secondary but significant
contributor to the increased porosity in the ITZ. The cement particles used in this simulation were
monosize and 21 pixels in diameter, so that the thickness of the ITZ was about the same as the
diameter of the cement particles.
Figure 1 shows graphs of initial porosity vs. distance from an aggregate surface for a random
particle packing of two different cements and three different w/c ratios. The computational volume
consisted of a three-dimensional box 200 m on a side. Because of the inefficient packing of the
cement particles near the aggregate surface, the ITZ cement paste is observed to contain much less
cement and much more water-filled capillary porosity than the cement paste far away from the
aggregate surface. This inefficient packing of cement particles, the so-called "wall effect," is one of
the major reasons for the formation of the ITZ in cement-based composites [1].
Having outlined two causes of ITZ microstructural features, namely the wall and one-sided growth
effects, we now explore various methods for improving ITZ microstructure.

The interfacial transition zone (ITZ), which represents the interfacial region between the particle of
coarse aggregate and the hydrated cement paste, is a thin shell around the aggregate and is generally
weaker than either of the two components of concrete, and therefore it exercises a far greater
influence on the mechanical behavior of concrete than is reflected by its size. The ITZ, the strengthlimiting phase in concrete, is considered to be a zone of weakness, in terms of both strength and
permeation of fluids. The origin of the ITZ lies in the so-called wall effect of packing of cement
grains agains relatively flat aggregate surface. Aggregate particles are several orders of magnitude
larger than cemen grains, meaning that each aggregate particle is a mini wall that disrupts the
packing of cement grains resulting in a wall effect. This is directly responsible for the features of
the ITZ, particularly in higher porosity. The differences between the properties of ITZ and those of
bulk cement paste, or hydrated cement paste, has been studied by many researchers. It leads to a
depletion of anhydrous cement in the interfacial zone, approaching zero at the aggregate surface. As
a result of the anhydrous distribution there is an increase in the amount of porosity in the interfacial
transition zone. Backscatter electron (BSE) images have been analyzed to measure the
microstructural gradients in concrete [1-5] and it indicates that the thickness of the zone affected by
the packing of the cement grains extends at least to the size of the largest cement particles, and since
cement grains range in size from a micron to up to 100 microns, it may be up to 100 microns. The
zone closest to the aggregate contains predominately small grain sand has a significantly higher
porosity, while larger grains are found further out. As packing is a random process, each individual
region of ITZ will be different - the ITZ is heterogeneous on the same scale as the cement grains,
therefore the average effects may not be immediately apparent in the images of concrete
microstructure. There is no discrete boundary between the ITZ and the bulk paste [6]. The distance
over which there is a significant in crease in the porosity is only around 35-45 microns as shown in
Fig. 1. The changes are progressive are most significant in the first 15-20 microns closest to the
aggregate.

The ITZ is the region 10-50um wide around coarse aggregate; characterized by:
* Higher local porosity
* Greater density of preexisting microcracks
* Larger CH crystals that tend to be oriented and more prone to cleavage.
The microstructural features and mechanical effects of the transition zone are the subject of some
debate.
* Some researchers report the presence of a duplex film consisting of thin layer of CH adhering to
the aggregate surface surrounded by thin layer of rod-like C-S-H [Hewlett, 1998]
* Others disagree finding C-S-H to be the solid phase most often in contact with the aggregate
surface [Scrivener and Gartner, 1988]
* In addition, some researchers have come to believe that a weaker interfacial region does not
always exist between the hydrated cement paste and the aggregate [Mindness and Diamond, 1992].
The mechanism by which the transition zone is formed is associated with the development of water
films around the aggregate in fresh concrete that , in effect, create a local region of with higher
water-to-cement ratio.
Wall effect - packing effect; aggregate surface acts as a wall, making packing of the cement particles
inefficient => high porosity region (more important)
One-sided growth - when no aggregate is present, hydration products grow in all directions. close to
an aggregate, growth only occurs on the cement side, contributing to porosity.
Nevertheless, because of packing constraints imposed by the aggregate surface (wall effect), a
region of higher porosity is formed at the matrix-aggregate interface. Because the average aggregate
diameter is much larger than the average matrix particle diameter, the aggregates appear locally flat
to the fine matrix particles.