Title no.
90-M53
Mechanical Properties of Concrete Incorporating High
Volumes of Fly Ash from Sources in the U.S.
by Georges Carette, Alain Bilodeau, Raymond L. Chevrier, and V. M. Malhotra
Presents results of investigations to determine the properties offresh and
hardened high-volume jly ash concretes using eight fry ashes and two port-
land cementsfrom the U.S. Briefly, in high-volumefly ash concrete, the water
and cement content are kept low at about 115 and I55 kg/m of concrete, re-
spectively, and the proportion ofjly ash in the total cementitious materials
content ranges from 55 to 40 percent. The propetiies of fresh concrete in-
vestigated included workability, bleeding, setting time, and aatogenous tem-
perature rise. The properties of hardened concrete investigated included
compressive, flexural, and splitting-tensile strengths, Youngs modulus of
elasticity, creep, and drying shrinkage.
The analysis of the test results lead to the conclusion that high-perfor-
mance air-entrained high-volume fly ash concrete can be produced with the
fly ashes and cements used in this investigation. The concretes so produced
have low bleeding, satisfactory slump and setting characteristics, and low
autogenous temperature rise. These concretes also have excellent mechan-
ical properties at both early and late ages with compressive strengths
reaching as high as 50 MPa at 91 days. The creep and drying shrinkage of
the concretes investigated are relatively low.
Keywords: abrasion; admixtures; air-entrained concretes; autogenous
bleeding (concrete); compressive strength: concretes; creep properties; flexural
strength; fly ash; modulus of elasticity; setting (bardwing); slump; splitting tensile
strength; supexplasticizer.
Structural concrete incorporating high volumes of low-cal-
cium (ASTM Class F) fly ash was developed at CANMET in
19851. In tl& type of concrete, the water and cement contents
are kept low at about 115 and 155 kg/m3 of concrete, respec-
tively, and the proportion of fly ash in the total cementitious
materials content ranges from 55 to 60 percent. A high de-
gree of workability is obtained using a superplasticizer. Pre-
vious investigations have shown that high-volume fly ash
concrete has excellent mechanical properties and durability.8
In 1990, CANMET undertook to develop an engineering
data base on high-volume fly ash concrete incorporating se-
lected fly ashes from the U.S. The investigation is being car-
ried out for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Palo
Alto, California, under a subcontract with Radian Canada
Inc., Toronto. Eight fly ashes, covering a wide range of min-
eralogical and chemical compositions, and two portland ce-
ments from different sources were selected for the study.
ACI Materials Journal / November-December 1993
This paper presents the results on the properties of fresh
concrete and the mechanical properties of hardened concrete
made with the preceding materials. The data on the durability
characteristics of the concretes investigated are being pre-
sented in a companion report.9
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
In current practice, the use of fly ash in concrete for struc-
tural applications is limited to about 25 percent by weight of
cement. This research was undertaken to develop concretes
in which fly ash content is of the order of 60 percent by weight
of cement. This increased usage of fly ash would help to re-
duce disposable problems and would contribute, in a minor
way, to a cleaner environment.
SCOPE
Sixteen air-entrained concrete mixtures involving 112
healing; batches 0.06 m3 in size were made. The water-to-(cement +
fly ash) ratio [w/(c +fa)] was kept at 0.33 for all the mix-
tures. The proportion of fly ash in the total cementitious ma-
terials content was 58 percent by weight.
The properties of the freshly mixed concrete were deter-
mined; these included slump, air content, setting time, and
bleeding. The adiabatic temperature rise was monitored on
152 x 305~mm cylinders. A large number of specimens were
cast, moist-cured, and tested for the determination of the me-
chanical properties of concrete. These included compressive,
flexural and splitting-tensile strengths at various ages,
Youngs modulus of elasticity, abrasion resistance, drying
shrinkage, and creep. Durability properties, including freezing
and thawing resistance, deicing salts scaling resistance, per-
meability, and sulfate resistance were also determined, and the
results on these properties are presented in a companion re-
port?
ACIMateriaIs JoumaL V. 90. No. 6, November-December 1993
Received July 15.1992. and reviewed under Institute publication policies. Pertinent
discussion will be published in the September-October 1994 AC1 Materials Jouml if
recaved by June 1, 1994.
535
 CONCRETE MIXTURES
Sixteen concrete mixtures each involving seven batches
were made. The mixing program was divided in two phases.
Batches A, B, C, D, and E were made in the first phase, while
Batches F and G were made in the second phase which took
AUmCmberti - is a ccntwek research engineer, Advanced Concrete Tech- place several months later. Fly ashes from eight sources and
mlo~, CANMET. His aormt research interests are prima@ in the areas of the y(c
of PJypplmuntory cmMfing materials qnd dumbility of concrete. He has published
cements from two sources were used. For each fly ash, two
several papers on concmte k&dogy and is a member of the CSA Committee on Con- concrete mixtures were made, one with each cement. The ma-
crete Moteriak and corzStluctio~ terials used in the mixtures are described in the following
Raymond L Chewkr is a concrete technologist with the Advanced Concrete Tech- paragraphs.
nology group at CANM~, Ottmva Canada He has 12 yews of experience in research
and development in the area of concrete technology. Cement
AU honomry mmkr V. hi. Malhotm is Pmgram Principal Adwmced Concrete Tech- tie ASTM Type I normal portland cements were selected
nology, CAhM% He is a former member of the AC1 Board of Direction and has served from sources in the U.S. The two cements had similar fine-
on numerous ACI and ASTM com&tees. He is a prolific author. editor, and researcher. ness; however, they had significantly different alkali and Cd
and has received many awards and honors fmm AC1 and other insrinrtions throughout
the world contents and strength characteristics. Cement brand Cl was
a low-alkali type with a C3A content of 6.4 percent, while ce-
Table 1 - Physical properties and chemical ment brand C2 was a high-alkali type with a C3A content of
analysis of cements 11.9 percent. The chemical analysis and physical properties
of the two cements are given in Table 1.
ASTM Type I cements
Physical tests Brand Cl Brand C2 Fly ash
Fineness - passing 45 pm, percent 93.6 94.9 The eight fly ashes were selected from sources in the U.S.
to cover a wide range of chemical composition. Two of the
fly ashes had high CaO contents, i.e., 19.34 and 14.93 per-
cent for fly ashes F5 and F3, respectively. One fly ash (F8)
~ had an intermediary CaO content of 7.87 percent, and the re-
maining five fly ashes had less than 4.5 percent CaO. Fly ash
F3 had a relatively high alkali content (NazO equivalent) of
Chemical analysis. oercent 6.75 percent, while the other seven fly ashes had a alkali con-
Silicon dioxide (SiO2) 21.16 19.20 tent varying between about 1.5 and 3.5 percent. The chem-
Aluminum oxide (Alz@) 4.15 5.79 nical analysis and physical properties of the eight fly ashes
Ferric oxide (FezO3) 3.65 2.03
Calcium oxide (CaO) total 64.99 63.48 are given in Table 2.
Magnesium oxide. (MgO) 1.24 2.52
suIfur tlioxide (So3) 2.21 3.50
Sodium oxide (NazO) 0.07 0.33 Aggregates
Potassium oxide (KZO) 0.18 1.16 The graded coarse aggregate was a crushed limestone (19-
Loss on ignition 1.11 2.61
mm maximum size), and the fine aggregate was a natural
Bogue potential compounds composition
sand. To keep the grading &form for each mixture, both the
::; 65.411.4 63.7 fine and the coarse aggregates were separated into different
size fractions that were then recombined to a specific grading.
EF 11.16.4 1:s
6:2 The specific gravity and absorption of coarse aggrkgate were

Table 2 - Physical properties and chemical analysis of fly ashes

1 Fl 1 F2 1 F3 1 F4 1 F5 1 F6 1 P7 ) F8

Physical tests
Fineness - p a s s i n g 45 p m , percent 68.1 78.6 12.1 83.3 78.5 70.1 84.1 80.8

Biaine, mVkg 1 273 1221 1239 I318 I263 I238 (327 1355
Specific gravity 2.35 2.23 2.45 2.45 2.46 2.34 2.43 2.41
Chemical analysis, percent
Silicon dioxide (SiO2) 49.02 53.64 I 46.20 I 48.87 47.33 I 55.39
Aluminum oxide (Al&) 26.69 21.42 1 5 . 6 0 21.12 31.53 25.44 18.54
Ferric oxide (FezO3) 12.31 1.74 1.10 1 6 . 5 7 6.28 13.82 6.38
Calcium oxide (CaO) 2.37 2.88 1 4 . 9 3 4.49 1.17 1.81 9.51
Magnesium oxide (MgO) 0.95 0.99 I ;;; 1.09 0.85 1.52 2.16
Sulfur trioxide (SO3) 0.17 0.37 1.85 0.90 0.92
Sodium oxide (Na20) 0.38 5:52 1.43 E% 1.18 3.08
Potassium oxide (K20) 2.34 2.80 1 1 . 2 2
Loss on ignition 2.78 0.30
carhon 1.65 0.31
Activitv with cement. uercent 84.8

536 ACI Materials Journal / November-December

2.69 and 0.70, respectively; the cortesponding values for fine Table 5 for Batches F and G. For all the mixtures, the graded
aggregate were 2.70 and 0.80, respectively. coarse and fine aggregates were weighed in room dry condi-
tion. The coarse aggregate was then immersed in water for a
Supetplasticixer period of 24 hr, the excess water was decanted, and the water
A commercially available sulfonated, naphthalene retained by the aggregate was determined by the weight dif-
formaldehyde condensate superplasticizer was used. ference. A predetermined amount of water was added to the
Air-entraining admixture fine aggregate which was then allowed to stand for 24 hr.
For all mixtures, the water-to-cementitious materials ratio
A synthetic resin-type air-entraining admixture was used
was 0.33, and the cement and fly ash contents were kept con-
in all the mixtures.
stant. All mixtures were air-entrained. The target for the air
MIXTURE PROPORTIONS content was 5.5 f 0.5 percent. The dosage of the superplas-
The proportioning of the concrete mixtures is summarized ticizer was adjusted to give a slump of 150 f 25 mm.
in Table 3 for Batches A through E, and the properties of The concrete mixtures were made in a laboratory counter-
freshly mixed concrete for those batches am given in Table current mixer with the fly ash added as a separate ingredient.
4. The proportioning of concrete mixtures is summarized in The batch size was 0.06 m3.

Table 3 - Mixture proportions for Batches A, B, C, D, and E

AEA* spt
!mum-l 1 m3
300 3.8
: 0.33 0.33 119 120 C2 Cl 152 152 Fl 211 211 1192 11% 22 210 4.5

470 3.9
: E. 1m
120 Cl c2 153 153 F2
F-2 212 212 1191 1192 639 639 4
+ 00 4.7

80
45 I 1.4
2.0

I1
265 3.6
ii E . 119 118 ClC2 152 152 F4F4 212 211 1195 1200 z; 135 3.4

170 1.9
lo 0.33 0.33 119 119 ClC2 152 152 F5 211 211 :z zz 85 2.1

11 0.33 118 Cl 152 F6 210 1189 .640 475 3.5

12 0.33 119 C2 152 F6 210 1188 639 340 4.3

285 2.4
1 43 0.33 1 1 89 Cl
C2 152 F7
Fl 211 1 1 9 35 z; 210 3.7

220 2.7
150 2.8 I

Table 4 - Properties of freshly mixed concrete for batches A, 8, C, D, and E

Flyasll 1
Slump,
mm
Unitweight,
4w
En rlealicnentedair,
souru A* B* C* D* E* A B CD EAB
:: 140 180 125 150 145 170 125 150 140 165 23m
23m 23m 2330 2305 2305 2320 2330 232023m 4.8 5.8 5.0 5.6

E 180
195 230
180 180
190 230 190 230 180 2330 2330 2320
2295 23m
2330 23m
2305 23m
2305 5.0 5.2 5.9 5.0
I I I

5.9 6.0 5.9

z 140110 125
115 160 95 lm
165 125
135 2345 2345 23m2345 2320
2355 23m
2315 23202330 5.5 5.2 6.1 5.2 4.8 5.9 5.6 2
2 :: 150 150 160 160 170 145 185 150 180 150 2330 2330 2345 2305 23202330 232023m 2305 2330 5.5 5.7 5.8 5.0

z F5
F5 im
195 180 125 180 160 170 135 170 140 2320
2345 2305 2330 2330 2330 2330 2330 2330 2345 5.9 5.1 5.6 5.6

E! F6 F6 185 160 205 160 m5180 170 160 150 75 232023m 2330 2305 2295 2295 2305 2305 23m
2305 5.4 5.0 5.0 5.3 5.5 5.6 5.6 5.4 5.8 5.5 is

iii F-i 120

170 140 170 180100 180100 180
145 2320 2305 2300 23m
2325 230
2320 23m23m 5.6 5.8 5.8 5.5 5.3 5.4 5.1 5.8 5.8 5.3 4:
Ei 2 165 180 165 190 190 170 165 150 165 160 2330 2305 2305 2295 2305 2295 23m 2305 2305 2330 4.7 5.7 5.9 5.5 5.6 5.9 5.4 5.8 5.2 5.9 2 22 2
 PROPEMlES OF FRESHLY MIXED CONCRETE
The properties of the freshly mixed conctete, i.e., temper-
ature, slump, unit weight, and air content, are given in Tables
4 and 5.
PREPARATlON AND CiUTlNG OF TEST
SPECIMENS
Seven batches were made for each mixture to obtain suf-
ficient test specimens for the study, including the determina-
tion of durability of concrete. The following describes the
specimens cast in this part of the study for determining the
adiabatic temperature rise, setting time, bleeding, and the me-
chanical properties of concrete.
tielve 152 x 305mm cylinders, six each from Batches D
and E, were cast from each mixture and used for the deter-
mination of the compressive strength and modulus of elas-
ticity at various ages.
Nine 76 x 102 x 406~mm prisms were cast from Batch A
of each mixture. The prisms were used for determining the
flexural strength of concrete at different ages.
lko152x305-mmcylindersandone305x305x95-mm
slab were cast from Batch C of each mixture. The cylinders
were used for the determination of the splitting-tensile
strength, and the slab was used for determining the abrasion
resistance of concrete.
Six 76 x 102 x 390-mm prisms were cast from Batch D of
each mixture and used for the determination of the drying
shrinkage of concrete.
IIvo 152 x 305~mm cylinders were cast from Batch G of
each mixture and used for determining the autogenous tem-
perature rise of concrete.
Five 152 x 305~mm cylinders were cast from Batch C of
each mixture and used for the determination of the creep chsr-
acteristics of concrete.
Two 152 x 305~mm cylinders were cast from Batches A,
B, C, and G, and three 102 x 203~mm cylinders were cast
from Batch F of each mixture. These were used for deter-
mining the compressive strength of concrete at 28 days.
For all batches, the cylinders and prisms were cast in two
layers, each layer being compacted using an internal vibrator
for the 152 x 305~mm cylinders and a vibrating table for the
other specimens. The slabs were cast in one layer and com-
pacted using a vibrating table.
After casting, all the molded specimens were covered with
plastic sheets and water-saturated burlap, and were left in the
casting room for 24 hr. They were then demolded and trans-
ferred to the moist-curing room at 100 percent relative hu-
midity until required for testing. The prisms for the drying
shrinkage test were stored in lime-saturated water.
TESTING OF SPECIMENS
The adiabatic temperature rise of concrete was measured
by means of thermocouples embedded in the centers of two
152 x 305~mm cylinders of fresh concrete placed in an auto-
genous curing chamber. This curing box was somewhat sim-
ilar to that described in Procedure C of ASTM C 684,
Malting, Accelerated Curing, and Testing Concrete Com-
pression Test Specimens. The temperature of the concrete
was recorded at 30-min intervals for about 48 hr. Cylinders,
six each from Batch D and E, were tested in compression at
ages up to 2 years, two cylinders, one from each batch, being
tested at each age of testing. For control purposes, two 152 x
305~mm cylinders from Batches A, B, C, and G, and three 102
x 203~mm cylinders from Batch F were tested in compression
at 28 days. Four cylinders, each from Batch D and E, were
used for the determination of the Youngs modulus of elas-
ticity at the ages of 28 days, 91 days, 1 year, and 2 years. Nine
prisms from Batch A were tested in flexure at the ages of 14
days, 91 days, and 2 years. Two cylinders from Batch C were
tested at 28 days for determining the splitting-tensile strength
of concrete. One slab from each mixture was tested for abra-
sion resistance after 91 days of moist-curing. Prisms, cast
from Batch D of all the mixtures, were subjected to the drying

Tabl e5--M tiure proportions and properties of freshly mixed cc ncrete for Batches F and G
I I Slump, Unit weight, Entrained air,
CoarsC Fine mm kg/m3 percent
Mix aggregate, aggregate. AEA* SF+ Temperature,
n o . W/(C+ FA) kg/m3 kg/m3 mUm3 Urn: FGF G F G WC
-
0.33 1198 645
: 0.33 1210 650 2; 4:: 1 2 05 1110
4 0 2360
2330 2345
2330 4.8
5.9 4.9
5.0 2:

0.33 641 800 4.0

: 0.33 638 I 485 I 3.9
0.33
i 0.33
I 4.1
8 3.1
I I I 1 I

119 Cl 153 F5 212 1205 1.9

Bo 120 c2 153 F5 212 1205 2.1
3.2
:: 4.2
-
13 2.4
14 3.1

15
16
*Ail
Sq
ACI Ma1 wials Journal / November-December 1993
shrinkage measurements after initial storage in lime-saturated
water for periods of 7 and 9 1 days. Five cylinders were tested
for creep strains after approximately 130 days of initial moist-
curing.
TEST RESULTS
The data on the bleeding and setting time of concrete are
given in Table 6. The autogenous temperature rises measured
for all the concretes are illustrated in Fig. 1 and 2 with the
maximum temperature rise of each concrete being given in
Table 6. Densities of the test cylinders were taken at 1 day,
and the data are shown in Table 7. The compressive strength
test results are also given in Table 7 and illustrated in Fig. 3
and 4, and the Youngs modulus of elasticity test results at 28
and 91 days, and at 1 year, are given in Table 8. The data on
the flexural strength at the ages of 14 and 91 days and the 2%
day splitting-tensile strength are shown in Table 9. The data
on the abrasion resistance are given in Table 10. The drying
shrinkage test results are summarized in Tables 11 and 12,
and the partial creep data are compiled in Table 13.
DISCUSSION OF TEST RESULTS
Dosage of superplasticizer and slump
There were relatively large variations in the superplasti-
<cizer dosage requirement, the quantities ranging from 0.4 to
1.3 percent of the total cementitious content for the different
concrete mixtures. Differences in theological properties were
also noticed between the mixtures. Some mixtures needed
less slump than others to provide similar response to vibra-
tion. Increasing the slump of those concrete mixtures to a pre-
determined value would have resulted in possible segrega-
tion of the fresh concrete and the unnecessary use of large
amounts of the superplasticizer. The differences in the dosage
of the superplasticizer are probably due to the different com-
position and fineness of the fly ashes, though no clear relay
tion can be established.
In general, for each fly ash, the concrete made with Ce-
ment C2 needed a higher dosage of superplasticizer than its
companion made with Cement C 1, and this can possibly be
attributed to the higher C3A content of Cement C2.

MT MkNoJFlyAsh .NOlnyASti

l l/F1 . YFl

O 3/n 0 4/m

l S/F3 l a/F3

0 7lF4 0 w4

l 9/F5 A IO/F5

* lUF6 A 12JF6

l 13/m l wF7

0 WFa I 0 wF8
0 10 a 30 40 60 0 10 al xl 40 50
TlmahDun Ilm*hwn

Fig. I-Autogenous temperature rise of concrete made with Fig. 2-Autogenous temperature rise of concrete made with
ASTM Type I cement brand Cl ASTM Type I cement brand C2

Table 6 - Bleeding, setting time, and maximum temperature rise of

concrete
Total bleeding Setting time, hr: min Maxinlum
Mixhue Cement Fly ash water, temperature rise,
no. brand source mL/Cm2 x 1W Initial Final deg C
* 8:08 lo:42 9.1
: 2 Fi nenliaible 7% 9129 12.5

negligible
2.4 % 11:17
9:28 1 0 . 01 3 . 5

4.3 1.1 5:24

450 7~23
6~28 1 6 . 21 7 . 8
1.5 1251
6:47 *:Ls3 1 4 . 01 1 . 1
negligible
8.9 1.9 8:43
7~28 1125
953 12.19.5

3.9 Ei 9:13 11.5

negligible 7:20 14.3

1 34 :: K negligible
1.4 6:37
6:31 9:04
903 1;::
15 Cl ii 4.4 1052 13:24 10.4
16 c2 negligible IO:04 13:Ol 12.7
* Data not available.

ACI Materials Journal / November-December 1993

 7-- w/(c+FAl = 0.33

I FA/(C+FA)
CA.
= 0.58
=th&eljLimeslone

Mix.NolFlyMl -l/F1 -3lF2 --51F3 -77/N -9,F5 - II/F6

- 1 3 / m - 15/w

Fig. jr-Compressive strength development of concrete mode with ASTM Qpe I cement
brand CZ

Mix.Nmyhb -Z/F1 -4/F2 --6/F) -8/N - lo/F5 - 12/F6

- 14IFI - 16lFB

Fig. 4-Compressive strength development of concrete mode with ASTM Type I cement
brand C2

Table 7 - Density of cylinders and compressive strength of concrete

I I Compressive strength, IklPa
28 days I91 days1 1 year
A B
28.9 29.5
2385 a 10.3 n24.9 +
39.2 40.6
4 . 9 18.3 28.7 26.9 28.4 29.5
10.5 21.2 33.4 33.5 35.4 32.5
-
2365 9 . 7 23.9 38.8 38.5 37.1 38.1
2375 13.9 26.3 38.4 39.2 37.7 37.2
t -
2395 22.5 31.1 37.1 29.3
2380 1::: 24.8 36.0 37.9 36.9 %
2385 4 . 1 23.0 39.1 37.4 3 7 . 1 38.5
2380 9.1 27.6 41.3 39.4 39.8
-t 41.4
27.1 28.9 27.3 27.a
35.8 35.7 33.6 35.a

2380 5.1 21.6

z 2365 a.4 26.5

Data not available.

Notes--BB.C,D,EF,PndGrcfertothebatchcs.
At 1,7,28,91. and 365 days, one cylinder each from Batches D and E were tested and the test results averaged.

ACI Materials Journal / November-December 1993 j

TaFas Youngs modulus of elasticity of Table 9 - Flexural and splitting-tensile strengths
of concrete
I I I I
Flexural strength, Mpa WWk$f
Mixtmz Cement Fly ash
no. brand source 14 days 91 days 2P
days
3.7
: :: F: 4.8 25 i:f:

: Cl c2 n
F2 32.133.6 38.637.1 43.341.2

: 2 E 37.737.6 39.739.8 40.639.8

;: :: F4 F4 36.435.9 40.739.7 43.441.4

ii :: F4 F4 4 . 63 . 9 ::; 2 . 93 . 2
9 34.9 40.0
10 E1 ;: 39.5 41.5 it:: 9 2 E ;:5 6.2 3.2
10 6.3 3.9

:: :1 E 32.836.2 2: 43.643.6 11 ::. F6 3.4 5.4 2.5

12 F6 4.7 6.1 3.3

:: :: z 35.933.5 40.136.6 **
:: 2 E i:; 6 . 15 . 2 :::
36.8 42.0 *
:z E: z 39.4 41.7 * :: :: E 4 . 65 . 3 f2 3 . 03 . 7
* Dam not yet available.

Bleeding of concrete Table 10 - Time required to reach 2-mm depth of

The total amount of bleeding water ranged from 1.4 to 8.9 abrasion
nWcmz for concrete made with Cement C 1, and was, in gen-
eral, very low or negligible for concrete made with Cement
C2 (Table 6). As both cements are very similar in fineness,
the lower bleeding values of the concrete made with Cement
C2 are probably due to the higher GA content of this ce- :. I E:. I :t I 265
535
i :: E 215 310
ment.10 The source of fly ash appears also to have influenced
the amount of bleeding of the concrete. However, the effect
5 Cl F3 370
of the fly ash on bleeding cannOt clearly be related to its fine- 6 c2 445
ness. The data in Tables 3 and 6 indicate that the mixtures
that showed the highest amounts of bleeding are those that re-
quired the lowest dosages of the superplasticizer.

Setting time of concrete

The initial and final setting times of concrete ranged from
450 to 1251 hrmin., and from 6:28 to 13:24 hrmin., re-
spectively, except for mixture No. 7, for which it probably
exceeded 13:24 hr:min. (Table 6). For each fly ash, the mix-
ture made with Cement C 1 showed longer setting times, both
initial and final, than its companion made with Cement C2.
This is probably again the result of the higher GA content of
the latter cement. Setting times also varied considerably for
mixtures made with the same cement, and, except for fly ash
F3, which had a clearly higher alkali content and which pro-
duced the shortest setting times, there were apparently no
single characteristics of fly ash that could readily explain
these variations.
Autogenous temperature rise
Data in Table 6 show that the maximum temperature rise
of concrete made with Cement C2 is consistently higher than
that of concrete made with Cement C 1. Fig. 1 and 2 also show
that the maximum temperature is always attained a few hours
sooner for concrete m+de with Cement C2 than for concrete
made with Cement C 1. This is due to the faster hydration of
Cement C2, which is also reflected in the setting time of the
Kmcrete.
ACI Matminln .hrmal I Nnwnmhnr-n- hnr IaaQ
14
13 :: E :zi
15 :: ii 180
16 370
For concretes made with the same cement, the maximum
temperature rise is similar regardless of the type of fly ash
used, except for fly ash F3, for which the temperature rise of
the concrete was significantly higher. As mentioned previ-
ously, the concrete made with fly ash F3 also had the shortest
time of setting. The high alkali content of this fly ash seems
to provide a logical explanation for the observed effect in each
CaSe.
Compressive strength
The data on the compressive strength are given in Table 7
and illustrated in Fig. 3 and 4. The 1 day compressive strength
of concrete made with Cement Cl ranged from 3.1 to 9.7
MF$ while for concrete made with Cement C2 it ranged from
8.4 to 13.9 MFk The concretes made with fly ash F3 showed
the highest l-day compressive strength with both cements.
Table 11 - Dryina shrinkage test results after 7 days of initial water-curing
I I I
28days 56days 112days 224days 448days

2 387 493 536 380 418 582 433 589

Ei 419 515 411 557 437 582 450 606

I t I I
Fx 181 262
:z E:. FE 224 305
*Data not yet available.

Table 12 - Drying shrinkage test results after 91 days of initial water-curing

Drying shrinkage shah, XlP
MiXttlK Cement FlYA
no. I brand I source Idays 1 14 days 1 28days 1 56days 1 112days 1 224days

: ::. Fl 124 125 163 177 224 217 302 270 355 319 397 362
: c: z E 160 156 203 238 281 284 351 326 380 373

z Cl c2 E 8 72 1 167 153 210 210 %EJ 337 352 415 401

i :: FF 44 139 71 170 135 210 199 255 252 E 365 373

Cl F8 132 188 I 274 291 341 *

c2 F8 103 156 245 274 319 *

*Data n o t a v a i l a b l e .

Table 13 - Creep of concrete

1 1 Cl 1 Fl 1 130 1 12.2 1 325 1 1% 1 332 1 27.2

: c2 Cl z 126 127 12.2 12.2 317 327 :iz 283 364 23.2 29.8

7 Cl F4 127 12.2 315 1% 300 24.6

13 132 12.2 327 196 287 23.5

14 2 E 133 12.2 325 1% 277 22.7

ACI Materials Journal / November-December 1993

These concretes had the shortest setting times and the highest
temperature rises, which indicate a faster hydration process.
At 7 days, the strengths of concretes made with Cement C2
remained consistently higher than those of concretes made
with Cement Cl. At 28 and 91 days, Cement C2 still pro-
duced higher strengths for concretes made with low-calcium
fly ashes; however, this was no more the case for concretes
made with high-calcium fly ashes, for which the strength de-
velopment had then become faster with the use of Cement
Cl.
The available data show that for all the fly ashes, the
strength development between 91 days and 1 year of concrete
made with Cement Cl was always higher than that of con-
crete made with Cement C2. As a result, for low-calcium fly
ash concretes, the gap in strength at 1 year produced by the
two cements had become relatively small or virtually disap-
peared, while for high-calcium fly ash concretes, higher
strength values were obtained with Cement Cl.
The relative performance of the fly ashes in concrete de-
pends on the brand of cement used. In addition, the age of the
test is an important factor intluencing the relative performance
of the various cementing materials.
Youngs modulus of elasticity
The Youngs modulus of elasticity E of concrete ranged
from 32.1 to 39.5 GPa-at 28 days, from 36.6 to 42.0 GPa at
91 days, and from 39.8 to 45.6 GPa at 1 year (Table 8). As
was the case for compressive strength, for each fly ash, the
28&y modulus of elasticity value of concrete made with Ce-
ment C2 was, in general, higher than that of concrete made
with Cement Cl. At 91 days and 1 year, for each fly ash, the
modulus of elasticity values were similar for concretes made
with the two cements. The E values obtained were rather high
but were comparable to the values obtained in earlier
CANMET investigations.7.8
Flexural strength
Flexural strength values ranged from 3.4 to 6.1 MPa and
from 5.2 to 6.8 MPa at 14 and 91 days, respectively (Table
9). For each fly ash, the 14-&y flexural strength of concrete
made with Cement C2 was always higher than that of con-
crete made with Cement Cl. However, at 91 days, flexural
strengths of both companion concretes were, in general, very
similar. This trend is similar to that of the compressive
strength.
Splitting-tensile strength
The 28&y splitting-tensile strength values ranged from
2.5 to 3.9 MPa (Table 9). These values are about 8 to 10 per-
cent of the 28-day compressive strength, and are comparable
with other published data for normal portland cement con-
crete of similar strength.LO
Abrasion resistance
There were noticeable differences in the abrasion resis-
tance of the concretes. These differences cannot be totally ex-
plained by the relative levels of strength at the time of abra-
sion testing. Some concretes have exhibited significantly
lower abrasion resistance than other concretes of similar or
even lower compressive strength. For example, concrete mix-
ACi Materials Journal / November-December 1993
ture No. 15 which had a 91&y compressive strength of 48.9
MPa showed less abrasion resistance than Mixhues 11 and 9,
which had compressive strengths of 39.5 and 48.9 MPa, re-
spectively (Table 10). The controlling factor for abrasion re-
sistance would appear to have been the quality of the surface
of the test specimens. For some concrete mixtures, the high
slump may have caused slight segregation during the casting
of the slab specimens, resulting in a thin layer rich in paste
and mortar but poor in coarse aggregate, a factor generally
contributing to a lower abrasion resistance of concrete.
Drying shrinkage
The drying shrinkage test results after 7 and 91 days of ini-
tial water-curing arc given in Tables 11 and 12, respectively.
Concrete, water-cured for 7 days before drying and made with
Cement C2, shows slightly more shrinkage strain than its
companion concrete made with Cement C 1. This trend does
not exist for concrete water-cured 91 days before drying; in
general, both concretes show very similar shrinkage strains.
No clear relation can be observed between the amount of
drying shrinkage and the type of fly ash used in the concrete.
For the same duration of drying, concrete water-cured for 91
days generally shows noticeably less shrinkage than concrete
water-cured for 7 days before drying. This is true, at least up
to the period of drying covered in this investigation.
For most of the 7-day water-cured concretes, the drying
shrinkage strains at the end of 224 days of drying ranged from
400 to 600 x 10-6, whereas for the 91&y water-cured con-
cretes, these values ranged from 350 to 450 x 10-6. These
shrinkage strain levels are either comparable to or lower than
those observed for portland cement concretes of similar pro-
portions in earlier CANMPT investigations.7
Creep
Partial data on the creep behavior of some of the concrete
mixhues are presented in Table 13. The creep strains ranged
from 277 x 106 to 364 x lo-6 after 196 days of loading under
a constant stress of 12.2 MPa. The specific creep strains,
which are defined as the creep strains per unit of stress in
MPa, ranged from 22.7 x 10-6 to 29.8 x 106. These values ate,
in general, comparable to those obtained in previous investi-
gations for similar high-volume fly ash concretes made with
fly ashes and cement from other sources, and submitted to a
similar stress.sJl
CONCLUSIONS
High-volume fly ash concrete with good overall perfor-
mance regarding workability, bleeding, setting time, temper-
ature rise, and mechanical properties can be produced with
fly ashes and cements covering a wide range of chemical com-
positions and finenesses.
Significant variations were observed in the rheological
properties of the various concrete mixtures, and this can be
attributed to the differences in the chemical composition of
the cements and fly ashes, and in the fineness of the fly ashes.
Ptoperties such as bleeding, setting time, and autogenous tem-
perature rise of high-volume fly ash concrete were also clearly
affected by the different characteristics of the cements and
the fly ashes used.
 Compressive strengths in the range of 40 to SO MPa were
achieved for all concxetes at the age of 91 days. The use of
Cement C2 (high CA alkali content) resulted in consider-
ably higher strength values at early ages than those obtained
with the use of Cement Cl (low CA alkali content). III the
former case, strengths of the order of 10 MPa or more were
achieved at 1 day with all fly ashes. This effect of cement on
strength, however, progressively decreased with age, and be-
came either much less important at later ages for concretes
made with low-calcium fly ashes or completely disappeared
for concretes made with high-calcium fly ashes. The values
of Youngs modulus of elasticity E of the order of 40 GPa at
90 days were achieved for the concretes investigated.
There was no clear relation between the amount of drying
shrinkage and the type of fly ash used in the concretes. The
increase of the water-curing period from 7 to 91 days reduced
the amount of shrinkage in all cases. The strain values gen-
erally ranged from 400 to 600 x 106 for concrete cured for 7
days, and from 350 to 450 x 106 for concrete cured for 91
days.
For the test regimes investigated, the creep strains were
low, and were generally of the order of 300 x 106.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This investigation is part of a research project being performed in
CANMET for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Palo AIto. Cal-
ifornia, under a subcontract with Radian Canada Inc., Toronto. Dean M.
Golden is the EPRI Project Manager for this research.
REFERENCES
1. Sivasundamm, V., Thermal Crack Control of Mass Concrete, MSL
LXvlsion Repor?, MSL 86-93 (IR), Energy, Mines and Resources cad&m
tawa, Canada, 1986.32 pp.
2. Mallmtm V. M..%papla&izedFly AshConuete faSkuctuml&
plication, Concrete Inremationol:Design & Conswon, V. 8. No. 12,
Dec. 1986. pp. 28-31.
3. Sivasundaram, V.; Catette, G. G.; and Malhotra, V. M., Superplasti-
cizd High-Volume Fly Ash System to Reduce Temperatum Rise in Mass
concrete, P mceedings, Eighth International Coal Ash Utilimtion Sm
sium, Washington, Oct. 1987. Paper No. 34. V. 2. pp. 34-l to 34-13 (Sec-
tion 6).
4. Giaccio, G. M., and Malhotra, V. M., Concrete Incorp&ating High-
Volumx of ASTM Class F Fly Ash, Cemenr, Concnre, and Aggregares,
V. 10. No. 12.1988. pp. 88-95.
5. Malhotra, V. M.. and Painter, K. E., Early-Age Strength Properdes
and Freezing and Thawing Resistance of Concrete Incorporating High-
Volum of ASTM Class F Fly Ash, Inremarional Journal of Cement Com-
posites and Lightweight Concrete, V. 11. No. 1, 1989, pp. 37-46. .
6. Langley, W. S.; Camtte, G. G.; and Malhotn% V. M., Structural Con-
crete Immpodng High Volumes of ASTM Class F Fly Ash, ACI Mate-
rlals Journal, V. 86, No. 5, Sept.-Get. 1989. pp. 507-514.
7. Sivasundaram, V.; Canne, G. G.; and Malhotm, V. M., Properties of
Concrete hwrpohng Low Quantity of Cement and High Volumes of Low-
Calcium Fly Ash, Fly Ash, Silica Fume, Slag. Md Natural Pozzolans in
Concrek?-Proceedings of he Third International Conference, V. M. Mal-
hots-a, ed., SP-114, V. 1, American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1989. pp. 45-
71.
8. Sivasundaram, V.; Caret@ G. G.; and Malhotra, V. M., Mechanical
Properties, Creep, and Resistance to Diffusion of Chloride Ions of Concreti
Incorporating High Volumes of ASTM Class F Fly Ashes From Seven Dif-
ferent Sources, ACI Mureriuls Journal, V. 88, No. 4, July-Aug. 1991, pp.
407416.
9. Bilodeau, A.; Sivasundaram, V.; Painter, K. E.; and Malhotra, V. M.,
Durability of Concrete Incorporating High Volumes of Fly Ash from
Sources in the U.S.A., CANMET Divisional Repot? MSL 92-17 (OPBU)
Draft, Feb. 1992.32 pp.
10. Neville, A. M., Properties of Cotmere, 3rd Edition, Pitman Publishing
Limited, London, 198 1,779 pp.
11. Bilodeau, A., and Malhotra, V. M., Mechanical Properties and Re-
sistance to De-Icing Salts Scaling and Chloride-Ion Penetration of Concrete
Incorporating High Volumes of ASTM Class F Fly Ashes, Proceedings,
Fourth International Conference on Fly Ash, Silica Fume, Slag and Natural
Pozzolans in Concrete, Istanbul, May 1992, pp. 319-350.
ACI Materials Journal / November-December 1993