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CHAPTER-2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 GENERAL

Concrete may be defined as a solid mass made by the use of a

cementing medium, generally the ingredients compose of cement,

sand, gravel and water. Concrete has been in use as a building

material for more than a hundred and fifty years. Its success and

popularity may be largely attributed to

1. Durability under hostile environments

2. Ease with which it can be cast into a variety of shapes and

size

3. Its relative economy and easy availability.

Concrete is remarkably strong in compression but it is

equally weak in tension. Hence, the use of plain concrete as a

structural material is limited to situations where significant tensile

stresses and strains do not develop.

High Performance Concrete (HPC) is made with carefully

selected high quality ingredients and optimized mixture designs.

These are batched, mixed, placed, compacted and cured to the highest

industry standards. Typically, such concretes will have a low water-

cement ratio of 0.20 to 0.45. Superplasticizers are usually used to

make these concrete. However, strength is not always the primary

required property. For example, a normal strength concrete with very

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high durability and very low permeability is considered to have high

performance properties.

Aitcin7 describes about HPC, it is a concrete, which possess

high durability and high strength when compared to conventional

concrete. This concrete contains one or more of cementetious

materials such as fly ash, Silica fume or Ground granulated blast

furnace slag and usually a superplasticizer. The term ‘high

performance’ is somewhat pretentious because the essential feature

of this concrete is that its ingredients and proportions are specifically

chosen so as to have particularly appropriate properties for the

expected use of the structure such as high strength and low

permeability.

HPC is a special type of concrete, which exceeds the properties

and constructability of normal concrete. Normal and special materials

make these specially designed concretes that must meet a

combination of performance requirements. Special mixing, placing,

and curing practices may be needed to produce and handle HPC.

Extensive performance tests are usually required to demonstrate

compliance with specific project needs. HPC has been primarily used

in tunnels, bridges for its strength, durability, and high modulus of

elasticity. It has also been used in shotcrete repair, poles, parking

garages, Irrigation structures.

HPC works out to be economical, even though its initial cost is

higher than that of conventional concrete because, the use of HPC in

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construction enhances the service life of the structure and the

structure suffers less damage which will reduce overall cost.

American Concrete Institute (ACI) defines HPC as “A concrete

which meets special performance and uniformity requirements that

cannot always be achieved routinely by using only conventional

materials and normal mixing, placing and curing practices”. The

requirements may involve enhancement of characteristics such as

placement and compaction without segregation, long term mechanical

properties, and early age strength or service life in severe

environments. Concrete possessing many of these characteristics

often achieve High Strength, but High Strength concrete may not be

necessarily be of High Performance.

HPC can be designed to give optimized performance

characteristics for a given set of load, usage and exposure conditions

consistent with the requirements of cost, service life and durability.

HPC does not require special equipments except careful design and

production. HPC has several advantages like improved durability

characteristics and much lesser micro cracking than normal strength

concrete.

HPC significantly reduces construction time to permit rapid

opening or reopening of roads to traffic, without compromising long

term serviceability. Therefore it is not possible to provide a unique

definition of HPC without considering the performance requirements

of the intended use of the concrete.

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HPC has been used in various structures all over the world

since last two decades. In India, it is about a decade old. Major

applications in the constructions are nuclear power plants, ultra high

rise buildings, and tall structures. Recently a few infrastructure

projects have also seen specific application on HPC. The development

of HPC has brought about the essential need for additives both

chemical and mineral to improve the performance of concrete. Most of

the developments across the work have been supported by continuous

improvement of these admixtures. However for better practical

applications, behaviour of different structural elements like slabs,

beams, columns etc., made of HPC need to be evaluated.

2.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF HPC

There are numerous definitions of high performance concrete

there are different types of high performance concrete. Generally, the

term high performance concrete refers to concrete with a variety of

enhanced properties and characteristics. The various kinds of high

performance concrete and their properties should be understood. As

will be seen, the majority of the descriptions of high performance

concrete are based on compressive strength and they, therefore use

the term “High Strength Concrete”. However a unifying feature is that

most types of high-performance concretes have low water cement

ratios.

Strategic Highway Research Programme Types of High

Performance Concrete
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In a report prepared for the strategic highway research

programme, the following type of high performance concrete are

defined for highway applications

Very Early Strength: Concrete with a compressive strength of at least

21 MPa within 4 hours after placement. This concrete is intended

mainly for making repairs that require a minimum time of traffic

shutdown.

High Early Strength: Concrete with a compressive strength of at least

34 MPa within 24 hours of placement.

High Strength Concrete: Concrete with a compressive strength of at

least 42 MPa at 28 days.

Very High Strength: Concrete with a compressive strength of at least

69 MPa at 28 days.

Fiber Reinforced Concrete: Concrete with sufficient fiber

reinforcement to provide a ductility or toughness equal to at least five

times the area under the stress-strain curve for the same concrete

mixture without fiber reinforcement. Fiber reinforced concrete is

normally associated with toughness i.e., the ability to absorb energy.

This energy absorption occurs primarily after the ultimate strength of

the concrete has been attained.

High Durability Concrete: Concrete with a minimum durability

factor (freezing and thawing) of 80% and water cement ratio of 0.35 or

less. A maximum water cement ratio of 0.35 will provide a paste with

a discontinuous capillary system after a relatively short curing period

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(normally about a day). This provides improved resistance to moisture

penetration and chemical attack from the environment.

High Strength Light Weight Concrete: Concrete produced by using

light weight aggregates such as expanded clay, shale and slate

aggregate, so as to reduce the mass 20 to 25% below that

conventional concrete. Since light weight concrete can attain

compressive stress greater than 69 MPa. This type of HPC is defined

in applications where reduction of dead load is a significant

consideration.

2.3 RAW MATERIALS AND PROPORTIONS OF HPC

Study the different materials and their properties and

proportions for producing high performance concrete.

2.3.1 Mineral Admixtures

The various properties of mineral admixtures are discussed

below.

2.3.1.1 Silica fume

Silica fume (SF) is probably the most common addition to

concrete admixtures to produce HPC. This SF is also called condensed

silica fume or micro silica. It is finely powdered amorphous silica that

is highly pozzolonic. Its use is becoming so common around the

world.

Silica fume is a by-product from electric arc furnaces used in

the manufacture of elemental silica or Ferro-silicon alloys. Silica fume

contains large amounts of silicon dioxide (between 85 and 98%) and

consists of extremely fine particles. It is collected by filtering the

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furnace gases. The average size of these spherical particles is less

than 0.1micron, which is approximately one hundred times finer than

cement. The extremely fine particles can fill spaces between cement

particles, which results in a more refined microstructure and a more

dense cement paste. As the pores within the paste become finer and

more dispersed, the permeability is reduced considerably.

Micro silica concrete has provided a low range of initial surface

absorption varying from 28.1x10-2 to 4.3x10-2 ml per m2/sec after 10

to 120 minutes. An initial surface absorption after 120 minutes is

considered high if it becomes greater than 0.15 ml per m2/sec and low

if less than 0.07 ml per m2/sec. The corresponding higher and lower

values after 10 minutes are 0.5 and 0.25ml/m2/sec respectively.

Physical properties of micro silica are low water absorption, colour is

gray, specific gravity is 2.2 to 2.3 g/cm3, specific surface is 15-30

sq.m/g and the average particle size is around 0.1 micron.

Yogendran et al., (1987)133 studied the efficiency of silica fume

in high strength concrete at different water cement ratios. They

conclude that in high strength concrete the optimum replacement of

cement by silica fume for concretes 50 to 70 MPa at 28 days is 15%.

Li and Chung (1998)77 studied the treatment of silica fume with

sulfuric acid prior to incorporation in cement matrix. The results

revealed that increased tensile strength by 12%, ductility by 57%,

tensile modulus by 72%, abrasion resistance by 20%, flexural storage

modulus by 80-120%, loss tangent by 30-80%, and flexural loss

modulus by 160-300%.
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Vagelis (1999)125 measured the development of the strength,

porosity and calcium hydroxide content by conducting series of

experiments adding silica fume to the mortar and replacement of

cement by silica fume. Addition of silica fume in both cases gave

higher strengths than the control mixture. A model was developed to

predict the behaviour of silica fume concrete and this model give the

expression for estimation of the volumetric composition of silica fume

concrete. Excellent agreement was found between the model

prediction and experimental results.

Yunsheng and Chung (2000)136 studied the silica fume

properties, which was introduced by either coating silica fume

particles with silane or using silane as an admixture. Both methods of

silane introductions enhanced the workability, tensile strength and

compressive strength, but the later method resulted in low

compressive ductility, lower damping capacity, more drying shrinkage,

lower air void content, higher density, higher surface wear and greater

thermal conductivity, mainly due to the network of covalent coupling

among the silica fume particles.

Appa Rao (2001)17 investigated the development of compressive

strength with age of mortar incorporated with silica fume with

different water binder (w/b) ratios. The silica fume content varied from

0 to 30% by weight of cement. Four w/b ratios, 0.35, 0.40, 0.45 and

0.50 were used. At every w/b ratio, the strength developments at 3, 7,

28 and 90 days have been observed. The highest development rate of

compressive strength was observed at early ages (3 and 7 days) at w/b

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ratio 0.35, the highest value has been observed at 3 days with a silica

fume content of 22.5% at w/b ratios 0.35, 0.40 and 0.45. The strength

increased up to an optimum content of silica fume, beyond which it

decreases as the silica fume content increases.

Langan et al., (2002)75 presented the results of calorimeter tests

on Portland cement silica fume fly ash mixture. Silica fume

accelerated hydration of cement at high water cement ratios and

hydration retarded at low water cement ratios. On the other hand fly

ash retards hydration of cement more significantly at high water

cement ratios. When both silica fume and fly ash are added with

cement, the reactivity of silica fume is hampered and the hydration of

cement system is significantly retarded.

Santanu Bhanja and Bratish Sengupta (2003)102 studied on the

contribution of silica fume on concrete and determining its optimum

content. Extensive experimentation was carried out over water binder

ratios (w/b) ranging from 0.26 to 0.42 and silica fume binder ratios

from 0.0 to 0.3. The results indicate that the optimum replacement

percentage for 28 day strength is not a constant one but depends on

the water cement material ratio of the mixture and has been found to

ranges from 15 to 25%. On quantifying the pozzolanic and physical

effects of silica fume, it is observed that both the mechanisms

significantly contribute to the concrete strength.

Abdullah et al., (2004)1 conducted experimentation on usage of

silica fume in concrete and evaluated the effect of silica fume on the

compressive strength and split tensile strength and modulus of

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elasticity of low quality coarse aggregate concrete. Concrete specimens

were prepared with four types of low quality aggregates, namely

calcareous, dolomite quartzite, limestone and steel slag. Results

indicated that, type of coarse aggregate influenced the compressive

strength, split tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of both plain

and silica fume cement concretes and concluded that incorporation of

silica fume enhanced the compressive strength and split tensile

strength of concrete, especially that of the low quality limestone

aggregate.

Konstantin Sobolev (2004)70 reported the results of research on

silica fume based high performance concrete. The strength parameters

and the rheological behaviour of a cement silica fume superplasticizer

system are presented. It is suggested that from the test results an

optimal superplasticizer to silica fume ratio (1:10) provides ultra-

dense packing and high fluidity of the system. Model of high

performance concrete are developed from the experimental data. These

models provide equations for calculating water cement ratio for the

compressive strength up to 130 MPa and the volume of cement paste

for the required slump within the range of 40-200m.

Katkhuda et al., (2009)66 conducted experiments on high

strength light weight aggregate to determine the effect of silica fume

on tensile, compressive and flexure strengths by replacing cement

with different percentages of silica fume at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25%

with different water binder ratio 0.26 to 0.42 keeping other mix design

variables constant. Compressive, Split tensile and flexural strengths

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were determined at 28 days. The results showed that the compressive,

tensile and flexure strengths increased with silica fume incorporation,

but the optimum replacement percentage is not a constant, it depends

on the water cementitious material ratio of the mix. Based on the

results, a relationship between compressive, split tensile and flexure

strengths of silica fume concrete was developed using statistical

methods.

Mohammad and Mohammad (2009)84 conducted

experimentation on high strength concrete. The targeted strength of

concretes are ranging from 60 to 130 MPa and ratio of coarse

aggregate to fine aggregate was considered 1.81 and water binder ratio

ranging from 0.73 to 2.95% and concluded that for high strength

concrete the materials of highest quality are required. By using low

water-cement ratio and incorporating ultra-fine particles in the

concrete mix along with superplasticizer the increased bond strength

and reduced capillary pores are achieved.

Shakir et al., (2009)105 studied the production of high

performance concrete mixes by using high range water reducing agent

and 10% silica fume or 10% metakaolin as partial replacement by

weight of cement. Cubes, cylinders and prisms are cast and tested. To

investigate the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, static

modulus, modulus of rupture, rebound number, dynamic modulus,

ultra sonic pulse velocity, initial surface absorption, total absorption

and density for all mixes at 7, 28, 90 and 120 days age. Results of the

destructive tests and non-destructive tests are statistically analysed