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We investigate the mix proportions and properties of concrete containing very high-volume of Class F fly ash (HVFA).
A rational mix design method was proposed for the very HVFA concrete.
62 MPa 80% fly ash concrete may be obtained using 136 kg Portland cement.
Relation was formulated for flexural and compressive strength for all grades of HVFA concrete.
The very HVFA concrete was found to be an adequate material for both structural and pavement application.
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: Two types of Class F fly ash with 4.6% and 7.8% loss on ignition were used for an experimental investiga-
Received 10 March 2013 tion dealing with concrete incorporating very high volumes of Class F fly ash (HVFA). A rational mix
Received in revised form 9 April 2013 design method was developed for concrete with 20–80% fly ash replacement for cement. Tests were per-
Accepted 12 April 2013
formed for fresh and hardened concrete properties. Test results indicated that the setting times and the
Available online 17 May 2013
air content of fly-ash concrete increased as the fly ash replacement level increased. The compressive and
flexural strength of the HVFA concrete mixtures demonstrated continuous and significant improvement
Keywords:
at late ages of 91 and 365 days. Relation was formulated for flexural and compressive strength for all
Mixture proportioning
Fly ash
grades of HVFA concrete. The concrete mixture containing low-LOI fly ash exhibited superior mechanical
Mechanical properties properties than those of the corresponding mixture containing high-LOI fly ash. These results confirm the
Shrinkage feasibility that up to 80% of Class F fly ash can be suitably used as cement replacement in concrete by
using a rational mixture proportions.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
measured strength ranged from 78% for the control concrete to gate was locally available natural sand with a specific gravity of 2.69 and fineness
modulus of 2.62. The fly ash was obtained from the Taichung Power Station in cen-
120% for the HVFA concrete. At 365 days, these ratios were 78%
tral Taiwan. It was classified as low-calcium Class F fly ash. Two types of fly ash with
and 92%, and at 730 days, the ratios were 88% and 98% for the con- the low-LOI and high-LOI of 4.6% and 7.8%, respectively, were used for the test.
trol concrete and the HVFA concrete, respectively [16]. According to ASTM C618 [27] and CNS 3036 (Chinese National Standard) [28] the
Naik et al. [17] studied the mechanical properties and durability qualified LOI value of fly ash is limited to 6.0%. They exhibited a total SAF (SiO2 + -
of concrete made with blended fly ash. The test results showed that Al2O3 + Fe2O3) of 85.4% and 80.9%, which complies with the ASTM criterion for a to-
tal SAF of at least 70%. A polycarboxylate based superplasticizer (SP) confirming to
blending of Class C fly ash with Class F fly ash demonstrated com-
ASTM C494 [29] Type G was used in the concrete mixtures. Tables 2 and 3 list the
parable or superior results than the control mixture without fly ash properties of the constituent materials.
and the unblended Class C fly ash. Poon [18] investigated high-
strength concrete with 45% low-calcium fly ash replacement and
reported that 28 day cube compressive strength of 83 MPa can be 2.3. Mixture proportions
0
2. Experimental procedure fc;28 ¼ 240½1=W=cm þ 3:2ðFA=cmÞ þ 0:476 ð2Þ
2.1. Testing program However, it is suggested that similar such prediction models can be developed to
determine the optimal W/cm ratio depending on the characteristics of the aggregate
A laboratory study was performed to determine the effects of fly ash on the and fly ash.
mixture proportioning procedures required for concrete to satisfy workability and 4. Using the particle packing theory, the amount of well-graded fine aggregate and
strength. Two groups of fly-ash concrete mixtures were made with low-calcium coarse aggregate with a maximal size of 19 mm were experimentally deter-
Class F fly ash. The first group contained fly ash with a low-LOI of 4.6%, and the mined as approximately 750–850 kg/m3 and 1020–1100 kg/m3, respectively.
other group contained a high-LOI of 7.8%. The primary design variables included
compressive strengths of 24 MPa and 35 MPa and 20–80% fly ash replacement for
This study used two mix proportions for various grades of fly-ash concrete
Portland cement. The 80% replacement mixture was designed according to a preli-
according to the method proposed by Malhotra and Mehta [30]. We determined
minary experiment to select a minimal cement content of 112 kg/m3 for the L24
the mix proportions (L-series and H-series) for two strength levels (24 and
series and 136 kg/m3 for the L35 and H35 series. Table 1 shows the test factors
35 MPa). The L-series containing two strength levels was obtained using fly ash
and parameters.
with the low-LOI content as the mineral admixture and H-series using fly ash with
the high-LOI content, as shown in Table 4. L24F20 stands for mix L-series with
2.2. Materials strength level of 24 MPa and fly ash content of 20% of the total cementitious mate-
rial, and H35F80 stands for mix H-series with strength of 35 MPa and fly ash con-
Ordinary Portland cement Type I (OPC), which is similar to ASTM C150 [26], was tent of 80%. The percentage of cement content varies from 100% to 20% of the
used for test. Locally available crushed sandstone with a maximal nominal size of total binder; the fly ash content varies from 0% to 80% of the total binder for the tar-
19 mm and specific gravity of 2.61 was used as the coarse aggregate. The fine aggre- get strength levels (24 and 35 MPa) of both L-series and H-series.
C.-H. Huang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 46 (2013) 71–78 73
Table 1
Test factors and parameters studied.
Table 2
Properties of the constituent materials.
Material used Specific gravity Fineness modulus Bulk density (kg/cm3) Fineness, retained
on 325 sieves (%)
Cement 3.15 – – –
Fly ash (Class F) LOI = 4.6% 2.31 – – 13.24
LOI = 7.8% 2.28 – – 26.60
Coarse aggregate 2.61 6.79 1470 –
River sand 2.69 2.62 – –
Table 3 The air contents of L24, L35, and H35 series were in the ranges
Composition and physical properties of Class F fly ash. of 2.2–3.3%, 2.1–3.6%, and 2.1–4.3%, respectively. The specimens of
Components Low-LOI High-LOI L24 and L35 series had adequate air content of less than 3.2%, ex-
cept the L24F80, L35F80, H35F60, and H35F80 specimens, which
SiO2 (%) 50.0 50.0
Al2O3 (%) 28.4 23.0 contained 60% or 80% fly ash of the total binder and had a mea-
Fe2O3 (%) 7.0 7.9 sured air contents larger than 3.5%. The air content increased as
CaO (%) 6.0 6.0 the percentage of fly ash increased for the three series. In addition,
MgO (%) 1.4 2.0 fly ash with the high-LOI content for the H35 series exhibited in-
Alkalies as Na2O (%) 0.09 0.17
Sulfur as SO3 (%) 0.47 0.68
creased air content.
K2O (%) 0.13 0.28 The unit weight of each series of concrete decreased with the
Loss on ignition, LOI (%) 4.6 7.8 increase of the cement replacement percentage of fly ash. More-
PAC (%)a 7 days 86.8 84.5 over, the concrete mixtures of the H35 series with high-LOI fly
28 days 97.8 86.0
ash content may produce less unit weight than those of the L35
Specific gravity 2.31 2.30
Soundness (%) 0.056 0.053 series with low-LOI, because fly ash with the high-LOI has a lower
specific gravity and the mixtures of the H35 series were mixed
a
PAC: pozzolanic activity index.
with a higher dosage of SP.
Table 5 also shows that the initial- and final-setting times of the
2.4. Casting and testing of specimens concrete ranged from 4 h and 50 min to 13 h and from 5 h and
15 min to 15 h and 10 min, respectively. For each series, the fly-
All concrete mixtures were mixed for 5 min in a laboratory pan mixer. The fresh
ash concrete mixtures, such as L24F20, L35F40, and H35F60, exhib-
concrete properties were recorded for each batch. The tested properties of the con-
crete included slump, air content, unit weight, and setting time according to ASTM ited longer setting times than the corresponding control mixtures
C143, C231, C138, and C403 [31–34], respectively. The specimens were cast from without fly ash (L24F00, L35F00, and H35F00). The setting time
each mixture to test the compressive strength (three 100 mm diameter and of the fly-ash concrete increased in conjunction with the fly ash
200 mm height cylinders each for testing at 8 ages), modulus of elasticity, Poisson’s content. The setting times were 1.25 h to 11 h longer than those
ratio, drying shrinkage, and flexural strength. After removal from the molds, all
specimens were moved to a standard moist-curing room until date for testing.
for the control concrete. In addition, the concrete mixtures con-
The tests were performed following the relevant ASTM standards. taining 80% fly ash of the total binder (L24F80, L35F80, and
H35F80) exhibited a particularly longer final setting time of up
3. Experimental results and discussion to 15–18 h, which may attributed to the more fly ash content
and the higher dosage of SP.
3.1. Properties of fresh concrete
3.2. Compressive strength
Table 5 shows the properties of the fresh concrete including
slump, air content, unit weight, and setting times. As shown in Ta- The compressive strengths of the concrete mixtures were deter-
ble 5, the dosage of the superplasticizer in all concrete mixtures mined at the ages of 1, 3, 7, 28, 56, 91, 182, and 365 days. Table 6
was adjusted to produce a slump of 160–230 mm, and ranged from shows the results. The control mixtures for the L24F0, L35F0, and
0.4 to 9.5 l/m3 of concrete. The dosage amount increased in con- H35F0 series were proportioned to have compressive strengths of
junction with the fly ash content, whereas the fly ash with the 25.0 MPa and 34.5 MPa, which are approximately equivalent to
high-LOI content requires more SP than that with the low-LOI con- those of the fly-ash concrete at 28 days. This was achieved for most
tent. These results indicate that concrete containing fly ash of up to mixtures, except those containing high volumes of 60% and 80% fly
80% of the binder content can be proportioned to have adequate ash of the total binder. In these cases, the strength equivalence was
workability when suitable SP is used. achieved between the ages of 56 and 91 days.
74 C.-H. Huang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 46 (2013) 71–78
Table 4
Proportions of concrete mixtures.
Mixture no.a W/cm W/C Cement Fly ash Sand Coarse aggregate Water Superplasticizer Percent of
(kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (l/m3) binder (%)
L24F00 0.72 0.72 280 0 777 988 202 0.0 0.0
L24F20 0.66 0.83 224 56 788 1003 185 0.5 0.2
L24F40 0.56 0.93 168 112 802 1041 157 2.1 0.8
L24F60 0.44 1.11 112 168 801 1106 124 3.9 1.4
L24F80 0.27 1.34 112 448 418 1101 150 3.7 0.7
L35F00 0.60 0.60 340 0 737 977 203 0.4 0.1
L35F20 0.55 0.69 272 68 743 985 188 0.8 0.2
L35F40 0.48 0.80 204 136 752 1017 163 1.7 0.5
L35F60 0.36 0.91 136 204 756 1089 124 3.3 1.0
L35F80 0.24 1.20 136 544 295 1062 163 4.9 0.7
H35F00 0.60 0.60 340 0 737 977 203 0.4 0.1
H35F20 0.55 0.69 272 68 743 985 188 1.5 0.4
H35F40 0.48 0.80 204 136 752 1017 163 2.7 0.8
H35F60 0.36 0.91 136 204 756 1089 124 5.0 1.5
H35F80 0.26 1.32 136 544 279 1038 180 8.7 1.3
a
L24F20: low-LOI content fly ash, compressive strength of 24 MPa, fly ash content of 20%. H35F60: high-LOI content fly ash, compressive strength of 35 MPa, fly ash
content of 60%.
Table 5
Properties of fresh concrete mixtures.
Table 6
Compressive strength of concrete mixtures (MPa).
Mixture no. W/cm 1 day 3 days 7 days 28 days 56 days 91 days 182 days 365 days
L24F00 0.72 5.3 14.6 20.9 25.0 27.6 29.0 32.4 36.5
L24F20 0.66 5.0 12.9 18.9 25.4 28.5 32.1 35.9 43.2
L24F40 0.56 3.9 10.4 16.8 25.6 30.0 35.2 39.8 39.4
L24F60 0.44 2.6 9.7 14.5 23.5 25.6 30.6 37.3 41.2
L24F80 0.27 2.3 8.5 14.1 20.9 24.3 28.5 33.6 38.7
L35F00 0.60 7.6 20.4 27.2 34.5 37.2 40.3 41.8 44.6
L35F20 0.55 7.6 17.6 23.9 36.5 40.8 45.8 49.4 54.7
L35F40 0.48 5.8 17.8 24.7 40.3 42.5 51.3 56.1 62.4
L35F60 0.36 3.5 13.3 18.9 34.5 38.8 47.8 55.6 65.3
L35F80 0.24 3.3 9.8 16.5 30.0 34.4 40.4 48.6 61.6
H35F00 0.60 7.6 20.4 27.2 34.5 37.2 40.3 41.8 44.6
H35F20 0.55 6.9 16.8 22.4 34.9 36.1 39.6 43.2 46.2
H35F40 0.48 6.0 11.3 21.5 34.1 37.4 40.8 51.5 54.3
H35F60 0.36 2.5 12.1 17.8 30.5 33.9 39.0 47.3 55.8
H35F80 0.24 1.0 5.2 11.6 25.2 28.3 34.1 39.6 43.4
C.-H. Huang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 46 (2013) 71–78 75
to 56, 91, 182, and 365 days for the mixtures containing high vol-
umes of fly ash.
A comparison of the L35 and H35 concrete series in Table 6
shows that the compressive strength of the concrete mixtures for
the H35 series are lower than those of the corresponding mixture
of the L35 series; Fig. 4 shows a significant difference between
the H35F80 and L35F80 mixtures. This may be attributed to the
lower pozzolanic activity and greater particle size of the fly ash
with higher LOI content for the H35 series, which increases the
water demand and decreases the pozzolanic reaction.
Table 8
Flexural strength of concrete mixtures (MPa).
Fig. 6. The relation between flexural and compressive strength of fly-ash concretes. 3.5. Modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio
Table 7
Modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio test results.
4. Conclusion References
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