ANSHUL GUPTA 17MST0011

ADVANCED CONCRETE MATERIALS & TECHNOLOGY

DIGITAL ASSIGNMENT – 1

APPLICATIONS AND PROPERTIES OF MINERAL ADMIXTURES

INTRODUCTION

• Mineral admixtures or Pozzolanic admixtures are very fine-grained materials

other than coarse aggregates, fine aggregates, cement and water that are added
to concrete mix in order to modify the properties of concrete.

• The American Concrete Institute (ACI) defines pozzolans as “a siliceous or

siliceous and aluminous material that in itself possesses little or no cementitious
value but will, in finely divided form and in the presence of moisture, chemically
reacts with calcium hydroxide at ordinary temperatures to form compounds
having cementitious properties.”

• The history of cement and concrete is generally assumed to have begun in

ancient Egypt and Greece, although recent reports claim that it dates back as far
as 9000 years ago. Natural pozzolans were used in ancient cement and concrete
products, however it is relatively recently that the use of by-product mineral
admixtures, such as fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag has become
widespread.

• Today mineral admixtures are attracting much attention as materials contributing

to the improvement of concrete characteristics as well as to the reduction of the
energy and carbon dioxide generated in the production of cement. In particular,
they are indispensable for the improvement of concrete performance
contributing, for example to high strength, high durability and reduction of heat
of hydration.
TYPES OF MINERAL ADMIXTURES

Mineral admixtures can be divided into groups :

1. Natural Admixtures
• Clay and shales
• Opalinc cherts
• Diatomaceous Earth
• Volcanic tuffs & pumicities

2. Artificial Minerals
• Fly ash
• Blast furnace slag
• Silica fumes
• Rice husk ash
• Surkhi
• Metakaoline

FLY ASH

• The finely divided residue resulting from the combustion of ground or powdered
coal, Fly ash is generally captured from the chimneys of coal-fired power plants; it
has pozzolanic properties, and is sometimes blended with cement for this reason.

• Fly ash includes substantial amounts of silicon dioxide (SiO2) (both amorphous
and crystalline) and calcium oxide (CaO).
 Fig. 1 : Effect of fly ash on compressive strength of concrete

Two main classes of fly ash are used in concrete :

Class F fly ash : Most effectively moderates heat gain during concrete curing and is
therefore considered an ideal cementitious material in mass concrete and high strength
mixes. For the same reason, Class F is the solution to a wide range of summer concreting
problems.

Class C fly ash : Most useful in “performance” mixes, prestressed applications, and other
situations where higher early strengths are important. Especially useful in soil
stabilization, since Class C may not require the addition of lime.

• In addition to economic and ecological benefits, the use of fly ash in concrete
improves its workability, reduces segregation, bleeding, heat evolution and
permeability, inhibits alkali-aggregate reaction, and enhances sulfate resistance.

• Even though the use of fly ash in concrete has increased in the last 20 years, less
than 20% of the fly ash collected was used in the cement and concrete industries.

• One of the most important fields of application for fly ash is PCC pavement,
where a large quantity of concrete is used and economy is an important factor in
concrete pavement construction.
SILICA FUME

• Silica fume is a very fine amorphous (noncrystalline) silica produced in electric arc
furnaces as a byproduct of the production of elemental silicon or alloys
containing silicon; also known as condensed silica fume or microsilica.

• Because of its extreme fineness and high silica content, Silica Fume is a highly
effective pozzolanic material.

• Silica Fume is used in concrete to improve its properties. It has been found that
Silica Fume improves compressive strength, bond strength, and abrasion
resistance; reduces permeability of concrete to chloride ions; and therefore helps
in protecting reinforcing steel from corrosion.

Fig. 2 : Effect of silica fume on compressive strength of concrete

GROUND GRANULATED BLAST FURNACE SLAG

• Ground granulated blast-furnace slag is the granular material formed when

molten iron blast furnace slag (a by-product of iron and steel making) is rapidly
chilled (quenched) by immersion in water. It is a granular product, highly
cementitious in nature and, ground to cement fineness, hydrates like Portland
cement.
 • Concrete made with GGBFS cement sets more slowly than concrete made with
ordinary Portland cement, depending on the amount of GGBFS in the
cementitious material, but also continues to gain strength over a longer period in
production conditions. This results in lowerheat of hydration and lower
temperature rises, and makes avoiding cold joints easier, but may also affect
construction schedules where quick setting is required.

• Benefits of GGBFS :

i. Concrete containing GGBFS cement has a higher ultimate strength than

concrete made with Portland cement. It has a higher proportion of the
strength-enhancing calcium silicate hydrates.

ii. In contrast to the stony grey of concrete made with Portland cement, the
near-white color of GGBFS cement permits architects to achieve a lighter
colour for exposed fair-faced concrete finishes, at no extra cost.

RICE HUSK ASH

• Rice milling generates a by product know as husk . This surrounds the paddy
grain. During milling of paddy about 78 % of weight is received as rice , broken
rice and bran .Rest 22 % of the weight of paddy is received as husk . This husk is
used as fuel in the rice mills to generate steam for the parboiling process .

• This husk contains about 75 % organic volatile matter and the balance 25 % of
the weight of this husk is converted into ash during the firing process , is known
as rice husk ash ( RHA ). This RHA in turn contains around 85 % - 90
% amorphous silica.

• It is used as a pozzolanic material in cement to increase durability and strength.

• Rice husk ash decreases the workability of concrete as the water requirement
increases. But if we use RHA, Fly ash with some steel fiber, it will increase the
strength of concrete. Hence, can be used as a normal concrete in future.
 STATIC MODULUS AND DYNAMIC MODULUS OF HARDENED
CONCRETE
INTRODUCTION

● The modulus of elasticity of a material is defined as the slope of the stress-strain

curve. The higher the modulus of elasticity, the more is the resistance of the the
material against deformation.

● Coming to concrete, it is not a perfectly elastic material and therefore the stress-
strain curve indicates a varying modulus of elasticity that is the slope of the
tangent of the curve.

Fig. 3 : Stress-Strain curve for concrete.

TYPES OF MODULUS OF ELASTICITY

• As we know, elastic modulus is the tangent at that point on the curve. So there
are different moduli, which are used for determining behavior of concrete,
depending upon the conditions these every moduli gives, different values. These
are;
 • Initial tangent modulus: It is given by the inclination of a tangent line at the
origin of the stress-strain diagram. It is used to characterize concrete deflections
at very low stresses.

• Tangent modulus at a given stress: It is the inclination of a tangent line of the

stress-strain diagram at any given stress. It is used to simulate the structure to
loading or unloading at different loading stages. Loading and unloading can be
applicable, for example, when a numerical structural analysis is needed due to
large accidental loads.

• Secant modulus: It is given by the inclination of a secant line obtained between

any two points in the stress-strain diagram. In this case, it simulates the structure
during its initial loading stage when permanent loads prevail.

If concrete would have been a linearly elastic material then, all the 3 modulus would
have been the same and hence no need of 3 different terms.

• Dynamic modulus: The modulus of elasticity determined by electrodynamic

testing. This test is more convenient to carry out than static modulus testing. The
dynamic modulus is roughly equal to the initial tangent modulus, and is therefore
higher than the static modulus of elasticity.

STATIC MODULUS OF ELASTICITY

• The modulus of elasticity is determined by subjecting a cube or cylinder specimen

to uniaxial compression and measuring the deformation by means of dial gauge
fixed between certain gauge lengths. Dial gauge reading divided by gauge length
will give the strain and load applied divided by area of cross section will give the
stress.

• The test determines initial tangent modulus as well as the secant modulus
corresponding to one-third of the compressive failure stress, in which a concrete
prism at a constant rate is loaded and load (stress) and deformation (strain) of
the specimen are recorded.
 • A stress-strain curve is obtained from which the modulus of elasticity is
determined.

DYNAMIC MODULUS OF ELASTICITY

• The value of E is found out by actual loading of concrete i.e. the static modulus of
elasticity does not truly represent the elastic behaviour of concrete. Due to the
phenomenon of creep the elastic modulus of elasticity will get affected more
seriously at higher stress when the effect of creep is more pronounced.

• The modulus of elasticity can be determined by subjecting the concrete member

to longitudinal vibration at their natural frequency.

• This method involves the determine of either resonant frequency through a

specimen of concrete or pulse velocity travelling through the concrete.

• The value of dynamic modulus of elasticity can also be computed from Ultrasonic
Pulse Velocity method, where the density of the concrete and Poisson’s ratio are
known.

• Ultrasonic pulse velocity method consists of measuring the time of travel of an

ultrasonic pulse, passing through the concrete to be tested.

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