Literature Review

Compressive strength development Characteristics of

No-aggregate concrete
LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

The purpose for this study is to find out what we know so far about the use no-aggregate
concrete (NAC) and the effects of NAC on the compressive strength of concrete. NAC
concrete significantly differs from the conventional concrete. Unlike conventional concrete,
NAC don’t have any coarse aggregate, instead it replaces all coarse aggregate with fly ash.

Concrete is the most widely used material in the world. Portland cement is the most
expensive material in the production of concrete. On the other hand fly ash an abundantly
produced material in the world. Studies for incorporation of fly ash into concrete have started
by Davis et al (19376) since the fly ash was available at early 1930s. Up to now several
researchers have studied extensively on the use of fly as cementitious material and brought
successful replacement for cement in the concrete-. But still a small percentage of fly used for
this purpose and remaining is disposed off or ends up with low value application. There are
some countries are facing problems in finding aggregates or try to control the excessive use
of natural resources. Thus studying the potential of fly ash on using as aggregate is very
useful

A brief review of the findings of earlier investigators on influence of aggregate on

compressive strength characteristics of concrete , influence of fly ash addition on the
compressive strength characteristics and other properties of concrete and the important
properties/parameters of fly ash have been presented here.

Effects of coarse aggregate on the compressive strength of concrete

Concrete can be considered as a multiphase material consisting of coarse aggregate

embedded in mortar matrix and interfacial transition zone between the particles of coarse
aggregate and hydrated cement paste. Thus the concrete properties are strongly linked to the
characteristics of the solid aggregate, the performance of the cement paste and the interfacial
transition zone. Since approximately 75% of the concrete volume is occupied by the
aggregates for which around 45% are coarse aggregate, it is assumed that the aggregate
properties greatly affect the durability and the structural performance of concrete material.
Properties such as mineralogy, surface area, surface texture, particle size and shape, elastic
modulus, strength ,grading and water absorption may have significant effect on the
performance of the concrete.(Cetin & Carraquillo,1998 ; Neville & Brooks ,1993)
Therefore, it is well recognized that concrete should be examined as a three phase material
consisting of aggregate, cement paste and transition zone between them. The transition zone
is about 10-50 µm thick and it is generally the weakest component of the concrete,
consequently it has a major influence on the mechanical behavior of the concrete compared to
its volumetric importance.(Nemati,Monteiro & Scrivener, 1998)

The relationship between the concrete mix proportions and compressive strength has been a
matter of interest for several researchers. In the normal strength concrete(NSC), coarse
aggregate is considered as strongest phase therefore it plays minor role in the concrete failure
and any stress transfer between coarse aggregate and the weak bulk paste is hindered by an
even weaker transition zone. However in high strength concrete (HSC) with enhanced cement
paste and transition zone properties, coarse aggregate can become the weakest phase. In such
a case, coarse aggregate must be properly selected depending on their physical and
mechanical properties. (Cetin & Carraquillo,1998 ). Ozturan and Cecen(1997) have found
that for the same properties of paste, different types of coarse aggregate with different shape,
texture, mineralogy and strength may result in different concrete strengths. Neville and
Brooks (1993) have reported that the influence of coarse aggregate properties on the concrete
strength becomes important as the quality of the paste is improved such as in the case of
HSC.

Meddah, Zitouni and Belâabes ,(2009) have reported that the grain size distribution and the
surface area of aggregate are one of the major factors affecting the transition phase. Therefore
increasing the aggregate surface area leads to an increase of the percentage of the transition
zone into the concrete matrix. For NSC the weakest phase is the transition zone while for
HSC the aggregate bulk is considered as the weakest phase. For the HSC mixtures, the
highest compressive strength is achieved when the surface area of the coarse aggregate
increases and as a result, the portion of the transition zone increases as well. However the
highest compressive strength for the NSC is obtained when the surface area of the aggregate
fraction decreases as well as the transition zone portion. Thus at a given age and for a given
combination of granular fraction, the compressive strength of normal strength concrete
increases as the maximum size of the aggregate increases. On the contrary, the compressive
strength of the HSC increases as the maximum size of the aggregate increases. For the same
coarse aggregate content, a continuous granular system provides the highest compressive
strength. Conversely for the HSC, the gap graded system provides the highest compressive
strength than the continuous granular system.
Important properties/parameters of fly ash

In some countries it is very difficult to get the aggregates or it affects the sustainability of the
environment. But there are some alternatives like recycled aggregate, papercrete, crushed
rubber, EPScrete, Platic, glass etc. But they were not considered as the proper replacement or
alternatives for aggregate. Thus, in this research we are going to analyze the possibility of no-
aggregate concrete for structural purpose which contains no coarse aggregate in any form,
instead coarse aggregate is replaced by the fly ash. It has been estimated that annual world-
wide production of coal ash is around 700 million tones ,of which 70% is fly ash. Many
researchers has identified the use of fly ash as partial replacement for cement as cementitious
material , but there are very few researches were done on replacing the aggregates with fly
ash. Since approximately 80% of the coal ashes produced simply disposed off or end up with
low value applications like using for landfills, if we can find proper usage, it would help to
keep the sustainable environment. If it is used to replace the aggregate, it may even improve
the properties of concrete.

According to American Concrete Institute ACI 232-2R(2003) fly ash is “the finely divided
residue that results from the combustion of ground or powdered coal and that is transported
by flue gases from the combustion zone to the particle removal system.” Fly ash mostly
consists of SiO2 which can be in different combination of amorphous (glassy and rounded)
and crystalline phases. The largest fraction of the fly ash consists of glassy spheres of two
types solid and hollow which account for about 60-90% of the total mass of fly ash.
Amorphous particles are the main contributor to the pozzolanic properties of the fly ash.
According to ACI 232-2R(2003) defines “Pozzolan” as “ a siliceous or siliceous and
aluminous material that itself possesses little or no cementitious value, but that will, in finely
divided form and in presence of moisture, chemically react with calcium hydroxide (CH) at
ordinary temperature to form compounds having cementitious properties”

The ASTM C618 [2008] subdivides the fly ash into two classes based on their chemical
composition. However, this standard does not address the nature or reactivity of the particles.
Class F fly ashes are produced from anthracite and bituminous coals.

Class C fly ashes produced from sub-bituminous or lignitic coals. In other words, the
classification based on the silica oxide content of the type of coal burned. Class F fly ash
possesses the pozzolanic characteristic while class C fly ash posses both cementitious and
pozzolanic char acteristic.
 Low calcium fly ash High calcium fly ash
Fly ash from Bituminous coal and anthracite Sub-bituminous and lignite

Reaction Pozzolanic Pozzolanic and hydraulic

characteristic
Class F Class C
SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 ≥ 70 % SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 ≥ 50 %
Free moisture, max: 3,0 % Free moisture, max: 3,0 %
LOI, max: 6,0 % LOI, max: 6,0 %
SO3, max: 5,0 % SO3, max: 5,0 %
CaO, max: No limit CaO, max: No limit
Amount retained when wet sieved on (CaO > 10 %)
45 μm: Max. 34 % Amount retained when wet sieved on
45 μm: Max. 34 %
` Definition according to ASCM C618

Influence of fly ash addition as aggregate on the compressive strength characteristics

As mentioned above there are several researches have been done by many researches on
using fly ash as partial/full replacement for cement. Several improvements in the concrete
properties such as compressive strength, durability, permeability, workability, shrinkage were
observed and the result are now followed extensively in the concrete used for structural
purpose. But only few has attempted to study the role fly ash as aggregate in the concrete.

Dhir,McCarthy and Title (2000) have studied the concrete having fly ah as sand replacing
material in the percentage of 5% ,10%, and 15% and reported that improvement in
compressive strength was observed at all ages while workability of the mix was affected.

Mangaraj and Krisnamoorthy (1994) reported on sand replacement levels of 0 to 30% for the
basic concrete having a w/c ratio of 0.6. It was observed that there was a need to increase the
water to compensate the adverse effects of fly ash on workability of the concrete and
however compressive strength was improved

Siddique (2003) has studied effect fine aggregate replacement with class F fly ash on the
mechanical properties of the concrete. He used fine aggregate replacement level of 10% to
50% with w/c ratio ranged from 0.47 to 50% and observed the results at ages from 7 to 365
day. It was observed that the continuous reduction in slump even at the increased amount of
superplasticizer when the replacement level was increased. It was observed that the concrete
mix with fly ash had higher compressive strength than control mix at all age and compressive
strength has increased with percentage of replacement level of fine aggregate. This strength
increase can be attributed to densification concrete matrix and pozzolanic action of the fly
ash.

Singh and Siddique (2014) have studied the effect of partial or total replacement of fine
aggregate with coal bottom ash and reported that the compressive strength of bottom ash
concrete mixtures decreased with increase in the coal ash bottom ash and was lower than that
of control concrete. But with the progress of age, compressive strength of bottom ash
concrete mixtures increased at a faster rate that of control concrete mixture. After 90 days
curing age , compressive strength of bottom ash concrete mixtures surpassed that of control
mixture.

Rajamane,Peter and Ambily (2006) have analyzed the relationship between the increase in
the compressive strength and sand replacement level. They proposed a prediction formula to
estimate the strength of concrete having sand replaced partially by known amount of fly ash.
Therefore the required sand replacement level for a given concrete strength can be estimated
using the following formula.

fc = A*{[(1+m*ps*s*k)/wc]-0.5}

where A-constant depends on type of cement and age of concrete

m-fly ash addition factor
ps- fraction of sand replaced by fly ash
s- fraction of sand in concrete
k-cementing efficiency of fly ash
wc-water cement ratio

Bhanumathidas and Kalidas (2010) have studied the performance of fly ash as pozzolanic
binder and micro aggregate , having replaced all the coarse aggregate. Strength of no
aggregate concrete obtained was at ranges 40-80N/mm2 with the density of around
1800kg/m3. This strength development is attributed to devoid of transition zone in the
concrete by no presence of coarse aggregate and densification in the cementitious matrix.
References

1. Neville AM & Brooks J(1993). Concrete technology. England: Longman.

2. Cetin A & Carrasquillo RL(1998). High performance concrete; influence of coarse
aggregates on mechanical properties. ACI Mater J,95(3):252-61
3. Nemati KM,Monteiro PJM &Scrivener KL(1998). Analysis of compressive stress-
induced cracks in concrete. ACI Mater J,94(5):417-26
4. Ozturan T & Cecen C(1997). Effect of coarse aggregate type on mechanical
properties of concrete with different strengths.Cem Concr Res,27(2):165-70
5. Meddah MS,Zitouni S & Belâabes S(2009). Effect of content and particle size
distribution of coarse aggregate on the compressive strength of concrete.
Construction and building material,24(2010):505-512
6. ACI Committee 232, (2003). Use of Fly Ash in Concrete (ACI 232.2R-03). American
Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, MI.
7. ASTM C618, (2008). Standard Specification for Coal Fly Ash and Raw or Calcined
Natural Pozzolan for Use in Concrete. American Society for Testing Materials
(ASTM International).
8. Dhir RK, McCarthy MJ & Title PAJ(2000). Use of conditioned PFA as a fine
aggregate in the concrete. Mater Struct,33(225);38-42
9. Mangaraj BK & Krishnamoorthy S(1994). Use of pond fly ash as part replacement
for mortar and concrete,Indian concrete J:279-82
10. Siddique R(2003). Effect of fine aggregate replacement with class F fly ash on the
mechanical properties of concrete. Cement and concrete research,33(2003);539-47
11. Singh M & Siddique R(2014). Compressive strength, drying shrinkage, and chemical
resistance of concrete incorporating coal bottom ash as partial or total replacement
of sand. Construction and Building Materials,68(2014):39-48
12. Rajamane N.P, Peter J.A & Ambily P.S(2007). Prediction of compressive strength of
concrete with fly ash as sand replacement material. Cement and concrete
composites,29(2007):218-223
13. Bhanumathidas N & Kalidas N(2010). Irrational concrete with rational performance.
The institute of solid waste research and ecological balance, Vishakhapatnam.