Effect of Mineral Admixtures on Capillary Index Characteristic of Concrete

Mien. Tran1 and Thanh. Le1

1
Department of Construction Materials, HoChiMinh City University of Technology, HCM City, Vietnam
1
E-mail: tvmien@hcmut.edu.vn

ABSTRACT: Chloride penetration into concrete is covered by diffusion, permeability and capillary. Capillary sorption and suction show
reality of the aggressive environment. This paper investigated on the capillary characteristic in term of capillary index of concretes using fly
ash (FA), silicafume (SF) and granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS). The capillary index presents for total water volume adsorbed by a
specific concrete volume in a specific time. The results showed that mineral admixtures reduce the capillary index. However, the capillary
index of concretes using GBFS start increasing as the GBSF content is higher than 20% by cement weight. Whereas, the capillary index of
concretes using SF still reduces with increasing SF content. This implies that SF has a major effect on physical characteristic in reducing
chloride ingress, while, the GBSF may have chemical effect instead of physical effect on decreasing the chloride penetration into the
concrete. Together with chloride diffusion coefficient or charge passed, we can use the capillary index to present the durability of the
concrete in term of chloride penetration resistance.
Keywords: chloride ingress, capillary index, mineral admixture.

1. INTRODUCTION
In marine environment, the chloride induced corrosion of
reinforcement is one of the major deteriorations of reinforced
concrete structures. By the time, chloride ions penetrate from the
concrete surface and reach the embedded steel, and chloride ions
make the embedded steels corrode. Chloride penetration into
concrete is covered by diffusion, permeability and capillary.
Capillary sorption and suction show reality of the aggressive
environment [2, 3]. The penetration of chloride into concrete
includes diffusion and adsorption. The chloride diffusion is
characterized by chloride diffusion coefficient. So far, the chloride
penetration resistance of the concrete has been tested by Rapid
chloride penetration test following ASTM C1202 or by the tests
method of determination of apparent chloride diffusion coefficient
following ASTM C1556 [1]. In the design of the reinforced
concrete (RC) exposed to the aggressive media, the chloride
diffusion coefficient of the concrete is used commonly to calculate
or predict the durability of RC structures. Also, the capillary
sorption and suction affect the mass transport in concrete
structure, so that it can affect the chloride diffusion coefficient of
the concrete. The capillary sorption and suction of the concrete is
expressed in term of capillary index [4].Up to now, the research
on the capillary index characteristic of the concrete is still very
limited, especially on the concrete using mineral admixtures.
Moreover, mineral admixtures such as fly ash (FA), granulated
blast furnace slag (GBFS) and silicafume (SF) have been used in
concretes to increase durability of the concrete in term of chloride
induced corrosion by reducing the chloride diffusion coefficient
[6, 8]. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the capillary
indexes of the concretes using various mineral admixtures.
This paper expresses the investigation on the capillary indexes of
the concretes with water-binder ratio, w/b, of 0.37 using various
mineral admixtures, which replace cement such as FA, SF and
GBFS. The FA is used to replace cement of 10%, 20% and 30%
by weight. The SF content used is in range of 5%, 8% and 10% by
cement weight. While the GBFS content varies from 20% to 40%.
2. CHLORIDE PENETRATION INTO CONCRETE
Chloride penetration into concrete is covered by diffusion,
permeability and capillary. Diffusion is the movement of chloride
ions under a concentration gradient. For this to occur the concrete
must have a continuous liquid phase and there must be a chloride
ion concentration gradient. The second common transport method
is absorption. As a concrete surface is exposed to the environment,
it will undergo wetting and drying cycles. When water usually
containing chlorides encounters a dry surface, it will be drawn into
the pore structure though capillary suction. Absorption is driven
by moisture gradients. Typically, the depth of drying is small,
however, and this transport mechanism will not bring chlorides to
the surface of the reinforcing steel unless the concrete is of
extremely poor quality and the rebar is shallow []. In addition, the
effect of absorption is typically limited to a shallow cover region.
In the bulk of the concrete, the pores remain saturated and chloride
ion movement is controlled by concentration gradients. Chloride
movement into concrete by non-stationary diffusion is an ionic
diffusion process following Fick’s second law [1]. Fick’s second
law of diffusion represents non-steady state diffusion and is
expected in a form of a partial differential equation:
∂C ∂ 2C (1)
=D 2
∂t ∂x
Where, C is chloride concentration, D chloride diffusion
coefficient, t is time and x is cover thickness.
When water comes into contact with a porous material such as
concrete, it is absorbed rapidly by the underpressure in the pores
caused by what is called capillary action. This action depends on
the surface tension, viscosity, and density of the liquid, on the
angle of contact between the liquid and the pore walls and on the
radius of the pore. In concrete, the contact angle is small due to
the presence of molecular attraction between the liquid and the
substrate (that is, between water and cement paste). Under these
conditions, a drop will spread on a flat surface, while the meniscus
of a capillary pore will rise above the level of the surrounding
liquid and be concave towards the dry side.
In theory, capillary action is stronger as the pore dimensions
decrease. On the other hand, the smaller the pores become, the
slower the transport will be due to increasing friction. In the usual
range of compositions, a more porous concrete absorbs more
water and faster than a dense concrete. This general rule has
become the basis for several test methods.
A sorptivity test is normally carried out to measure capillary
suction in concrete. The bottom surface of a previously dried
sample is placed in contact with water at atmospheric pressure. In
general, capillary absorption is measured as mass (or volume) of
liquid absorbed per unit of surface (i, g/m2 for mass or m3/m2 for
volume) in time t (a test normally lasts from four to 24 h). The
development of i as a function of time is of the type [5]:
i = S. t (2)
This relationship, empirically derived from the observation of
experimental data, is commonly used to define the parameter S.
This is correct only for very porous materials or in the early stage
of capillary action. In fact, in concrete with a low w/c ratio, the
square root law is changed to a power law with exponent lower
than 0.5.
Concerning about the permeation phenomenon in the concrete,
when a liquid (assumed incompressible and entirely viscous)
penetrates concrete that is previously saturated by the liquid by a 21.66 5.58 2.79 63.92 2.55 2.32 0.52 0.96 0.72
pressure difference, the flow through the pores is defined by
Darcy’s law [5]:
Table 2 The compositions of the SF, GBFS and FA
dq K .∆P. A (3)
= Admixture Chemical compositions (% by mass)
dt L.µ SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO SO3 Na2O K2O Ignition
loss
Where, dq/dt is the flow (m3/s), m is the viscosity of the fluid (N. SF 87.7 0.8 3.1 1.8 0.4 0.8 0.3 2.7 0.98
s/m2), K is the intrinsic permeability of concrete (m2), ∆ P is the GBFS 36.7 6.6 0.2 47.4 2.0 2.4 0.4 0.8 0.92
pressure head applied (Pa), A is the surface of the cross section FA 33.1 18.6 17.7 20.2 2.5 2.7 1.5 2.8 0.48
(m2) and L is the thickness (m) of the specimen.
Even if the permeation tests may be carried out with any liquid, in Table 3 Mixture proportions used in research
general the coefficient of permeability is measured with water. w/b OPC, Water, SF, GBFS, FA, SP,
One side of a sample of concrete is placed in contact with water Series
kg litre kg kg kg litre
(with pressure up to 10 bar) and either the depth of penetration by M.0 0.37 384 142 - - - 3.5
water in a given time, the time necessary for water to penetrate the SL.20 0.37 307.2 142 - 76.8 - 3.5
entire thickness of the sample or the flow through the sample are
SL.30 0.37 268.8 142 - 115.2 - 3.5
measured. If the penetration involves the entire thickness of the
SL.40 0.37 230.4 142 - 153.6 - 3.5
sample, so that it is possible to measure the flow, Eq. (3) is written
as [5]: SF.5 0.37 364.8 142 19.2 - - 3.5
SF.8 0.37 353.3 142 30.7 - - 3.5
dq K .H . A SF.10 0.37 345.6 142 38.4 - - 3.5
= (4)
FA.10 0.37 345.6 142 - - 38.4 3.5
dt L
FA.20 0.37 307.2 142 - - 76.8 3.5
Where, dq/dt is the flow (m3/s), H (m) represents the height of the FA.30 0.37 268.8 142 - - 115.2 3.5
column of water pressure differential across the sample ( ∆ P =
H. δ .g, with δ is water density and g is acceleration of gravity).
In this case the coefficient of permeability k is measured in m/s; it 3.2 Test method
is connected to the intrinsic permeability coefficient by the The capillary indexes of the concrete using various mineral
equation admixtures are tested following by the 30:180 Durability Test. In
k = K. δ .g/ µ and thus depends on the density and on the viscosity this test, the cylinder specimens with 100mm in diameter were
of the liquid (for water K ≈ 10-7k). The permeability of the cement sliced in to specimens with 20mm in thick and 100mm in
paste depends on the capillary porosity, and the permeability diameter. After slicing, the specimens were cleaned by distilled
coefficient decreases as the w/c ratio decreases and as hydration water, immerse specimens into water tank and balance the mass of
proceeds. the specimen in the water, mb. Next, the specimens were dried
gradually still there is no water flash appearing on the surface,
3. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM
mark controlling level around the specimen by using pen to circle
3.1 Materials and specimen preparation on a position of 2mm far from the outer surface of the specimen
(as shown in Figure 1), then the specimen was dried under
In this paper, materials used include ordinary porland cement temperature of 1000C for two days to have the dried mass, m0, of
(OPC), fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, silicafume (SF), the specimen. The volume of the specimen was then calculated as
granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS), flyash (FA) and following:
superplasticizer (SP). The composition of the OPC is showed in
Table 1. And, the composition of SF, GBFS and FA is showed in Vs = m0 − mb (5)
Table 2. Coarse aggregate, which satisfies ASTM C33-84, is
crushed limestone aggregate with a maximum size of 20mm and Where, Vs is the volume of the specimen (ml), m0 is the dried mass
used with the content of 1066kg/m3. Fine aggregate is river sand of the specimen, mb is the mass of the specimen balanced in water.
having fineness modulus of 2.62 and used with the content of
780kg/m3. The contents of coarse aggregate and fine aggregate are
controlled for all concrete mixtures as mineral admixtures are
combined in in the mixtures. The FA type C is used to replace
cement of 10%, 20% and 30% by weight. The SF content used is
in range of 5%, 8% and 10% by cement weight. While the GBFS
content varies from 20% to 40%. Concrete mixture design follows
ACI 211 (Standard practice for selecting proportions for normal
concrete). Water-binder ratio, w/b, is as 0.37. The mixture
proportions are shown in Table 3. With each mixture, cylinder
specimens, φ 100 x 200mm, were prepared for the evaluation of
the chloride penetration resistance in term of the capillary index.
The concretes were cast in steel moulds and covered with plastic
sheets after casting. The cylinder specimens were demoulded at
one day of age and after that cured in lime saturated up to 28 day
age for determination of the chloride diffusion coefficient and the
charge passed. Mixing and casting were performed in the control
room with temperature of 22 ± 20C and relative humidity of Figure 1 The specimen used in the capillary index test
60 5%.
Put the dried specimen into a tank, pour water into the tank slowly
Table 1 The composition of OPC up to the controlling level. The initial time t0 is named as the water
raise to the controlling level. The test lasts 6 hours with various
Chemical compositions (% by mass)
SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO SO3 Na2O K2O Ignition interval as shown in Table 4. At every interval, take out the
loss specimen from the water tank, wipe the specimen by the wet clout,
right after, balance the specimen, immerse again specimen in the respectively. The results of the capillary indexes shown in Table 5,
tank (as shown in Figure 2 and 3). If the water level is lower than 6 and 7 are calculated from the slopes of the charts of the
the controlling level, pour slowly the water into the tank to relationship between the absorbed water by the concrete volume,
maintain the water level of the tank. This process goes on θ and the square root of the testing time in second, sec as shown
repetitively up to finishing the test. in Figure 4, 5 and 6.
Table 5 The capillary index, Ic, of concrete using GBSF
Series Ic (10-4 vol/vol sec1/2)
M.0 7.3
SL.20 2.4
SL.30 2.6
SL.40 4.1

Absorbed water (vol/vol)

M.0
Figure 2 Pour water into the tank up to the controlling level

(M.0)

Time, sec ond

Figure 4 The relationship between the absorbed water of the
concrete using GBSF

Table 6 The capillary index, Ic, of concrete using SF

Figure 3 Wipe the specimen by the wet clout at an interval test
Series Ic (10-4 vol/vol sec1/2)
Table 4 Mixture proportions used in research M.0 7.3
Time mark Time (minute) mass (g) SF.5 4.3
T0 0 m0 SF.8 3.8
T1 15 m1 SF.10 3.2
T2 30 m2
T3 60 m3
T4 90 m4
T5 120 m5
T6 150 m6
T7 180 m7
Absorbed water (vol/vol)

T8 240 m8
T9 300 m9
T10 360 m10 M.0

The capillary index, Ic, is defined as the slope of the chart of the
relationship between the absorbed water by the concrete volume, (M.0)

θ and the square root of the testing time in second, sec . This
implies that the capillary index is higher as the slope of the chart is
increases.
4. THE CAPILLARY INDEX OF THE CONCRETE
USING VARIOUS MINERAL ADMIXTURES
The capillary index of the concrete is determined following the
30:180 Durability Test. The GBFS is used to replace the OPC Time, sec ond
with the contents which vary from 20% to 40%. The SF is used to Figure 5 The relationship between the absorbed water of the
replace the OPC with the contents which vary as 5%, 8% and concrete using SF
10%. While the FA content varies as 10%, 20% and 30% to
replace the OPC by weight. The capillary indexes of the concretes
using GBFS, SF and FA are shown in Table 5, 6 and 7
 Table 7 The capillary index, Ic, of concrete using FA Unlike pozzolanic materials, which hydrate only in the presence of
-4 1/2 lime, GBFS has hydraulic characteristics and thus might be used
Series Ic (10 vol/vol sec ) as a hydraulic binder. The rate of hydration of this process is,
M.0 7.3 however, too slow for practical purposes. This material shows
FA.10 5.1 good hardening properties when mixed with Portland cement,
FA.20 4.5 because the hydration of Portland cement creates an alkaline
FA.30 3.7 environment that activates the reaction of GBFS. Nevertheless,
even when activated by Portland cement, the hydration of GBFS is
slower than that of Portland cement. For achieving a high early
strength, the slag content should be relatively low (35–50 %). The
hydration of GBFS, however, refines the pore structure of the
Absorbed water (vol/vol)

cement paste; in order to achieve an optimal densification of the

M.0 cement paste the GBFS content should be higher than 65 %,
however, this may reduce the strength development of concretes
[2, 9].

(M.0) With GBFS, it is obviously different from SF or FA. GBFS not

only has had the reactive silica compound, but also has had
reactive alumina oxide. As mentioned above, the hydration of the
concrete containing GBFS consists of the hydration process which
is activated by Ca(OH)2, moreover, it has another hydration
process activated by CaSO4.2H2O.
Hydration process activated by Ca(OH)2:
CaO.SiO2+ Ca(OH)2 + H2O → 2CaO.SiO2.2H2O
Time, sec ond
CaO.MgO.SiO2 + Ca(OH)2 + 2H2O → 2CaO.SiO2.2H2O +
Figure 6 The relationship between the absorbed water of the
concrete using FA Mg(OH)2

The results shown in the Figure 4, 5 and 6 propose that the

CaO.Al2O3+ 2Ca(OH)2 + 4H2O → 3CaO.Al2O3.6H2O
increasing of the mineral admixture content such as GBFS, SF and 12CaO.7Al2O3 + 9Ca(OH)2 + 33H2O → 7(3CaO.Al2O3.6H2O)
FA reduces the slope of the chart of the relationship between the
absorbed water, as a result, the capillary index of the concrete CaO.Al2O3.SiO2 + 3Ca(OH)2 +4H2O → 2CaO.SiO2.2H2O
decreases. In general, the reducing tendency of the concretes using +2 Al(OH)3
SF and FA is similar that the capillary index is gradually
decreased as the FA content increased from 10% to 30%, also, the o Hydration process activated by CaSO4:
capillary index of the concrete is reduced significantly from CaO.Al2O3 + 2Ca(OH)2 + CaSO4.2H2O +
7.3*10-4 vol/vol sec1/2 to 3.2*10-4 vol/vol sec1/2 with increasing the
SF content up to 10%. This implies that the behavior of SF and FA 8H2O → 3CaO.Al2O3.CaSO4.12H2O
is very similar. SF and FA are considered as mineral admixtures 12CaO.7Al2O3 + 9Ca(OH)2 + 21CaSO4.2H2O + 173H2O →
whose mechanisms are supported by reactive silica oxide SiO2.
The puzzolanic characteristic in term of SiO2 of SF and FA reacts 7(3CaO.Al2O3.3CaSO4.32H2O)
with Ca(OH)2 existing in hardened paste to form C-S-H (as shown
In the capillary index test, at first, the outer surfaces of the
in Equation 5), as a result, the structure of the concrete becomes
specimens are saturated by water. Then, the water diffuses into the
denser as the pore system of the concrete are interlocked by C-S-
deeper region of the specimen due to the humidity gradient.
H, so that the mass transport of liquid into concrete is slow down,
During the water transport, some water is bound by hydrates,
in other hand, the capillary index of the concrete is reduced with
especially by C-S-H, of the concrete as illustrated in Figure 7
increasing the SF and FA content.
bellow:
Puzzolana (SF, FA) + water + Ca(OH)2 → C-S-H (5)
The SF is much more effective in reducing capillary index as
compared to the FA. This is obviously due to the difference in the
reactive silica oxide SiO2 and the particle size. The SF has higher
reactive capacity as well as finer particle size so that using SF with
5% can be more effective than using 10%FA. Each of puzzolana
as SF and FA has an effective content which is recommended to
use for replacing OPC, when an excess of the puzzolana used, it
will not react and behave as an inert addition ti fill the pores
including macropores, capillary pores and gel pores. As a result,
the excess puzzolana also help to reduce the capillary index of the Figure 7 Water adsorbed on the surface of the hydrate [2]
concrete.
Concerning about the capillary index of the concrete using GBFS, With regard to the capillary pores, water is first adsorbed on their
the capillary index reduces significantly as using 20% and 30% surface and then, as the relative humidity increases, water
GBFS to replace OPC. However, the capillary index starts condensates and fills up the pores, starting with the smallest and
increasing again as we use 40% GBFS replacing OPC. Results moving to those of larger dimensions. Basically, the capillary
shown in Table 5 express that GBFS is even more effective than pores can be graphically represented by spherical cavities
SF and FA in reducing the capillary index of the concrete. It connected by narrow capillary cylinders (as shown in Figure 8)
implies that GBFS is useful to increase the durability of concrete whose dimensions are considered to be statistically distributed
in term of decreasing the chloride penetration by the reduce of the (only accessible pores are represented, pores connected with each
capillary index. other and with the external environment). According to this
diagram, inside concrete that is exposed to the atmosphere of a
certain relative humidity, pores whose diameters are below a given
value turn out to be filled with water, while those with diameters
above this value are filled with air. The presence of water-filled
pores that are interconnected with each other has a marked
influence on the kinetics of transport processes. It hinders those
processes that take place easily in the gaseous phase, such as
oxygen and carbon dioxide diffusion [2]. On the other hand, it
facilitates those processes that occur in aqueous solution, like the
diffusion of chlorides, or ions in general.
[8] Tatsuhiko Saeki, Kenji Sasaki and Kenta Shinada, Estimation
of Chloride diffusion coefficient of Concrete using Mineral
admixtures, Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology, 4, 3,
2006, 385 – 394;
[9] Mohamed, T.U. and Hamada, H. Relationship between free
chloride and total chloride contents in concrete. Cement and
Concrete Research, 33, 9, 2003) 1487 –1490.

Figure 8 Water presence in capillary pores of concrete [2]

5. CONCLUSION
This study investigates the capillary indexes of concretes using
various mineral admixtures. The results suggest the following
conclusions:
The capillary index of the concrete reduces significantly with
increasing the content of mineral admixtures replacing the
cement, especially, in case of 30%GBFS, 30%FA and 10%SF.
The behavior of SF and FA in term of the capillary index is
similar, whereas, the behavior of the GBFS is different that
using 40%GBFS makes the capillary index of the concrete
start increasing again.
Using GBFS reduces the capillary index more significantly as
compared to using SF or FA.
Together with chloride diffusion coefficient or charge passed,
we can use the capillary index to present the durability of the
concrete in term of chloride penetration resistance.

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[4] G.Robin Smmer. A Frame Work for Durable Concrete.
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[6] Nguyen Van Chanh, Tran Van Mien. Corrosion and Corrosion
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[7] Tran Van Mien. Model of Chloride penetration into Reinforced

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