STUDIES ON ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF PLAIN CONCRETE MADE WITH PORTLAND POZZOLANA CEMENT AND ORDINARY PORTLAND CEMENT

V.V. Arora*, Brijesh Singh*, S.K. Mehta*, Suresh Kumar*

*

National Council for Cement and Building Materials, India

Among the many factors that govern the durability and performance of concrete in service, type of cement receives greater attention. The use of fly ash concrete in construction is a solution to environmental degradation. The use of blended cements in concrete is one of the most significant materials available in India and worldwide for new construction. This paper is basically a part of study being carried by National Council for Cement and Building Materials on Durability Studies on Prestressed Concrete made with PPC and describes the effect of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) using two different grades of concrete on engineering properties of concrete such as compressive strength, flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, drying shrinkage, creep and chloride ion permeability required to meet the diverse requirements of strength and durability of concrete for plain, reinforced and prestressed concrete construction. This research is intended to expand the knowledge concerning the relative performance of a concrete mixes made with OPC and PPC with fly ash. Based on the test results obtained till now, the effect of cement type on two different grades of concrete i.e. M40 and M60 has been discussed. The results indicates that compressive strength of concrete made with PPC exhibits lower strength gain during initial stages as compared to concrete made with OPC for both M40 and M60 grade of concrete (Table 1). The flexural strength of both M40 and M60 grade of concrete are almost similar at 28 days in case of both OPC and PPC (Table 1) and further investigations are in progress. Table No. 1 Test Results of Compressive and Flexural strength of Concrete Sl. No. Grade Of Concrete Type Of Cement Compressive Strength (N/mm2) Days 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 M-60 M-40 OPC PPC-I PPC-II OPC PPC-I PPC-II 29.21 24.38 26.44 42.57 35.68 39.59 7 36.62 37.62 36.76 50.92 54.33 53.91 28 45.53 54.34 48.34 64.06 71.09 68.66 7 3.24 3.80 3.50 4.13 4.68 3.74 Flexural Strength (N/mm2) Days 28 4.27 5.58 5.01 5.32 5.39 5.34

The dynamic modulus of elasticity of concrete has been determined using Electrodynamic method as per IS: 516. Based on the results obtained for M60 grade of concrete, dynamic modulus of elasticity of concrete for both OPC and PPC cement are almost same at 28 days age (fig. 1).

Dynamic Modulus of Elasticity (N/mm2)

60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0

OPC

PPC-I PPC-II

Type of Cement
Fig. 1 Dynamic Modulus of Elasticity of M60 Grade Concrete using OPC and PPC The results of rapid ion chloride permeability test shows that pozzolanic material such as flyash in cement would significantly limit the ingress of chloride ions into the concrete thus increasing durability (Table 2). Table No. 2 Test Results of Rapid Ion Chloride Permeability of Concrete Sl. No. 1 2 3 Concrete Grade M-40 Type of Cement OPC PPC-I PPC-II Permeability Class as per ASTM C-1202 Moderate Very Low Very Low

The drying shrinkage test results shows that for M40 grade concrete there is little difference in drying shrinkage of PPC and OPC at the age of 28 days (Table 3) when tested in accordance with IS:1199. Table No. 3 Test Results of Drying Shrinkage of Concrete Sl. No. 1 2 3 Concrete Grade Type of Cement OPC PPC-I PPC-II Drying Shrinkage (%) 0.0216 0.0203 0.0194

M-40

The specimens for creep test under direct compression are prepared and tested as per ASTM C-512. The test results show that total creep and shrinkage strain increases rapidly with the age of loading upto 54 days after that they almost remains constant upto 150 days (Fig.2) and (Fig.3) irrespective of the type of cement. After comparing the test results of drying shrinkage determined by oven drying method as per IS: 1199 and shrinkage determined as per ASTM C-512, it can be seen that the total shrinkage obtained at age of 150 days on cylindrical specimens in controlled condition is more as compared to oven drying method.

Shrinkage (Microstrain)

500 400 300 200 100 0 0 1 OPC 7 54 PPC-I 90 150

Age (days) PPC=II

Fig.2 150 Days Shrinkage of Concrete in Laboratory Controlled Condition

Total Creep (Microstrain)
700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 0 1 7 28 54 90 150 Age of Concrete (Days)
OPC PPC-II

Fig.3 150 Days Total Creep of Concrete in Loaded Condition Conclusion: 1. The compressive strength of concrete made with PPC exhibits lower strength gain during initial stages as compared to concrete made with OPC. 2. The flexural strength and dynamic modulus of elasticity of concrete are almost similar at 28 days in case of both OPC and PPC. 3. The results of rapid ion chloride permeability test shows that blended cements would significantly limit the ingress of chloride ions into the concrete thus increasing durability. 4. The test results show that total creep and shrinkage strain increases rapidly with the age of loading upto 54 days after that they almost remains constant upto 150 days. Further investigations on creep in flexure, elastic modulus & flexural strength are in progress.