Specialty Concrete High End Value Materials

High-Value Concrete

High-Value
Concrete

All concrete is high value!

Cost of material (small)

Cost of placement (significant)

Cost of Replacement (HIGH)

High-Value Concrete

High-Value
Concrete

High value generally associated

with High-Performance

What is High-Performance?

High-Early Strength Concrete

High-Strength Concrete

High-Durability Concrete

Self-Consolidating Concrete

Reactive Powder Concrete

Characteristics of HighPerformance Concretes

High-Value
Concrete

High early strength

High strength

High modulus of elasticity

High abrasion resistance

High durability and long life in

severe environments

Low permeability and diffusion

Resistance to chemical attack

Characteristics of HighPerformance Concretes

High-Value
Concrete

High resistance to frost and

deicer scaling damage

Toughness and impact

resistance

Volume stability

Ease of placement

Compaction without
segregation

Inhibition of bacterial and

mold growth

Materials Used in HighPerformance Concrete

Material
Portland cement

Primary Contribution/Desired Property

Cementing material / Durability

Blended cement
Fly ash / Slag / Silica fume
Calcined clay/ Metakaolin

Calcined shale
Superplasticizers
High-range water reducers

Hydration control admix.

High-Value
Concrete

Cementing material /
Durability /
High strength
Flowability
Reduce water-cement ratio

Control setting

Materials Used in HighPerformance Concrete

Material
Retarders
Accelerators
Corrosion inhibitors
Water reducers

Primary contribution/Desired property

Control setting
Accelerate setting
Control steel corrosion
Reduce cement and water content

Shrinkage reducers
ASR inhibitors
Optimally graded aggr.

Reduce shrinkage
Control alkali-silica activity
Improve workability/reduce paste

Polymer/latex modifiers

Durability

High-Value
Concrete

Selected Properties of HighPerformance Concrete

Property

Test Method

Criteria that may be specified

High Strength

ASTM C 39

70-140 MPa @ 28 to 91 days

H-E Comp. Strength

ASTM C 39

20-30 MPa @ 3-12 hrs or 1-3 days

H-E Flex. Strength

ASTM C 78

2-4 MPa @ 3-12 hrs or 1-3 days

Abrasion Resistance

ASTM C 944

0-1 mm depth of wear

Low Permeability

ASTM C 1202

500 to 2000 coulombs

Chloride Penetration

AASHTO T
259/260

Less than 0.07% Cl at 6 months

Low Absorption

ASTM C 642

2% to 5%

High Mod.of Elast.

ASTM C 469

More than 40 GPa

High-Value
Concrete

High-Early-Strength
Concrete

High-early compressive strength

ASTM C 39 (AASHTO T 22)
20 to 28 MPa (3000 to 4000 psi)

at 3 to 12 hours or 1 to 3 days

High-Value
Concrete

High-early flexural strength

ASTM C 78 (AASHTO T 97)
2 to 4 MPa (300 to 600 psi)
at 3 to 12 hours or 1 to 3 days

High-Early-Strength
Concrete
May be achieved by

Type III or HE high-early-strength

cement

High cement content

400 to 600 kg/m3
(675 to 1000 lb/yd3)
Low water-cementing materials ratio
(0.20 to 0.45 by mass)
Higher freshly mixed concrete
temperature
Higher curing temperature

High-Value
Concrete

High-Early-Strength
Concrete
May be achieved by

High-Value
Concrete

Chemical admixtures

Silica fume (or other SCM)

Steam or autoclave curing

Insulation to retain heat of

hydration

Special rapid hardening cements

High-Strength Concrete

High-Value
Concrete

90% of ready-mix concrete

20 MPa - 40 MPa (3000
6000 psi) @ 28-d
(most 30 MPa 35 MPa)

High-strength concrete
by definition
28 day compr. strength
70 MPa (10,000 psi)

High-Strength Concrete Materials

Aggregates

High-Value
Concrete

9.5 - 12.5 mm (3/8 - 1/2 in.) nominal

maximum size gives optimum
strength

Combining single sizes for required

grading allows for closer control and
reduced variability in concrete

For 70 MPa and greater, the FM of

the sand should be 2.8 3.2. (lower
may give lower strengths and sticky
mixes)

High-Strength Concrete Materials

Supplementary Cementing Materials

High-Value
Concrete

Fly ash, silica fume, or slag often

mandatory

Dosage rate 5% to 20% or higher

by mass of cementing material.

High-Strength Concrete Materials

Admixtures

Use of water reducers, retarders,

HRWRs, or superplasticizers
mandatory in high-strength concrete

Air-entraining admixtures not necessary

or desirable in protected high-strength
concrete.

Air is mandatory, where durability in a

freeze-thaw environment is required (i.e..
bridges, piers, parking structures)

Recent studies:

High-Value
Concrete

w/cm 0.30air required

w/cm < 0.25no air needed

High-Strength Concrete
Placing, Consolidation, and Curing

High-Value
Concrete

Delays in delivery and placing

must be eliminated
Consolidation very important to
achieve strength
Slump generally 180 to 220 mm (7 to 9
in.)
Little if any bleedingfog or
evaporation retarders have to be
applied immediately after strike off to
minimize plastic shrinkage and crusting
7 days moist curing

High-Durability Concrete

High-Value
Concrete

1970s and 1980s focus on

High-Strength HPC
Today focus on concretes
with high durability in severe
environments resulting in
structures with long life
High-Durability HPC

High-Durability Concrete
Durability Issues That HPC Can Address

High-Value
Concrete

Abrasion Resistance

Blast Resistance

Permeability

Carbonation

Freeze-Thaw Resistance

Chemical Attack

Alkali-Silica Reactivity

Corrosion rates of rebar

High-Durability Concrete
Confederation Bridge, Northumberland Strait,
Prince Edward Island/New Brunswick, 1997

High-Value
Concrete

Cement:
Fly ash:
Silica fume:
w/c:
Water Red.:
HRWR:
Air:
91d strength:

398 kg/m3
45 kg/m3
32 kg/m3
0.30
1.7 L/m3
15.7 L/m3
5-8%
60 MPa

(671 lb/yd3)
(76 lb/yd3)
(72 lb/yd3)
(47 oz/yd3)
(83 oz/yd3)
(8700 psi)

Self-Consolidating Concrete
Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) also
known as self-compacting concrete
flows and consolidates on its own

developed in 1980s Japan

Increased amount of

High-Value
Concrete

Fine material
(i.e. fly ash or limestone filler)

HRWR/Superplasticizers

Strength and durability same as

conventional concrete

Self-Consolidating Concrete

High-Value
Concrete

SCC for Power Plant in

PennsylvaniaMix Proportions
Portland cement (Type I)

297 kg/m3

(500 lb/yd3)

Slag cement

128 kg/m3

(215 lb/yd3)

Coarse aggregate

675 kg/m3

(1,137 lb/yd3)

Fine aggregate

1,026 kg/m3 (1,729 lb/yd3)

Water

170 kg/m3

(286 lb/yd3)

Superplasticizer ASTM C 494, Type F

(Polycarboxylate-based) 1.3 L/m3

(35 oz/yd3)

AE admixture as needed for 6% 1.5% air content

High-Value
Concrete

Reactive-Powder Concrete (RPC)

Properties:
High strength 200 MPa
(can be produced to 810 MPa)
Very low porosity

Properties are achieved by:

Max. particle size 300 m
Optimized particle packing
Low water content
Steel fibers
Heat-treatment

High-Value
Concrete

Mechanical Properties of RPC

Property
Compressive
strength
Flexural strength
Tensile strength
Modulus of Elasticity
Fracture Toughness
Freeze-thaw
Carbonation
Abrasion
High-Value
Concrete

Unit

80 MPa

RPC

MPa (psi)

80 (11,600)

200 (29,000)

MPa (psi)
MPa (psi)

7 (1000)

40 (5800)
8 (1160)

GPa (psi) 40 (5.8 x 106) 60 (8.7 x 106)

103 J/m2
<1
30
RDF
90
100
mm
10-12 m2/s

2
275

0
1.2

Reactive Powder Concrete

High-Value
Concrete

uctal

Raw Material
Components

High-Value
Concrete

Cement
Sand
Silica quartz
Silica fume
Micro-Fibres - metallic or poly-vinyl acetate
Mineral fillers - Nano-fibres
Superplasticizer
Water

uctal

What is the typical Ductal mix ?

Cement

710 kg/m3
230 kg/m3
210 kg/m3

1020 kg/m3

Silica fume
Crushed
Quartz
Sand
Fibres

kg/m3

40 - 160
13 kg/m3
140 kg/m3

High-Value
Concrete

Superplasticizer
Total water

No aggregates !

uctal

What is the typical Ductal mix ?

Cement

28 - 30%

Silica fume

9 10%

Crushed
Quartz

8.5 9%

Sand

42 43%

Fibres
Superplasticizer

1.7 6.5%
0.6%
5.5 6%

High-Value
Concrete

Total water

w/c = 0.20

No aggregates !