ARTICLE IN PRESS

Building and Environment 42 (2007) 2083–2089

www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv

The effect of curing conditions on compressive strength of ultra high

strength concrete with high volume mineral admixtures
Halit Yazıcı
Department of Civil Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Dokuz Eylul University, Buca 35160, İzmir, Turkey
Received 30 November 2005; received in revised form 6 February 2006; accepted 31 March 2006

Abstract

In this study, pulverized fly ash (FA), pulverized granulated blast furnace slag (PS) and silica fume (SF) were quantitatively studied
with the incorporation of Portland cement (PC). PC was replaced with FA or PS at specified ratios. Basalt and quartz powder were used
as an aggregate in the mixtures. Three different curing methods (standard, autoclave and steam curing) were applied to the specimens.
Test results indicate that high strength concrete can be obtained with high volume mineral admixtures. Compressive strength of these
mixtures is over 170 MPa. It seems that these mixtures can also be used for reactive powder concrete (RPC) production with some
modifications.
r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Fly ash; Ground granulated blast furnace slag; Ultra high strength concrete; Autoclave

1. Introduction The 28-day strength on normal curing can be achieved in

Apart from their exceptional mechanical properties,
ultra high strength concrete (UHSC) have an ultra-dense
microstructure, giving advantageous waterproofing and
durability characteristics [1]. UHSC is generally character-
ized by its high silica fume content and very low water
cement ratio. Aggregate grading and heat treatment should
be optimized to obtain superior mechanical and durability
properties. Nowadays, UHSC seems to be a promising
material for special prestressed and precast concrete
members. These materials can therefore be used for
industrial and nuclear waste storage facilities [2].
The silica fume used in this technology has three main
functions; filling the voids between the next larger class
particles (cement), enhancement of rheological character-
istics by the lubrication effect resulting from the perfect
sphericity of the basic particles, production of secondary
hydrates by pozzolanic reaction with the lime resulting
from primary hydration [2–5].
Tel.: +90 232 4127044; fax: +90 232 4127253.
E-mail address: halit.yazici@deu.edu.tr.
about 24 h with autoclave curing [6]. Furthermore,
previous studies showed that; the incorporation of fine
silica is also essential in order to achieve high mechanical
properties. Without fine silica the rapid formation of
different hydration products under autoclave curing,
results in a porous and weak microstructure that leads to
lower compressive strength values [7,8]. Furthermore, the
drying shrinkage of autoclaved concrete is only about one-
third of that of concrete cured under ambient conditions.
Creep of concrete similarly reduced. Since no calcium
sulfoaluminate hydrates are present in the matrix, resis-
tance to sulfate attack is markedly improved. The absence
of free lime must also play a role and is the reason that little
efflorescence occurs in autoclaved products. Nevertheless,
there are few disadvantages to autoclaved products such as
the high capital cost of the plant. The bond strength
between the concrete and the reinforcement is usually much
lower (by about 50%), and the material tends to be more
brittle than ordinary concrete [9].
Not only the good workability in fresh state and proper
mechanical and durability characteristics, but also envir-
onmental friendliness and economic benefits must be
possessed by cement-based materials. A cement rich mortar

0360-1323/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2006.03.013
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
2084 H. Yazıcı / Building and Environment 42 (2007) 2083–2089

is the binder in UHSC. The usage of very high amounts of procured from Soma power plant, Antalya ferrochrome
cement not only affects the production costs, but also has plant, İskenderun Iron-Steel plant, respectively, are pre-
negative effects on the heat of hydration and may cause sented in Table 1.
shrinkage problems. Due to their pozzolanic nature, FA The water powder ratio of all mixtures was 0.13.
and PS are beneficial mineral admixtures for concrete. Superplasticizer was used at a constant ratio of 4% by
Replacing cement with mineral admixtures seems to be a weight of powder components (cement, silica fume, fly ash,
feasible solution to these problems. Furthermore, incor- slag, quartz) for all mixtures. Mixture design is given in
poration of mineral admixtures may positively affect the Table 2. In Table 2, according to the FA or PS content, FA
durability of concrete. incorporated mixtures are abbreviated with FA20, FA40,
Talebinejad et al. [10] were investigated the mechanical FA60 and FA80 while PS mixtures were abbreviated with
properties of reactive powder concrete (RPC). Binder PS20, PS40, PS60 and PS80. Moreover, CTRL shows
phase of it consist of cement and SF. Compressive strength control mixture that contain only cement and SF as a
of 230 MPa was achieved following with the different binder.
curing methods (20 1C water+90 1C water). However, Cube specimens (50 mm) were used to determine the
cement content of this mixture was as high as 1900 kg/ compressive strength of the mixtures. The mixtures were
m3. Furthermore, when the w/c ratio decreased to 0.11 and mixed in a Hobart mixer and compacted by hand
specimens dried in the oven at 200 1C compressive strength operations. Because of high binder volume, very low
of 330 MPa can be reached. Korpa and Trettin [11] water/binder ratio and high SF content, mixtures cannot
investigated the use of synthetic colloidal silica dispersions be compacted by vibration. Thus, the flow table test is not
for making HPC and UHPC. Test results indicate that indicative of difference between the consistencies of the
colloidal silica dispersions combined with FA is very mixtures. Eighteen specimens from each mixture were
promising for HPC or UHPC applications compared to the prepared. The specimens were kept in the moulds for 12 h
SF. Ma et al. [12] used crushed basalt in the production of at room temperature of 20 1C. After demolding, one group
ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) with the particle of the specimens was exposed to steam curing at 90 1C for 6
size from 2 to 5 mm showed similar mechanical perfor-
mance compared to the RPC in which the maximum size of Table 1
aggregate smaller than 1 mm. Rougeau and Borys [13] Physical, chemical and mechanical properties of cement, silica fume, fly
showed that UHPC could be obtained with ultra fine ash and slag
particles other than SF such as fly ash, limestone microfiller Chemical composition (%)
or metakaolin. Jooss and Reinhardt [14] showed that
permeability and diffusion coefficient of HPC and RPC are Cement Fly ash Silica Slag
much lower than conventional waterproof concrete ac- (FA) fume (PS)
(SF)
cording to DIN 1045. Moreover, these coefficients are
much lower in RPC than HPC. There are considerable SiO2 19.3 42.1 92.26 35.71
amount of studies about compositions, mechanical and Al2O3 5.57 19.4 0.89 14.52
durability characteristics of UHPC and ultra-high perfor- Fe2O3 3.46 4.6 1.97 0.80
CaO 63.56 27.0 0.49 32.13
mance reinforced concrete [15–25].
MgO 0.86 1.8 0.96 9.39
In this study, the effect of curing conditions and high Na2O 0.13 – 0.42 –
volume mineral admixtures (class C FA and PS) on the K2O 0.76 1.1 1.31 –
mechanical properties of UHSC mixtures was investigated. SO3 2.91 2.4 0.33 –
Cement was replaced with FA and PS at different Cl 0.013 – 0.09 –
L.I. 3.56 1.3 – –
proportions. SF and quartz powder were used at constant
I.R. 0.42 – – –
proportions in all mixtures. Curing conditions were; F.CaO (%) 1.22 4.3 – –
standard cure in water, steam curing in atmosphere
Physical properties of cement
pressure (90 1C) and high-pressure (2 MPa) steam curing
Specific gravity 3.13
(210 1C). Test results were presented comparatively with Initial setting time (min) 119
the control mix, which has only cement and SF as a binder. Final setting time (min) 210
Volume expansion (mm) 1.00
2. Experimental Specific surface
Cement (m2/kg) Blaine 352
Basalt and quartz were used as an aggregate with Dmax ¼ FA (m2/kg) Blaine 290
4 mm and Dmax ¼ 0:100 mm, respectively. A superplastici- SF (m2/kg) Nitrogen Ab. 20 000
PS (m2/kg) Blaine 485
zer of sulfonated naphthalene formaldehyde based was
used. Superplasticizer is in conformity with ASTM C 494- Compressive strength of cement (MPa)
81, type F and TS EN 934-2. The physical, chemical and 2 days 27.2
7 days 42.4
mechanical properties of Portland cement (PC 42,5) and
28 days 52.7
properties of class C fly ash (FA), silica fume and slag,
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H. Yazıcı / Building and Environment 42 (2007) 2083–2089 2085

Table 2
Composition of different mixtures

Material CTRL FA20 FA40 FA60 FA80 PS20 PS40 PS60 PS80

Cement (kg/m3) 850 680 510 340 170 680 510 340 170
SF (kg/m3) 260 260 260 260 260 260 260 260 260
FA (kg/m3) – 170 340 510 680 – – – –
PS (kg/m3) – – – – – 170 340 510 680
Basalt (kg/m3) 850 787 724 661 598 838 826 814 802
Quartz (kg/m3) 212 212 212 212 212 212 212 212 212
Water (kg/m3) 170 170 170 170 170 170 170 170 170
Water/cement 0.2 0.25 0.33 0.5 0.65 0.25 0.33 0.5 0.65
Water/powder 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13
SP (L/m3) 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45

and 12 days. Heating rate of steam cure treatment was 200

Compressive Strength, MPa

8h
`16 h
11 1C/h. Another group of specimens were autoclaved at 180 24 h
`standard
210 1C and 2.0 MPa for 8, 16, and 24 h. Maximum 160
temperature and maximum pressure were reached in
140
1.5 h. The remaining specimens were cured in standard
conditions (water curing at 20 1C) for 28 days. 120
After completion of their curing periods, the specimens, 100
which were subjected to heat treatment, were kept in 80
laboratory atmosphere for cooling, and then tested in a 60
compression test machine. The compressive strength of 0 20 40 60 80
each mixture was determined with three specimens. FA, %
Standard deviation of all series is between 2 and 4 MPa. Fig. 1. The effect of fly ash content and autoclave period on compressive
strength.
3. Results and discussion

Test results were presented in the following paragraphs.
3.1. Influence of the effect of fly ash and slag content on
compressive strength of autoclaved specimens
The variation of compressive strength of high-pressure
steam cured and standard cured specimens are presented in
Fig. 1. It may be concluded from the Fig. 1 that; increasing
FA content up to 40% cement replacement causes an
increase in compressive strength values. More than 40% of
FA content causes a reduction in compressive strength
sharply. Furthermore, at all FA replacement levels,
compressive strength of high-pressure steam cured
(2 MPa, 210 1C) specimens is more than the water-cured
specimens. After 8 h of high-pressure steam curing,
compressive strength of control mixture is 170 MPa, while
compressive strengths of FA20 and FA40 mixtures are
171.4 and 171 MPa, respectively. In other words, at 40%
FA replacement level UHSC with cement content of
510 kg/m3 can be obtained.
It can be seen from the Fig. 1, the duration of high-
pressure steam curing and preheating period also affects
the compressive strength. Beyond 8 h of curing reduction in
compressive strength was observed. This finding is also in
accordance with literature. Some studies showed that at
each temperature there is an optimum period of curing that
leads to maximum compressive strength [6,8,9]. Under the
conditions of high temperature and pressure, the chemistry
of hydration is substantially altered. CSH forms but is
converted to a crystalline product a-calcium silicate
hydrate (a-C2S) which cause an increase in porosity and
reduction in strength. However, in the presence of silica a-
C2S converts to tobermorite (C5S6H5) on continued
heating thus high strength can be obtained. On the other
hand, prolonged autoclaving may cause the formation of
other crystalline calcium silicate hydrates with a strength
reduction. It is believed that the complete conversion to
tobermorite is not desirable and that there is an optimum
ratio of amorphous to crystalline material for maximum
strength [9,26,27]. Note that in this study, specimens were
subjected to high-pressure steam curing approximately 12 h
after mixing, for 8 h high-pressure steam curing. On the
other hand, preheating period is 24 h for 16 and 24 h curing
period. Specimens disintegrated after 8 h of high-pressure
steam curing at 80% FA replacement level. This can be
explained with negative effect of high volume class C FA
on volume stability and early strength gain. However, this
situation was not observed for 16 and 24 h high-pressure
steam cured specimens, which have 24 h preheating period.
The compressive strength vs PS content and autoclaving
period relation and control specimens are shown in Fig. 2.
It can be seen from the Fig. 2 that, increasing PS content
up to 60% cement replacement caused increase in
compressive strength values. This trend is independent
from the curing condition. However, 80% PS replacement
causes reduction in compressive strength sharply. After 8 h
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2086 H. Yazıcı / Building and Environment 42 (2007) 2083–2089

200 8h 200

Compressive Strength, MPa

Compressive Strength, MPa

`16 h 6 days
180 24 h 180 `12 days
`standard `standard

160 160

140 140

120 120

100 100

80 80

60 60
0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80
PS, % FA, %

Fig. 2. The influence of blast furnace slag content and autoclave period on Fig. 3. The effect of fly ash content and steam curing period on
compressive strength. compressive strength.

of high-pressure steam curing, compressive strength of

200
control mix is 170 MPa, while compressive strengths of

Compressive Strength, Mpa

6 days
`12 days
PS20, PS40 and PS60 mixtures are 178.7, 185 and 180
`standard

168.9 MPa, respectively. In this case UHSC could also be 160

achieved with high volume PS60 binder phase. Cement
140
content of this mixture is only 340 kg/m3. Furthermore,
even 80% replacement level with 16 h autoclave curing 120
UHSC can also be obtained. Compressive strength of this 100
mixture is over 140 MPa. Furthermore, at all PS replace- 80
ment levels, compressive strength of high-pressure steam
cured specimens is more than water cured specimens. 60
0 20 40 60 80
Subjecting the high-pressure steam curing beyond the 8 h PS, %
generally caused a reduction in compressive strength.
Moreover, from the point of compressive strength, Fig. 4. The influence of blast furnace slag content and steam curing period
difference between autoclave and water curing increases on compressive strength.
with increasing PS replacement.

problems of class C FA. The compressive strength of 6

3.2. Influence of fly ash and slag content on compressive
strength of steam cured specimens
Apart from the autoclaving, the characteristics of low-
pressure steam cured concretes do not differ markedly
from those of concretes cured under ambient conditions.
The hydration of the cement compounds proceeds more
rapidly but the hydration reactions are basically the same.
CSH remains an amorphous material, although its
compositions changes with temperatures. However, this
higher rate of hydration will lead to a lower ultimate
strength. The reactions of pozzolans are also accelerated by
the higher curing temperatures [6,9].
Fig. 3 shows the influence of FA content on compressive
strength of steam cured (90 1C) and standard cured
specimens. It can be seen from the figure that, the
increasing amount of FA content up to 60% replacement
level, generally caused an increase in compressive strength
at all curing conditions. After 12 days of steam curing,
compressive strength of control specimens, FA20, FA40
and FA60 mixtures are 154, 152, 159 and 155 MPa,
respectively. Furthermore, using 80% FA as a cement
replacement, caused disintegration during steam curing
period. This can be explained with volume stability
days and 12 days steam cured specimens are more than that
of standard cured specimens in water during 28 days at all
FA replacement levels. UHSC can also be obtained with
60% FA replacement with 12 days steam curing. Class C
FA, which has high lime content, used with SF and
generally mechanical properties were improved by FA
replacement under steam curing possibly due to the
hydration reactions between extra lime released from FA
and SF.
Fig. 4 shows the influence of PS content on compressive
strength of steam cured (90 1C) and standard cured
mortars. It can be seen from the figure that, with the
increasing amount of PS content up to 60% replacement
level, generally an increase in compressive strength is
observed at all curing conditions. After 12 days of steam
curing, compressive strength of control specimens, PS20,
PS40 and PS60 mixtures are 154, 150, 156 and 145 MPa,
respectively. Although, using 80% PS as a cement
replacement caused large reduction in compressive strength
for standard curing, this mixture showed 134 MPa com-
pressive strength after 12 days steam curing. The compres-
sive strength of 6 days and 12 days steam cured specimens
are more than that of specimens standard cured in water
during 28 days at all PS replacement levels.

H. Yazıcı / Building and Environment 42 (2007) 2083–2089
It is known that when only FA or PS are used the
composition of CSH is not very different from that formed
in regular hydration, although generally C/S ratio is
slightly lower. However with very reactive form of silica
such as silica fume the C/S ratio is different. This indicates
that a secondary pozzolanic reaction with CSH occurring
(CSH3.5) [9]. Steam curing at 65–85 1C for a few hours (for
example 3–12 h) normally causes ultimate strength reduc-
tion due to rapid reactions compared to the standard
curing in water at 20 1C. In this study, the compressive
strength of all steam cured specimens are more than that of
standard cured specimens in water during 28 days. This can
be explained by prolonged steam curing at 90 1C, which
possibly caused the extended pozzolanic reactions. There-
fore, at elevated temperatures less reactive form of silica in
SF, FA or PS shows pozzolanic reaction that is normally
remains unreacted inert filler under standard curing.
Moreover, SF caused secondary pozzolanic reaction which
also increased the compressive strength of all mixtures.
Note that control mixture also showed similar behavior
compared to the FA or PS mixtures. This can be attributed
to the significant amount of SF in the control mixture.
These findings are also accordance with previous studies
[28,29]. Toutanji and Bayasi [28] showed that compressive
strength of SF incorporated steam cured concrete (80 1C, 3
days) is much more than moist cured (23 1C, 100%
humidity) SF concrete. Liu et al. [30] indicated that the
steam curing adaptability of FA concrete without SF is
poor. On the other hand FA and PS combinations
improved the adaptability to steam curing. Ho et al. also
point out that best results obtained from SF concrete under
steam curing (55 1C, 8 h) compared to the PS or FA
concretes [31].
3.3. Influence of different curing conditions on compressive
strength
Depending on the FA content, the compressive strength
of steam cured (12 days 90 1C) specimens relative to the
high-pressure steam cured specimens (8 h, 2 MPa, 210 1C) is
shown in Fig. 5. It can be seen from the figure that,
depending on the FA content, strength after steam curing
140
FA PS 126
120
(steam /autoclave), %
100 93
Relative Strength
91 91 89
84 84
80
60
40
20
0 standard water curing. With autoclave or steam curing
0 20 40 60
Mineral Admixture, %
Fig. 5. Comparison of compressive strength of steam cured specimens and
autoclaved specimens.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
2087
180 FA; steam /standard
FA; autoclave /standard
PS; steam /standard
PS; autoclave /standard
160
Relative Strength, %
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 20 40 60 80
Mineral Admixture, %
Fig. 6. The effectiveness of steam and autoclave curing.
are between 89% and 126% of strength after autoclaving.
In other words, generally strength level after autoclaving
cannot be reached with 12 days steam curing. This finding
is also valid for PS replacement. However, in steam curing,
60% FA replacement and 80% PS replacement enabled
greater compressive strength than the high-pressure steam
curing. Note that, as mentioned previously 8 h autoclaved
FA80 and steam cured FA80 mixtures disintegrated
possibly due to the expansion of free lime. This problem
partially solved by the extended preheating period for 16
and 24 h autoclaving. However, micro-cracks due to
expansion may caused higher compressive strength reduc-
tion in autoclave curing than steam curing for FA60
mixture.
Fig. 6 shows the effectiveness of steam curing and high-
pressure steam curing with respect to the standard curing.
It can be concluded from the figure; compressive strength
at all mixtures after high-pressure steam curing (8 h) is
greater than the strength of water cured specimens.
Furthermore, the effectiveness of autoclaving increases
with increasing PS content, while this situation is not valid
for increasing FA replacement. Similar trend is also
observed with steam curing. In other words, 12 days of
steam curing improved the compressive strength of all
mixtures with respect to the standard curing. Moreover,
while the effectiveness of steam curing is almost indepen-
dent of the FA content, with increasing PS content
effectiveness increases. These findings can be explained by
the superior inter-reactions of the ingredients (FA, PS, SF
and cement). It is clear that autoclave and steam curing
provides perfect conditions for complete and accelerated
hydration media for hydration process especially with
108
combined mineral admixtures.
86
4. Conclusions
Test results indicate that production of high strength
concrete with high volume FA or PS is possible under
80 mechanical properties can be improved and ultra high
strength high volume FA or PS concrete can be obtained.
Furthermore, it seems that same mixtures can be used as
RPC. However, to exceed the 200 MPa limit that is the
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
2088 H. Yazıcı / Building and Environment 42 (2007) 2083–2089
stated as the lower limit for RPC some modifications is a
necessity. For this purpose, multi-curing process can be
applied or specimens may be subjected to the pressure in
the molds during setting period.
Both steam curing and high-pressure steam curing
improved the compressive strength of all specimens
compared to standard curing. These increments are
between 25–63% for steam curing process and 9–61% for
autoclaving. This can be attributed to the improvement of
hydration process under steam curing and high-pressure
steam curing.
When cement was replaced with FA up to 40% this
change in the mixture composition positively affected the
compressive strength of specimens under autoclave curing.
FA60 mixture also showed considerable compressive
strength after 12 days steam curing. Moreover, cement
replacement with PS up to 60% positively affected the
compressive strength of specimens for both steam and
autoclave curing. Although there is some reduction in
compressive strength, PS80 mixture also showed good
performance both steam and autoclave curing. In other
words, UHSC can be produced with very low cement
content with high volume FA or PS replacement. Such as
cement content of FA40 and PS60 mixtures are 510 and
340 kg/m3, respectively, while cement dosage of conven-
tional UHSC or RPC generally over 800–1000 kg/m3.
Therefore, these mixtures have important environmental
and economical benefits.
Strength level after autoclaving generally cannot be
reached even with 12 days steam curing for both PS and
FA replacement. This can be explained by the different
hydration mechanisms due to these curing methods. While
steam curing increases reactivity of ingredients, autoclaving
leads to development of different phases and incorporation
of fine silica is essential in order to achieve high mechanical
properties.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank to Mr. Hüseyin
YİĞİTER (MSc, in C.E.), Mr. Serdar AYDIN (MSc, in
C.E.) for their assistance in experiments and to Prof. Dr.
Bülent BARADAN for his guidance in preparation of this
paper.
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