Specialty Concrete -

High End Value Materials

 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
High-Value
Concrete
 Characteristics of High-
Performance Concretes
 High early strength
 High strength
 High modulus of elasticity
 High abrasion resistance
 High durability and long life in
severe environments
 Low permeability and diffusion
High-Value  Resistance to chemical attack
Concrete
 Characteristics of High-
Performance Concretes
 High resistance to frost and
deicer scaling damage
 Toughness and impact
resistance
 Volume stability
 Ease of placement
 Compaction without
segregation
 Inhibition of bacterial and
High-Value mold growth
Concrete
 Materials Used in High-
Performance Concrete
Material Primary Contribution/Desired Property
Portland cement Cementing material / Durability
Blended cement
Cementing material /
Fly ash / Slag / Silica fume
Durability /
Calcined clay/ Metakaolin
High strength
Calcined shale
Superplasticizers Flowability
High-range water reducers Reduce water-cement ratio
Hydration control admix. Control setting
High-Value
Concrete
 Materials Used in High-
Performance Concrete
Material Primary contribution/Desired property
Retarders Control setting
Accelerators Accelerate setting
Corrosion inhibitors Control steel corrosion
Water reducers Reduce cement and water content
Shrinkage reducers Reduce shrinkage
ASR inhibitors Control alkali-silica activity
Optimally graded aggr. Improve workability/reduce paste
Polymer/latex modifiers Durability

High-Value
Concrete
 Selected Properties of High-
Performance 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
AASHTO T
Chloride Penetration Less than 0.07% Cl at 6 months
259/260
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-early flexural strength

ASTM C 78 (AASHTO T 97)
2 to 4 MPa (300 to 600 psi)
High-Value at 3 to 12 hours or 1 to 3 days
Concrete
 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
High-Value  Higher curing temperature
Concrete
 High-Early-Strength
Concrete
May be achieved by —

 Chemical admixtures
 Silica fume (or other SCM)
 Steam or autoclave curing
 Insulation to retain heat of
hydration
 Special rapid hardening cements

High-Value
Concrete
 High-Strength 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-Value
Concrete
 High-Strength Concrete Materials
Aggregates —
 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
High-Value mixes)
Concrete
 High-Strength Concrete Materials

Supplementary Cementing Materials —

 Fly ash, silica fume, or slag often

mandatory
 Dosage rate 5% to 20% or higher
by mass of cementing material.

High-Value
Concrete
 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:
 w/cm ≥ 0.30—air required
High-Value  w/cm < 0.25—no air needed
Concrete
 High-Strength Concrete
Placing, Consolidation, and Curing
 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 bleeding—fog or
evaporation retarders have to be
applied immediately after strike off to
minimize plastic shrinkage and crusting
High-Value  7 days moist curing
Concrete
 High-Durability 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-Value
Concrete
 High-Durability Concrete
Durability Issues That HPC Can Address
 Abrasion Resistance
 Blast Resistance
 Permeability
 Carbonation
 Freeze-Thaw Resistance
 Chemical Attack
 Alkali-Silica Reactivity
 Corrosion rates of rebar
High-Value
Concrete
 High-Durability Concrete
Confederation Bridge, Northumberland Strait,
Prince Edward Island/New Brunswick, 1997

 Cement: 398 kg/m3 (671 lb/yd3)

 Fly ash: 45 kg/m3 (76 lb/yd3)
 Silica fume: 32 kg/m3 (72 lb/yd3)
 w/c: 0.30
 Water Red.: 1.7 L/m3 (47 oz/yd3)
 HRWR: 15.7 L/m3 (83 oz/yd3)
 Air: 5-8%
 91d strength: 60 MPa (8700 psi)
High-Value
Concrete
 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
 Fine material
(i.e. fly ash or limestone filler)
 HRWR/Superplasticizers
 Strength and durability same as
High-Value conventional concrete
Concrete
 Self-Consolidating Concrete

High-Value
Concrete
 SCC for Power Plant in
Pennsylvania—Mix 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 Unit 80 MPa RPC
Compressive
MPa (psi) 80 (11,600) 200 (29,000)
strength
Flexural strength MPa (psi) 7 (1000) 40 (5800)
Tensile strength MPa (psi) 8 (1160)
Modulus of Elasticity GPa (psi) 40 (5.8 x 106) 60 (8.7 x 106)
Fracture Toughness 103 J/m2 <1 30
Freeze-thaw RDF 90 100
Carbonation mm 2 0
Abrasion 10-12 m2/s 275 1.2
High-Value
Concrete
 Reactive Powder Concrete

High-Value
Concrete
 
uctal

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

High-Value
Concrete
 
uctal
What is the typical Ductal® mix ?
Cement
710 kg/m3 Silica fume

230 kg/m3
Crushed
210 kg/m3 Quartz

Sand
1020 kg/m3
Fibres
Superplasticizer
40 - 160 kg/m3
13 kg/m3 Total water
140 kg/m3

High-Value
No aggregates !
Concrete
 
uctal
What is the typical Ductal® mix ?
Cement
28 - 30% Silica fume

9 – 10%
Crushed
8.5 – 9% Quartz

Sand
42 –43%
Fibres
Superplasticizer
1.7 – 6.5%
0.6% Total water
5.5 – 6%

High-Value
w/c = 0.20 No aggregates !
Concrete