ENERGY EFFICIENT APPROACH TO

COLD WEATHER CONCRETING

Guided By Athira H S
Radhika Nair N J S7 CE
Assistant Professor CE Roll no.20
LBSITW LBSITW
1
 Overview
• Introduction • Role of water in the
initial freezing point
• Performance • Performance Tests
Characteristics • Field Application
• Developing • Conclusion
Formulations
• Concrete Properties

2
 Introduction
• Conventional cold weather concreting procedures employ
artificial heating techniques to prevent freshly placed concrete
from freezing
• But the energy expense is high

• Cold Weather Admixture System (CWAS)--without the need

for artificial heating
• Combination of chemical admixtures

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 Introduction (Contd…)
 Freezing point of mix water

 Rate of cement hydration

 Early age strength gain

• Placed on an ice-free frozen substrate

• Use of unheated components

• Covered with a moisture barrier

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 Performance Characteristics
• Objectives
 Depress the freezing point of mix water
 Accelerate the early age strength gain at low temperature
 Reduce the overall quantity of water needed in the mixture
• Requirements
 Dosage rate of admixtures—within limit
 Workable, placement and finishing—within time
 Early age compressive strength at the time of curing
 Long term durability
• Based on these a laboratory investigation was initiated to
develop effective antifreeze concrete formulations

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 Developing Formulations
• Laboratory study was conducted to develop eight antifreeze
formulations
• Initial screening tests
• Tested for strength gain and freeze-thaw durability

Table 1: Material proportions

used in base concrete mix
(Source: Journal on “Energy
Efficient approach to Cold
Weather Concreting” by Lynette
A Barna , Peter M Seman and
Charles J Korhonen)

6
 Developing Formulations(Contd…)

Table 2: Chemical Admixture Types and Dosage Rates

(Source: Journal on “Energy Efficient approach to Cold Weather Concreting” by
Lynette A Barna , Peter M Seman and Charles J Korhonen)
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 Concrete Properties
• Slump
 Slump loss—during transport
 Addition of water—lowers the freeze protection level
 Does not stiffen at workability
 Three admixture dosing methods—transit(up to 35 min),adjust
and working(20-30 min)
 Measurements were taken at 15 min interval
 First approach at ready mix plant
 Second provides flexibility
 Last approach at jobsite

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Fig 1: Laboratory slump measurements with time for all candidate antifreeze mixtures
and control mixtures simulating concrete transport, adjustment and working time
(Source: Journal on “Energy Efficient approach to Cold Weather Concreting” by Lynette A
Barna , Peter M Seman and Charles J Korhonen)

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 Concrete Properties(Contd…)
• Air Content
• Freezing and thawing
• Target : 6% (±1.5%) in plastic state
• Measurements at 5 min and 55 min after end of mixing

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 Fig 2: Laboratory air content measurements over time of antifreeze mixtures
(Source: Journal on “Energy Efficient approach to Cold Weather Concreting” by Lynette
A Barna , Peter M Seman and Charles J Korhonen)

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 Role of water in the initial freezing point
• Sample is allowed to freeze by placing in a very cold
environment
• A cylindrical specimen (plastic state) was embedded with a
temperature sensor
• Specimens were placed in a -20°C environmental chamber
• Temperature sensor recorded the internal temperatures
• Total amount of water = Batch water + moisture from
aggregates + moisture from chemical admixtures
• Freezing point temp is calculated by reducing total amount of
mix water

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 Fig 3: Examples of initial freezing point curves for control and antifreeze concrete mixtures
(Source: Journal on “Energy Efficient approach to Cold Weather Concreting” by Lynette A Barna , Peter M Seman and Charles J Korhonen)

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 Performance Tests
• Strength Development at Low Temperature
• Strength gain is a function of rate of cement hydration
• As long as ice does not form in early age, normal concrete--
+10°C—strength comparable to +20°C @28 day curing period
• Compressive strength @ +5°C for 56 days > compressive
strength @ +20°C by 20%
• Strength of antifreeze concrete @-4°C >=strength of normal
concrete at +5°C
• Test—compression cylinders: 76 x 152 mm
• Cured at 25,+5&-4°C

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 Fig 4: Effect of curing temperatures on the strength gain of concrete specimens cured continuously at the respective temperature
(Source: Journal on “Energy Efficient approach to Cold Weather Concreting” by Lynette A Barna , Peter M Seman and Charles J Korhonen)

15
Fig 5:Results of compressive strength testing Fig 6: Results of compressive strength
of antifreeze concrete cylinders cured
at +5°C reported as a percentage of the
28 day control strength cured at 25°C
and compared with recommended
values cured at +4.4°C based on
ACI 306-R88
(Source: Journal on “Energy Efficient
approach to Cold Weather Concreting”
by Lynette A Barna , Peter M Seman
and Charles J Korhonen)
testing of antifreeze concrete cylinders
cured at -4°C reported as a percentage of
28 day recommended values cured at
+4.4°C based on ACI 306-R88
(Source: Journal on “Energy Efficient
approach to Cold Weather Concreting”
by Lynette A Barna , Peter M Seman
and Charles J Korhonen)
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 Performance Tests(Contd…)
• Freeze-Thaw Durability
• Test—3 prisms(75 x 75 x 304 mm)
• Air entrained
• Cured at 23°C in lime water bath for 28 days
• Control prisms were also made
• Before placing, specimens are rinsed with tap water
• Beams were removed after every 15-30 freeze-thaw cycles

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Fig 7: RDME for air entrained prisms
cast using mixtures A-I through A-IV
(Source: Journal on “Energy Efficient
approach to Cold Weather Concreting”
by Lynette A Barna , Peter M Seman
and Charles J Korhonen)
Fig 8: RDME beams made from mixtures
B-I through B-IV
(Source: Journal on “Energy Efficient
approach to Cold Weather Concreting”
by Lynette A Barna , Peter M Seman
and Charles J Korhonen)
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 Field Application

Bridge repair in
West Lebanon,
New Hampshire in
Dec 2002

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• East side—conventional  Antifreeze mixture—B-
approach IV
• West side—antifreeze
 Type I/II cement—392
approach
kg/m³
• Repair
 Cold water
 Steel reinforced curb(460
mm wide, 380 mm deep,  Cold aggregates
`
32m long)  Admixtures
 Two sloping abutments(380  Temp-10°C
mm wide,230 mm deep, 2 m  w/c ratio—0.37
long)  Air content-11.1%
 Anchor bolts are provided
 Initial slump=200 mm
 Bridge carried 5000
 Initial freezing point=-6.6°C
vehicles per day(approx.)

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Conventional Approach Antifreeze Approach
• Extra cost=$140/m³ • Extra cost=$110/m³
• 132 labor hours
• 3 hour to place 6 m³ of • 1 hour to place 6 m³ of
conventional concrete antifreeze concrete

On comparing the cost of antifreeze approach

was 30% less

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 Conclusion
• Initial screening tests showed that antifreeze concrete mixtures
are :
 Workable, entraining air and meeting the design freezing point
• Performance tests showed that :
 Strength gain cured at -4°C is as good as concrete cured at
+5°C
 Durable
• High dosages of chemical admixtures are not harmful
• Compactible with current concrete construction practices
• Without the need for artificial heating—saving time, money
and energy

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 References
• Energy-Efficient Approach to Cold-Weather Concreting published
on November 2011 in the “Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering”, Vol. 23, No.11, ASCE by Lynette A. Barna, Peter M.
Seman and Charles J. Korhonen.
• Placing Winter Concrete: Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge published
on June 2014 in the “Practice Periodical on Structural Design and
Construction”, ASCE by Tom Foley and Cliff Schexnayder.
• Evaluating Mix Designs for Cold Weather Concreting published on
August 1, 1987 as part of the “Journal of Cold Regions
Engineering”, Vol. 1, No.1, ASCE by Bruce A. Suprenant.
• Admixtures for cold weather, www.alliedconcrete.co.nz

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