International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET)

Volume 9, Issue 12, December 2018, pp. 515–525, Article ID: IJCIET_09_12_057
Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijciet/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=9&IType=12
ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316

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SUSTAINABILITY AND ELEVATED

TEMPERATURE BEHAVIOR OF PORTLAND
LIMESTONE CONCRETE
*Moetaz El-Hawary and Mahmoud Ahmed
Kuwait University, Civil Engineering Department, Kuwait
*
Corresponding Author

ABSTRACT
The utilization of some type of cheap filler as partial cement replacement is an
effective way of improving concrete sustainability.
In this paper, the effect of the amount of limestone fillers on the sustainability and
the fresh and mechanical properties of the resulting concrete is investigated. Lime is
introduced as a replacement percentage of cement. Ratios of 0, 10, 20 and 30% were
used. Slump, compressive strength, specific gravity and water absorption are evaluated
for every mix. In addition, the effect of the amount of lime on the residual strength of
concrete subjected to elevated temperatures is also investigated. Samples are subjected
to six different temperature stations of 20, 100, 200, 300, 500 and 700oC for six hours
before being cooled and subsequently tested for compressive strength and specific
gravity.
Sustainability of the tested mixes is evaluated through reductions in the emitted
carbon dioxide, energy and reduction in cost. Based on the annual use of concrete in
Kuwait, the sustainability benefits resulting from the use of limestone filler in Kuwait
are evaluated and assessed.
Keywords: Limestone, Filler, Cement, Concrete, Sustainability, Cost
Cite this Article: Moetaz El-Hawary and Mahmoud Ahmed, Sustainability and
Elevated Temperature Behavior of Portland Limestone Concrete, International Journal
of Civil Engineering and Technology, 9(12), 2018, pp. 515–525
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=9&IType=12

RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
The main objective of the submitted paper is to investigate the sustainability impact of concrete
containing crushed limestone filler as cement replacement. Behaviour and residual strength of
such concrete after exposure to temperatures up to 700oC were also investigated. Properties,
durability and sustainability impact of concrete containing two types of fillers, introduced as

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 Moetaz El-Hawary and Mahmoud Ahmed

partial cement replacement. The results are expected to promote the use of cheap fillers in
concrete mixes as this will reduce both cost and environmental impact while producing
concrete with almost equal properties.

1. INTRODUCTION
The built environment accounts for approximately 40% of all energy consumption. It was
always believed that about 1% of this is consumed during construction, 84% accounted for
during the lifetime use and 15% is embedded in construction materials. In a more recent study,
however, the embedded energy was found to reach or sometimes exceed 40% of the total
service life energy [1]. Embodied energy is defined as the energy consumed by all of the
processes associated with the production of a building or a material. This includes energies
required to extract raw materials, to process raw material, to manufacture the product and to
transport of product from source. As can be seen, the energy consumed in materials production
decreases as a percentage of total consumed energy with the increase in service life.
The embodied energy of concrete may be reduced by reducing the amount of cement in
mix. This may be achieved by proper mix design and by partial replacement of cement with
some type of pozzolanic or supplementary cementitious materials such as slag, fly ash or silica
fume. The use of fillers is another method to reduce the utilized cement in construction. The
production and utilization of high strength concrete is becoming a common practice. With this
recent trend to reduce water to cement ratio and improve compaction, there is no enough space
or water for complete hydration of cement. This means that actually, a portion of mixed cement
acts as expensive filler. Replacing this portion with cheaper filler that requires less energy to
produce is, therefore, beneficial..
Crushed limestone is the most promising filler. In 2004 ASTM C150 allows for 5% cement
replacement. In 1983 Canada allowed for 5% and in 2009 allowed for 15% as per CSA A3001
and CSA A23.1. EN 197-1 allows CEM II to contain up to 35% lime. ASTM is currently
discussing increasing the percentage to 15%.
Some research studies were conducted to investigate the behavior and properties of filler
Portland cement concrete. This includes the investigation of early age shrinkage [2], equivalent
strength [3,4], durability [5], field trials [6] and properties of limestone cement and concrete
[7].
In this paper the investigation of the behavior of lime Portland cement concrete under high
temperatures was conducted. The effect of high temperature is of high importance in order to
fully understand the expected behavior of the material. Research on temperature effect on
different types of concrete is numerous [8, 9].

2. MATERIALS AND SAMPLE PREPARATION

Concrete was prepared using ordinary Portland cement according to ASTM C150, natural sand
and quartzite coarse aggregates of 3/8, ½ and ¾ in (9.53, 12.7 and 19.05 mm). A rich mix was
designed was designed with water cement ratio of 0.4 was used. The mix is shown in Table 1.
Lime was produced by crushing limestone. The limestone was grind in laboratory to size
passing sieve 200 micron. Four different ratios of 0, 10, 20 and 30% by weight of cement were
utilized. Lime was introduced as partial cement replacement. Water cement ratio of 0.4 was
used.
Slump was evaluated for the four mixes using the slump cone, Fig.1 and was found to be
between 90 and 130 mm.

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 Sustainability and Elevated Temperature Behavior of Portland Limestone Concrete

Samples of 150mm cubes and 100x150 mm cylinders were cast, compacted and covered
by wet hessian for one day before being cured in water tanks for 28 days.

3. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM AND RESULTS

3.1. Behavior and Properties
Samples were first tested for unit weight. Results are shown in figure 3. It was found that the
unit weight is slightly reduced with the addition of limestone. The maximum reduction at 30%
lime was found to be 1.7%.

Table 1: Concrete mix design

Constituent Material Mix1 (kg/m3)
Limestone 0, 45, 90, 135
Cement 450, 405, 360, 315
Water 180
Sand 640
Coarse aggregates 3/8 in 360
Coarse aggregates ½ in 360
Coarse aggregates ¾ in 360

Figure 1: Slump evaluation

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 Moetaz El-Hawary and Mahmoud Ahmed

Figure 2: Samples in oven

Samples for the elevated temperatures experiment were removed from the curing tank and
put in oven for six hours duration elapsed after reaching the steady state, Fig. 2. Samples were
tested at five temperature stations of 20, 100, 200, 300, 500 and 700oC before being cooled and
subsequently tested for residual compressive strength. Two types of ovens were used, a
conventional oven for up to 300oC and a muffler one for 500 and 700oC. Three samples were
tested at each temperature station and filler ratio.
The variations of the residual compressive strength and limestone percentage at different
temperatures are shown in figures 4-6. It can be seen that at all temperatures the introduction
of lime reduced the compressive strength. The reduction increases linearly with the increase in
lime percentage. The reduction is due to the reduction in cement. This reduction is expected to
be less for lower water to cement ratios. The variations of the residual compressive strength
with temperature for different lime ratios are shown in figures 6-9. The variation follows the
same trend for all lime ratios. The strength first increase at 100Co due to water evaporation and
reduction in pore pressure followed by reduction due to concrete deterioration. Dissociation of
Ca(OH)2 into CaO (lime) and H2O between 400 and 500 Co where the additional lime fills
pores and may increase strength. Transformation of quartz (aggregates) takes place above 600
Co. In general for normal concrete only the increase at 100 is noticed but for high strength
concrete (above 50 MPa) the increase at 500 is noticed in some cases [10]. For both cases
spalling and large reduction in strength is noticed above 600Co. The increase in strength above
400 Co was clear in this study as the concrete is almost of high strength with low water/cement
ratio of 0.4.
Average absorption values for different lime ratios were evaluated using cylinders. The
values are shown in Table 2. The use of 10% lime reduced concrete absorption by 6.8% while
the use of 20% lime has almost no effect on absorption. The use of 30% lime, however,
increased absorption by 14.9%.

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 Sustainability and Elevated Temperature Behavior of Portland Limestone Concrete

2430

unit weight (kg/m^3) 2420

2410

2400

2390 Series1
Linear (Series1)
2380

2370

2360
0 10 20 30 40
% limestone

Figure 3: Variation of unit weight and limestone ratio

TEMP-22
70
60
STRENGHT (MPa)

50
40 y = -0.0154x2 - 0.2229x + 62.774

30 TEMP-22
20 Poly. (TEMP-22)
10
0
0 10 20 30 40
% LIMESTONE

Figure 4: Variation of strength and limestone ratio at 22oC

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 Moetaz El-Hawary and Mahmoud Ahmed

TEMP-300
80
70
STRENGHT (MPA)

60
50
40 y = -0.0068x2 - 0.582x + 65.859
TEMP-300
30
20 Poly. (TEMP-300)
10
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
% LIMESTONE

Figure 5: Variation of strength and limestone ratio at 300oC

3.2. Sustainability
Sustainable or green buildings is to design construct and maintain them in a way to use
minimum of pollution and cost the minimum while increasing the comfort, health and safety
of the people in them, or it is to consider the interrelationships between a building, its
components, its surroundings and its occupants. Cement has a very high embodied energy due
to the high energy and high temperature required to manufacture cement. The cement
manufacturing also results in the release of about 0.9 - 1 tons of CO2 for each ton of cement.
As CO2 is one of the greenhouse gases, the reduction of cement is of clear environmental
benefits. The use of limestone as cement replacement will decrease the use of cement by the
same ratio and hence improve sustainability. The introduction of limestone also improve
sustainability through cost reduction as crushed limestone is cheaper than cement.

TEMP-700
35
30
STRENGHT (MPA)

25
20
15 y = -0.4527x + 29.681 TEMP-700
10 Linear (TEMP-700)
5
0
0 10 20 30 40
% LIMESTONE

Figure 6: Variation of strength and limestone ratio at 700oC

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 Sustainability and Elevated Temperature Behavior of Portland Limestone Concrete

0%
100

80
STRENGHT (MPA)

60

40 0%
y= -1E-06x3 + 0.0012x2 - 0.2311x + 69.583 Poly. (0%)
20

0
0 200 400 600 800
TEMP

Figure.7: Variation of strength and temperature for 0% lime

10 %
100

80
STRENGHT (MPA)

60

40 10%

y = -1E-06x3 + 0.0013x2 - 0.2476x + 63.18 Poly. (10%)

20

0
0 200 400 600 800
TEMP

Figure 8: Variation of strength and temperature for 0% lime

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 Moetaz El-Hawary and Mahmoud Ahmed

20 %
80
70
60
STRENGHT (MPA)

50
40
20%
30
y = -1E-06x3 + 0.0012x2 - 0.2589x + 60.303 Poly. (20%)
20
10
0
0 200 400 600 800
TEMP

Figure 9: Variation of strength and temperature for 0% lime

The reductions in embodied energy due to the introduction of different ratios of lime filler
are shown in table 3. Values of embodied energy of each constituent material were collected
from available published data based on the PCA (Portland Cement Association) assumption of
50 miles hauling for cement and 10 miles hauling for aggregates. The use of 30% filler was
found to decrease the embodied energy by 28.4%. A study was conducted based on the prices
of materials in Kuwait, table 4. It was found that the introduction of 30% limestone filler as
cement replacement will reduce the overall cost of concrete by 16.5% . This will further
improve concrete sustainability as cost reduction represents an important element in
sustainability evaluation.
The effects of limestone ratios, as cement replacement, on sustainability are summarized
in table 5.

30 %
70
60
STRENGHT (MPA)

50
40
30 30%
20
y= -1E-06x3 + 0.001x2 - 0.204x + 47.741 Poly. (30%)
10
0
0 200 400 600 800
TEMP

Figure 10: Variation of strength and temperature for 0% lime

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 Sustainability and Elevated Temperature Behavior of Portland Limestone Concrete

Table 2: Effect of lime percentage on absorption

Lime Percentage Absorption
0% 1.61 %
10% 1.50 %
20% 1.67 %
30% 1.85 %
As the use of 30% filler as cement replacement seems unpractical due to its effect of the
mechanical properties, a value between 10 and 20% seems more practical. The effects of filler
ratio on both mechanical properties and sustainability for 10%, 20% and the interpolated values
of 15% are shown in table 6.
Based on the recommended value of 15% filler, the sustainability benefits in Kuwait were
evaluated. The amount of concrete production in Kuwait is about 15 million tons annually and
the amount of cement is about 2.25 tons per year. The introduction of 15% filler will result in
cost savings of 7.09 Million KD, energy saving of 2.23 PJ and Carbon Dioxide reduction of
0.337 million tons, annually as shown in table 7.

Table 3: Embodied energy reduction

Mix 1 Mix2 Mix3 Mix4
Embodied % In Embodied % In Embodied % In Embodied % In Embodied
Material Energy Concrete Energy Concrete Energy Concrete Energy Concrete Energy
(MJ/kg) Mix (MJ/kg) Mix (MJ/kg) Mix (MJ/kg) Mix (MJ/kg)
Limestone 0.10 0 0 2 0.002 4 0.004 6 0.006
Cement 6.73 20 1.346 18 1.2114 16 1.0768 14 0.9422
Water 0.00 8 0 8 0 8 0 8 0
Sand 0.04 27 0.0108 27 0.0108 27 0.0108 27 0.0108
Course
0.10 45 0.045 45 0.045 45 0.045 45 0.045
aggregates
Total 1.4018 1.2692 1.1366 1.004

Table 4: Cost reduction

Mix 1 Mix2 Mix3 Mix4
% In % In % In % In
Cost Cost Cost Cost Cost
Material Concrete Concrete Concrete Concrete
(KD/ton) (KD/ton) (KD/ton) (KD/ton) (KD/ton)
Mix Mix Mix Mix
Limestone 4.000 0 0 2 0.08 4 0.16 6 0.24
Cement 25.000 20 5 18 4.5 16 4 14 3.5
Water 1.500 8 0.12 8 0.12 8 0.12 8 0.12
Sand 1.000 27 0.27 27 0.27 27 0.27 27 0.27
Course
5.000 45 2.25 45 2.25 45 2.25 45 2.25
aggregates
7.64 7.22 6.8 6.38

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 Moetaz El-Hawary and Mahmoud Ahmed

Table 5: Effect of limestone on sustainability

CO2 Emission
Mix Cost Reduction Embodied Energy
Description
no. Reduction (%) 3 Reduction (%)
(kg/m )
1 0% limestone 0 0 0
2 10% limestone 5.49 45 9.46
3 20% limestone 10.99 90 18.9
4 30% limestone 16.49 135 28.37

Table 6: Summary of limestone effect

% Limestone 10 % 20 % 15 %

Strength Reduction (%) 6% 16% 10%

Improvement of Absorption (%) 7% - 3.5%

Improvement in Workability (%) 21% 46% 33%

Reduction in Cost (%) 5.49% 10.99% 8.24%

Reduction in CO2 Emission 10% 20% 15%

Reduction in Embodied Energy of Concrete Mix

9.28% 18.57% 13.9%
(%)

4. CONCLUSIONS
The effect of introducing different ratios of crushed lime, as cement replacement, on
sustainability and strength were investigated. Samples were introduced to different temperature
stations varying between room temperature and 700oC for six hours and residual compressive
strengths were evaluated. Unit weight and absorptions for different the mixes were also
evaluated. The following were concluded:
• The introduction of different ratios of lime fillers reduces the amount of cement by
the same ratio and hence reduce CO2 by the same ratio
• The cost and embodied energy were also reduced due to the limestone introduction.
The reduction for 30% filler were found to be 16.49% and 28.37%, respectively.
• For the water to cement ratio of 0.4 used in this study, the introduction of lime
reduced compressive strength. The reduction increase with the increase of lime
ratio.
• Temperature improve compressive strength up to 500oC followed by reduction.
The reduction increase with temperature increase.
• The behavior of lime filler concrete under temperature follows the same trend as
conventional concrete.
• The introduction of 10-20% lime is recommended as it improves sustainability,
improves absorption and slightly decrease strength.
• The use of 15% lime in Kuwait was found to reduce the cost of concrete by 7.09
million Kuwaiti Dinar, reduce energy consumption by 2.23 PJ and reduce Carbon
Dioxide emission by 0.337 million tons.

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 Sustainability and Elevated Temperature Behavior of Portland Limestone Concrete

Table 7: Sustainability benefits in Kuwait due to the use of 15% limestone

Value Actual Value / year Saving (%) Saving Value

7.09 Million
Cost 25 KD/ton 56.25 Million KD 12.6 %
KD/year

Energy 6.73 MJ/kg 15.1 PJ 14.775 % 2.23 PJ

CO
2 1 ton / 1 ton 2.25 million ton 15% 0.337 million ton
Emission

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