Lesson 7 - Properties of Hardened Concrete

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ECE 2105

Civil Engineering Materials I


Lesson 7: Properties of Hardened Concrete
Introduction
• The principal properties of hardened concrete which are of
practical importance are those concerning its
• strength;
• stress-strain characteristics;
• shrinkage and creep deformations;
• response to temperature variation;
• permeability and durability
• The strength of concrete assumes a greater significance
because the strength is related to the structure of hardened
cement paste and gives an overall picture of the quality of
concrete
Strength of Concrete
1. Compressive Strength
• The determination of compressive strength has received a
large amount of attention because the concrete is primarily
meant to withstand compressive stresses
• Cubes, cylinders and prisms are the three types of compression
test specimens used to determine the compressive strength on
testing machines
• The cubes are usually of 100 mm or 150 mm side, the cylinders
are 150 mm diameter by 300 mm height
• The compressive strengths given by different specimens for the
same concrete mix are different
1. Compressive Strength
• The cylinders and prisms of a ratio of height or length to the
lateral dimension of 2 may give a strength of about 75 to 85 per
cent of the cube strength of normal-strength concrete
1. Compressive Strength
2. Flexural Strength
• It is essential to estimate the load at which the concrete
members may crack
• The tensile strength of concrete is computed by flexure testing
as it is difficult to determine it using a direct tension test
• It’s useful in the design of pavement slabs and airfield runway
as flexural tension is critical in these cases
• The flexural tensile strength at failure (modulus of rupture) is
determined by testing standard test specimens of
• 150 x 150 x 700 mm over a span of 600 mm or
• 100 x 100 x 500 mm over a span of 400 mm, under
symmetrical two-point loading
2. Flexural Strength
• The modulus of rupture is determined from the moment at
𝑀
failures as 𝑓𝑟 =
𝑍
• The strength estimated by flexure test is higher than the tensile
strength of concrete because of the assumption of the linear
behavior of material up to failure
• The direct test gives lower apparent tensile strength. The
accidental eccentricity in the direct tension test may also lower
the apparent tensile strength
2. Flexural Strength
3. Tensile Strength
• Apart from flexure test, other methods used to determine the
tensile strength are classified under direct and indirect methods
• Direct methods suffer difficulties in;-
• holding the specimen properly in the testing machine
without introducing stress concentration and
• application of uniaxial tensile load which is free from
eccentricity to the specimen
• A very small eccentricity of load will induce bending and axial
force conditions and the concrete fails at apparent tensile stress
other than the tensile strength
3. Tensile Strength
• To overcome the difficulties in direct methods a number of
indirect methods have been developed to determine the tensile
strength
• A compressive force is applied to a concrete specimen in such
a way that the specimen fails due to tensile stresses induced in
the specimen.
• The tensile stress at which failure occurs is the tensile strength
of concrete
• The most common indirect method applied is the tensile
splitting test
3. Tensile Strength
• The tensile splitting test consists of applying compressive line
loads along a concrete cylinder placed with its axis horizontal
between the platens
• A fairly uniform tensile stress is induced over nearly two-third
of the loaded diameter as obtained from an elastic analysis
2𝑃
• The magnitude of this tensile stress is given by
π𝐷𝐿
3. Tensile Strength
• The test can also be performed on cubes by splitting either
• along its middle parallel to the edges by applying two
opposite compressive forces through 15 mm square bars of
sufficient length
• along one of the diagonal planes by applying compressive
forces along two opposite edges
• In the case of side-splitting of the cubes, the tensile strength is
determined from 0.642 𝑃/𝑆 2 and in diagonal splitting it is
determined from 0.5187 𝑃/𝑆 2
3. Tensile Strength

• Advantages of tensile splitting test;-


1. The test is simple to perform and gives more uniform results
than other tension tests
2. The strength determined is closer to the actual tensile strength of
the concrete than that given by the modulus of rupture test
3. The same molds can be used for casting specimens for both
compression and tension tests
3. Tensile Strength
Durability of Concrete
Durability of Concrete
• A durable concrete is one that performs satisfactorily under
anticipated exposure (working) conditions during its service
life span.
• The materials and mix proportions used should be such as to
maintain its integrity and, if applicable, to protect embedded
metal from corrosion.
• When concrete is subjected to highly aggressive or hostile
environments, it has been found to deteriorate, resulting in
premature failure of structures or reach a state requiring costly
repairs
Durability of Concrete
• One of the main characteristics influencing the durability of concrete
is its permeability to the ingress of water, oxygen, carbon dioxide,
chloride, sulfate and other potentially deleterious substances.
• The permeability of concrete depends upon micro and macro-cracks,
and voids developed during production and service
• Most of the durability problems in the concrete can be attributed to
the volume change in the concrete.
• Volume change in concrete is caused by many factors, such as,
effect of heat of hydration, pozzolanic action, sulfate attack,
carbonation, moisture movement, all types of shrinkages, effect of
chlorides, corrosion of steel reinforcement
1. Role of Water-Cement Ratio
• The use of higher water cement ratio results in higher
permeability, allowing for greater volume changes, which leads to
the formation of cracks, disintegration and eventually failure of the
concrete
• For a durable concrete, use of lowest possible water-cement ratio
is the fundamental requirement to produce dense and impermeable
concrete
• The quality of hydration product (gel) and consequently the micro-
structure of the concrete is superior in the case of low water-
cement ratio
• In these concretes, the capillaries of interconnected network are so
fine that water can not flow through them
1. Role of Water-Cement Ratio
• A concrete with low water-cement ratio;-
• Has a chloride ion diffusion rate that is 10 to 15 times slower
than concrete with high water-cement ratio
• Is less sensitive to carbonation, external chemical attack and
other detrimental effects causing lack of concrete durability
• Is the best way to cover reinforcing steel against corrosion,
together with adequate cover
• The advent and use of superplasticizers have revolutionized the
technology of making durable concrete by drastically reducing
water-cement ratio of concrete
2. Role of Permeability
• The capillary pores in concrete serve as a conduit or provide
transport system for deteriorating agents
• The propagation of micro-cracks with time due to drying
shrinkage, thermal shrinkage and externally applied loads will
increase the permeability of the system
• It is affected by;-
• Permeability of cement
• Permeability of concrete
• Effect of mineral additives
• Effect of air entrainment
2. Role of Permeability
A. Permeability of Cement
• Cement paste consists of C-S-H (gel), Ca(OH)2, and both water
filled and empty capillary cavities
• The C-S-H gel has porosity to the extent of 28% with permeability
of the order of 7.5 × 10−16 which is about 1/1000 of that of the
cement paste.
• Therefore, contribution of gel pores to the permeability of cement
paste is minimal.
• The extent and size of capillary cavities or pores depend upon
water-cement ratio
2. Role of Permeability
B. Permeability of Concrete
• Introduction of aggregate, particularly larger size of aggregate,
increase the permeability considerably
• The higher permeability of concrete in actual structure is due to
• the development of micro-cracks in transition zone (due to
shrinkage and thermal stresses)
• macro-cracks (due to volume change, higher structural stresses)
• existence of entrapped air (due to insufficient compaction)
• The size of the cracks in the transition zone is reported to be much
bigger than that of capillary cavities present in the cement paste
2. Role of Permeability
C. Effect of Mineral Additives
• Permeability of pozzolanic cement pastes which is initially
higher as compared to OPC tends to become lower as the
curing proceeds
• Initial cement hydration involves only the clinker fraction.
Pozzolanic material converts Ca(OH) into a cementing
product later on at a slower rate and within an already rigid
pore structure
• The resulting precipitation of cementing product is not able to
fill the larger pores completely but blocks/ reduces smaller
capillaries connecting larger pores, reducing permeability
2. Role of Permeability
D. Effect of Air Entrainment
• An air-entrainment up to 6% can make the concrete more
impervious.
• The steam curing of concrete using pozzolana has been
reported to decrease the permeability due to
• formation of coarser C-S-H gel,
• lower drying shrinkage and
• accelerated conversion of Ca(OH)2 into cementing product.
Causes of Lack of Durability
• The factors affecting the durability may be external or internal
causes.
• The external causes may be;-
• Environmental, such as occurrence of extreme
temperatures, abrasion and electrostatic actions.
• Chemical attack by natural or industrial liquids and gases
• The internal causes may be;-
• Alkali-aggregate reaction.
• Volume changes due to difference in thermal properties of
the aggregate and cement paste
Chemical Attack
• The common forms of chemical attack are:
• leaching out of cement,
• carbonation,
• chloride-ion penetration,
• sulfate attack,
• marine environment
• natural slightly acidic water
Alkali-Aggregate Reaction
• The alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR) or alkali-silica reactivity
(ASR) is the reaction between active silica constituents of the
aggregate and alkalis present in the cement
• The expansive alkali-silicate gels are formed due to the reaction
under suitable conditions, causing swelling, leading to spreading
of pattern cracks and eventual failure of concrete structures
• The factors promoting the alkali-aggregate reaction are:
• Reactivity of aggregate;
• high alkali content in cement;
• availability of moisture and
• optimum temperature conditions
Alkali-Aggregate Reaction
A. Reactivity of aggregate
• The potential reactivity of an aggregate can be determined by
petrographic examination of thin rock sections.
• The reactivity of aggregate depends upon its particle size and
porosity as these influence the area over which the reaction can
take place
B. Alkali content in cement
• It is expressed as Na2O equivalent (Na2O+0.658 KO).
• Many specifications limit the alkali content to less than 0.6. Such
a cement is designated as low-alkali cement.
• The expansion due to reaction depends upon fineness of cement
Alkali-Aggregate Reaction
C. Availability of moisture
• The progress of alkali-aggregate reaction depend upon the
availability of non-evaporable water in the paste.
• The application of waterproofing agents to the surface of the
concrete can reduce deterioration due to alkali-aggregate
reaction by preventing additional penetration of water into
structure.
• The reaction is accelerated under the condition of alternating
wetting and drying
Alkali-Aggregate Reaction
D. Temperature conditions
• The optimum temperature for the promotion of alkali-aggregate
reaction is in the range of 10 to 40 degrees Celsius
E. Alkali-aggregate reaction mechanism
• The soluble alkalis in the cement dissolve in the mixing water
turning it into a highly caustic liquid which reacts with the
reactive silica present in the reactive aggregates to form highly
expansive alkali-silica gel altering the boundaries of aggregate
• The continuous growth of silica gel exerts internal hydraulic
pressure on the surrounding set-cement gel to cause pattern
cracking with subsequent loss in strength and elasticity
Assignment 2
• Define and differentiate between admixtures and additives in
concrete technology
• Write short notes on the application following general
purpose admixtures in concrete, giving the advantages,
disadvantages and 2 examples within each category;-
• Accelerating admixtures
• Retarding admixtures
• Air – entraining admixtures
• Water – reducing admixtures

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