Definition of Concrete

 Concrete is a Composite Material composed of coarse granular material

embedded in a hard matrix of material that fills the space between
aggregate particles and glues them together.

 Concrete is a mixture of cement, coarse aggregate, fine aggregate and

water.

 Concrete is not a homogeneous material, and its strength and

structural properties may vary greatly depending upon its ingredients
and manufacturing method.

 Steel reinforcement are often included to increase the tensile strength

of concrete, known as reinforced concrete.
Introduction
Concrete is used in nearly every type of construction.

Bridge
Rigid Pavement

Building Dam/Pipeline/Seawall
Tunnel
Advantages
Moulded to any shape
Raw material can be easily found
Low maintenance
Ambient temperature hardened material
Good water and fire resistant
High compressive strength
Good rigidity
Economical
Advantages – price(economical)
Portland cement (ordinary) – HK$ 750/T
Aggregate – HK$ 65/T

Concrete – HK$ ~ 350/T

V.S.
Steel – HK$ ~5000/T (Not included any
galvanization)
Composite – HK$ ~20,000/T
Advantages – energy efficient
Concrete 500~900 kwh/T

Reinforced Concrete 1000~4000 kwh/T

Steel 8000 kwh/T

Advantages – resistant to water
 Concrete gain strength during the hydration with the presence of
water.
 Non-metallic material, can withstand water without serious corrosion.

 Concrete provides an alkaline environment pH~12 to steel

reinforcement.
 Passivation of iron
Advantages – high temperature
resistance
 Concrete can withstand fire for 2-4 hours
 Drops to 80% at about 450°C and to 50% at about 650°C. At
1000, concrete effectively loses all its strength.

 Steel has a melting point of ~1000°C and lost its strength at ~600 °C

 Concrete has a coefficient of thermal expansion of 10x10 -6 / °C

 Steel has a coefficient of thermal expansion of 14x10 -6 / °C

Advantages – high temperature
resistance
Visual identification of the temperature of concrete

Temperature (°C) Colour

250 Pink
300 Pink-red
600 Black-grey
950 Whitish-grey

Source: Heckroodt 2002

Advantages – Reduce waste
 Waste such as pulverised-fuel ash (fly ash) and granulated
blastfurnace slag (slag) can be used as supplement cementitious
materials.
 Lessens the burden on landfills
 Reduce the energy required to produce cementitious materials
 Reduce CO2 emission

 Recycled aggregate, fine glass fragment can be used to replace part of

the aggregate.
Disadvantages
Low tensile strength (1/10 of its compressive strength)
Require formwork and falsework to mould
High weight/strength factor
Time-dependent on strength development
Carbon dioxide emission
Workmanship dependent (e.g. compaction by labour)
Composition of concrete
Cement + water Cement paste
Cement paste + fine aggregate Mortar
Mortar + coarse aggregate Concrete

Cement, water, fine and coarse aggregate, admixtures

are combined to form Concrete
Types of Cement
Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)
Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC).
Rapid Hardening Portland Cement (RHPC)
Low-heat Portland Cement
Sulphate-resisting Portland Cement
Cement
 Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is the most common type of cement
in general use.

 Pozzolana materials namely fly ash, volcanic ash, are added to the
OPC so that it becomes Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC). The use of
PPC is the current trend around the world.

 The Specific gravity of Portland cement is ~3.15.

 The silicates compounds, C3S and C2S are responsible for the strength
of cement.
Cement
No. Compound Compound Typical Mineral
Notation composition Phase
(%)
1 Tricalcium silicate C3S 45-65 Alite
3(CaO).SiO2
2 Dicalcium silicate C2S 15-30 Belite
2(CaO).SiO2
3 Tricalcium aluminate C3A 5-10 Aluminate
3(CaO).Al2O3
4 Tetracalcium alumino C4AF 5-15 Ferrite
ferrite
4(CaO).Al2O3.Fe2O3
5 Gypsum 2-10
WhereCaSO4.2H2O
C = CaO, S = SiO2, A = Al2O3, F = Fe2O3, H = H2O, S = SO3
Non-hydraulic Cement (lime)
 Cannot harden in water

 Set by carbonation with the presence of CO2

 Raw material: limestone formed from shell, coral and chalk

 Chemical composition, CaCO3

 Burning limestone at ~1000 °C, it decomposed to Calcium oxide (CaO)

and Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Burning at ~1000 °C
CaCO3 CaO (quicklime) + CO2
Non-hydraulic Cement (lime)
React with H2O to form Ca(OH)2
CaO3 + H2O Ca(OH)2
Ca(OH)2 React with CO2 to form CaCO3
Ca(OH)2 + CO2 + nH2O CaCO3 + (n+1)H2O
Used as mortar in the Ancient Egyptians
Weaker than hydraulic cement
Long carbonation process
Hydraulic Cement – Portland Cement
 John Parker from England patented hydraulic cement (lime + clay) in
1796

 Raw materials: Limestone and clay

 CaCO3  CaO + CO2 at 1000°C

 Clay  SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 + H2O at 600°C

 Addition materials
 Aluminium oxide and Iron oxides
 Gypsum
Manufacturing of Portland Cement
 Heating a mixture of finely powdered clay and limestone to a
temperature ~1300 °C
 The clay and lime fuse to form a clinker

 The clinker is ground with the addition of a little gypsum

(CaSO4.2H2O) to a fine powder of cement

 Cement powder reacts with water by hydration to gain strength

Manufacturing of Portland Cement
Raw materials
 Lime (Calcium oxides) 60-65%
 Silica (Silicon oxides) 10-25%
 Aluminia (Aluminium oxides) 5-10%
 Iron Oxides 2-4%

Limestone High temperature 3CaO.SiO2

Clay 2CaO.SiO2
Iron ore, 3CaO.Al2O3
Bauxite
4CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O3
Manufacturing of Portland Cement

The wet process of manufacturing cement

Manufacturing of Portland Cement

The dry process of manufacturing cement

Manufacturing of Portland Cement
 Limestone(CaCO3) decomposed into CaO and CO2 in a ratio of 55%
and 45% respectively.

 One ton cement contains ~600kg CaO

 The mass of CO2 emissed = 600 x 45/55 = 480kg

 Large amount of CO2 emission

Portland Cement - Gypsum
 Nature gypsum, CaSO4.2H2O

 It loses a part of water of crystallization at ~150 °C

 Known as half-hydrate gypsum (CaSO4. 0.5H2O)

 At ~200 °C , gypsum loses all its water of crystallization

 Slow down the rate of hydration by forming coating on C3A particle

 Control the ‘setting time’ of cement
 Avoid flash set
 Provide longer transportation time
C3A+ 3 (CSH2) + 26 H C3AS3H32
Hydration
 Hydration is a chemical reaction

 Occur when water is added to cement

 Setting refers to losing plasticity and start solidification

 Hardening refers to solid state cement gaining strength

 In general, there is two setting levels: initial set and final set

 Initial setting time: ~2 hours after mixing

 Finial setting time: ~5-10 hours after mixing

Hydration
There are Five stages.

1. Initial 2. 3. 4. Deceleration 5. Steady

hydrolysis Inductio Acceleratio State
n period n
Hydration
Stage Knietics of Chemcial Process Relevance to
Reaction Concrete
1. Initial hydrolysis Chemical Initial hydrolysis; -
control; rapid dissolution of ions
2. Induction period Nucleation Continued Determines initial
control; slow dissolution of ions set

3. Acceleration Chemical Initial formation of Determines finial

control: rapid hydration products set and rate of
initial hardening
4 Deceleration Chemical and Continued Determines rate of
diffusion formation of early strength gain
control; slow hydration products
5. Steady State Diffusion Slow formation of Determines rate of
control, slow hydration products late strength gain
Aggregates
 Fine and coarse aggregates occupy ~70-85% of the concrete mass and
hence highly influence the properties of concrete.

 Aggregates must be hard, strong, durable and clean.

 Fine aggregate: natural sand or crush stone with particle size smaller
than about 5mm.

 Coarse aggregate: a combination of gravels or crushed stone with particle

size larger than 5mm.

 Aggregate can either be normal weight (1520-1680kg/m3), lightweight

(less than 1200kg/m3) or heavyweight (more than 2000kg/m3).
Function of aggregate
 Aggregate is cheaper than cement.

 Reduce the cement content

 Reduce the heat release per volume during setting
 Reduce hardened concrete shrinkage
 Reduce CO2 emission
Factors of aggregate
No. Factors Influence on concrete property
1 Porosity Absorption of water
2 Crushing strength Strength
3 Chemical composition Durability
4 Surface roughness Bond
5 Particle size Water demand (Strength) and
distribution/Grading workability
Alkali-aggregate
 Alkali Aggregate Reaction (AAR) is a chemical reaction of alkali in
concrete

 Alkaline reactive minerals in aggregate producing a hygroscopic gel

which, when moisture present, absorbs water and expand, leading to
spalling and loss of strength of the concrete.

 Usually found in volcanic rocks.

 The reaction is slow affecting the concrete durability.

Sieve anaylsis
Strength of aggregate
A list of tests can be used to determine the relative
quality of aggregate:
Aggregate Impact Value
Ten Percent Value
Aggregate Crushing Value (ACV)
Aggregate Crushing Value (ACV)
 A sample of 10-14mm size shall be prepared.

 Put the sample into cylindrical mould and temped.

 The sample is then placed in a compression machine and subjected to a

400kN load.

 The sample is removed and sieved on a 2.36mm test sieve after unloading.

 ACV= mass of sample passing the 2.36mm sieve/ total mass

 Higher ACV  Weaker the aggregate

Water
 Water plays an important role in the strength, workability and
durability of concrete

 The water used for mixing shall be clean and free from chemical such
as oil, acid, alkali, salts and organic materials. Sea water should not be
used for mixing.

 Too much water decrease the concrete strength.

 Too little water decrease the concrete workability