CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY

LECTURE ONE
Revision on concrete making materials

By: Rediet Gashaw

Amlaklesdew Azene
Definition of concrete

 Concrete is a composite material made up of inert materials of

varying sizes, which are bound together by a binding medium.

 Concrete contains coarse aggregate in addition to cement,

water, air and fine aggregate. The cement, water, and air
combine to from a paste that binds the aggregates together.

 The strength of concrete is dependent on the strength of the

aggregate paste bond.

 Concrete is often looked upon as “man made rock”.

Types of concrete

1. Plain mass concrete; with graded or predominantly small

sized aggregate, for foundations, floors, paving, monolithic
walls (in some cases), bricks, tiles, hollow blocks, pipes.

2. No-fines concrete; a lightweight concrete with only single

size coarse aggregate leaving voids between them, suitable
for load bearing and non-load bearing walls, in-fill walls in
framed structures or base coarse for floor slabs.
Cont …

3. Lightweight aggregate concrete; using expanded clay, foamed

blast furnace slag, sintered fly ash, pumice, or other light
aggregate, for thermal insulating walls and components, and for
lightweight building blocks.

4. Aerated concrete; made by introducing air or gas into a cement-

sand mix (without coarse aggregate), for thermal insulating, non-
structural uses and lightweight building blocks. Disadvantages are
low resistance to abrasion, excessive shrinkage and permeability.
Cont …

5. Reinforced concrete; also known as RCC (reinforced cement

concrete), which incorporates steel bars in sections of the
concrete which are in tension (to supplement the low tensile
strength of mass concrete and control thermal and shrinkage
cracking.

6. Pre-stressed concrete; which is reinforced concrete with the

steel reinforcement held under tension during production, to
achieve stiffness, crack resistance and lighter constructions of
components.
Advantages of concrete

 It is economical when ingredients are readily available

 Durable and relatively low maintenance requirements
 It is not as likely to rot, corrode, or decay
 Ability to be molded or cast into almost any desired shape.
 Fire-resistant and able withstand high temperatures
 High compressive strength, resistance to weathering, impact
and abrasion
Disadvantages of concrete

 High cost of cement, steel and formwork

 Difficult quality control on building sites, with the risk of
cracking and gradual deterioration, if wrongly mixed, placed and
insufficiently cured with water.
 In moist climates or coastal regions, corrosion of reinforcement
(if insufficiently protected), leading to expansion cracks.
 Demolishing concrete is difficult.
 Low tensile strength (but can be overcome with steel
reinforcement)
Concrete making materials

Components of concrete
Cement Aggregates
Water Admixtures

14-21% 7-15%

60-75%
Portland cement

 Portland cement is the name given to a cement obtained by intimately

mixing together calcareous and argillaceous, or other silica-, alumina-,
and iron oxide-bearing materials, burning them at a clinkering
temperature, and grinding the resulting clinker.
 The process of manufacture consists essentially of grinding the raw
materials into a very fine powder, mixing them intimately in
predetermined proportions and burning in a large rotary kiln at a
temperature of about 1400°C when the material sinters and partially fuses
into clinker.
Cont …

 The clinker (a sort of hard brick in a ball form) is cooled and ground to a
fine powder, with some gypsum added, and the resulting product is the
commercial Portland cement used throughout the world.
 The mixing and grinding of the raw materials can be done either in water or
in a dry condition; hence, the names wet and dry process.
 The mixture is fed into a rotary kiln, sometimes (in the wet process) as large
as 7 m in diameter and 230 m long.
 The kiln is slightly inclined. The mixture is fed at the upper end while
pulverized coal (or other source of heat) is blown in by an air blast at the
lower end of the kiln, where the temperature may reach about 1500 °C.
Cont …

 As the mixture of raw materials moves down the kiln, it encounters a

progressively higher temperature so that various chemical changes take
place along the kiln: First, any water is driven off and CO2 is liberated
from the calcium carbonate.
 Further on, the dry material undergoes a series of chemical reactions
until, finally, in the hottest part of the kiln, some 20 to 30 per cent of the
material becomes liquid, and lime, silica and alumina recombine.
 The mass then fuses into balls, 3 to 25 mm in diameter, known as clinker.
Cont …

 Afterwards, the clinker drops into coolers, which provide

means for an exchange of heat with the air subsequently used
for the combustion of the pulverized coal.
 The cool clinker, which is very hard, is inter-ground with
gypsum in order to prevent flash-setting of the cement.
Cont …
Cont …

 Raw materials for cement

 Limestone
 Hematite

 Bauxite

 Clay … etc.

 Oxides required in raw material

 Lime
 Silica

 Alumina

 Iron-oxide
Majn compounds of cement

 How_Cement_is_made_Dry_process(720p).mp4
 Wet_process_for_portland_cement_manufacturing(
720p).mp4
Characteristics C3S C2 S C3A C4AF
Rate of hydration Medium Slow Fast Slow

Strength - early High Low Medium Low

- Ultimate High High Low Low
Amount of heat liberated Medium Low High Low

Resistance to chemical attack Good Good Poor Good

Effects of compounds on cement performance

1. C3S :
 High early strength (1,3,7 days)
 Early removal of formwork
 Reduces cement consumption in concrete

2. C2S :
 Low heat of hydration
 Contributes to ultimate strength (28 days strength)
 Cont …

3. C3A
 The presence of C3A in cement is undesirable: it contributes little
or nothing to the strength of cement except at early ages, and
when hardened cement paste is attacked by sulfates, the formation
of calcium sulfo aluminate (ettringite) may cause disruption.
ettringite.jpg
 However, C3A is beneficial in the manufacture of cement in that it
facilitates the combination of lime and silica.
Cont …

4. C4AF

C4AF is also present in cement in small quantities, and,

compared with the other three compounds, it does not affect the
behavior significantly; however, it reacts with gypsum to form
calcium sulfo ferrite and its presence may accelerate the
hydration of the silicates.
 Why gypsum?

 The amount of gypsum added to the clinker is crucial, and depends upon the

C3A content and the alkali content of cement.

 Increasing the fineness of cement has the effect of increasing the quantity of

C3A available at early ages, and this raises the gypsum requirement.

 An excess of gypsum leads to expansion and consequent disruption of the set

cement paste.

 The optimum gypsum content is determined on the basis of the generation of the

heat of hydration so that a desirable rate of early reaction occurs, which ensures

that there is little C3A available for reaction after all the gypsum has combined.
Minor compounds

 In addition to the main compounds mentioned, there exist

minor compounds, such as MgO, TiO2, Mn2O3, K2O, and
Na2O; they usually account a few % of the mass of cement.
 The source of MgO in cement is usually dolomite, which is
present as an impurity in most limestones and Hydration of
Pericles (crystalline MgO) to magnesium hydroxide is a slow
and expansive reaction that, under certain conditions, can cause
unsoundness.
Cont …

 Like MgO, the crystalline CaO that has been exposed to high
temperature in the cement kiln hydrates slowly and the
hydration reaction is capable of causing unsoundness in
cement-based products.
 The oxides Na2O and K2O, known as the alkalis of interest
due to reaction with some aggregates known as alkali–
aggregate reaction causing disintegration of the concrete, and
have also been observed to affect the rate of the gain of
strength of cement.ASR_net.jpg, joint.jpg, popouts.jpg,car.jpg
Cont …
Fineness

 In addition to the compound composition, the fineness of cement also affects its
reactivity with water.
 Generally, the finer the cement, the more rapidly it will react. For a given compound
composition the rate of reactivity and hence the strength development can be enhanced
by finer grinding of cement; however, the cost of grinding and the heat evolved on
hydration set some limits on the fineness.
 For quality control purposes in the cement industry, the fineness is easily determined
as the residue on standard sieves such as No. 200 mesh (75 μm) and No. 325 mesh (45
μm).
 It is generally agreed that cement particles larger than 45 μm are slow to hydrate and
those larger than 75 μm may never hydrate completely.
 Cont …
 The Blaine Fineness Apparatus is used in
measuring the fineness of Portland cement in
accordance with ASTM and AASHTO
standards.
 The fineness is measured in terms of the
specific area of cement expressed as total
surface area in square centimeters per gram.
 In operation, the apparatus draws a definite
volume of air through a prepared bed of
cement.
 The porosity of the cement, which is a function
of the size of the cement particles, determines
the rate of air flow through the bed.
 The apparatus consists of a U-tube glass
manometer, a ground joint with stainless steel
test cell, a stop cock, and a rubber bulb.
Hydration of Portland Cement

 The chemical reaction of cement with water, commonly

referred to as the hydration of cement yields products that
possess setting and hardening characteristics.
 In any chemical reaction the main features of interest are the
changes in matter, the changes in energy, and the speed of the
reaction.
Cont …

 C3S and C2S are the main cementitious compounds - C3S hydrating much more
rapidly.
 Hydration of C3S is the microcrystalline hydrate C3S2H3 with some lime
separating out as crystalline Ca(OH)2; C2S behaves similarly but clearly contains
less lime.
 The amount of C3A in most cements is comparatively small; its hydrate structure
is of a cubic crystalline form which is surrounded by the calcium silicate hydrates.
 The reaction of pure C3A with water is very rapid and would lead to a flash set,
which is prevented by the addition of gypsum to the cement clinker.
Heat of hydration
 The compounds of Portland cement are non-equilibrium products of high
temperature reactions and are therefore in a high-energy state.
 When a cement is hydrated, the compounds react with water to acquire stable,
low-energy states and the process is accompanied by the release of energy in
the form of heat (exothermic reaction).
 Reducing the proportions of C3A and C3S, the heat of hydration (and its rate)
of cement can be reduced.
 Fineness of cement affects the rate of heat development but not the total
amount of heat liberated, which can be controlled in concrete by the quantity
of cement in the mix (richness).
Development of strength of pure compounds
Physical Aspects of the Setting and Hardening
Process
 For application to the concrete construction practice it is desirable to
review the physical aspects, such as stiffening, setting, and hardening,
which are different manifestations of the ongoing hydration process.
 Stiffening is the loss of consistency by the plastic cement paste, and
is associated with the slump loss phenomenon in concrete due to loss
of free water.
 The term setting refers to the solidification of the plastic cement
paste.
Setting time
 Initial set corresponds to a rapid rise
(marks the point in time when the paste
has become unworkable) and final set
corresponds to the peak temperature, and
then the phenomenon of strength gain
with time is called hardening
 For the determination of setting, the Vicat
apparatus is used with a 1 mm diameter
needle, acting under a total load of 300 g
on a paste of standard consistence.
Types of Portland cement

There are many types of cement to suit every need

1. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)
2. Portland Pozzolana cement (PPC)
3. Rapid Hardening Portland cement
4. Portland Slag cement (PSC)
5. Sulphate resisting Portland cement (SRC)
6. Low heat Portland cement
7. Hydrophobic cement.
8. Oil well cement
9. White cement
Cont …
Selection of cement

 Some of the major factors which affect the selection of cement

are:
 Functional requirement of the structure, design parameters
 Speed of construction
 Durability characteristics
 Environmental condition
 Aggregates

 Aggregates are the filler materials which make up a large portion

(roughly 60-75%) of the concrete volume.
 Aggregate can be obtained from various sources; natural or
manufactured.
 Natural aggregates are taken from natural deposits without change in
their nature during production, with the exception of crushing, sizing
grading, or during production.
 Manufactured aggregates include blast furnace slag and lightweight
aggregates.
Properties of aggregate

 Aggregate properties that are significant for making concrete include:

 Gradation (grain size distribution)
 Shape and surface texture
 Bulk unit weight
 Specific gravity (relative density)
 Absorption
 Hardness (resistance to abrasion or wear)
 Durability (resistance to weathering)
 Crushing strength
 Cleanliness (deleterious substances)
 Chemical stability
Gradation

 The gradation, or grain size distribution of the aggregate

influences:
 amount of paste required
 workability of the concrete
 strength and
 water tightness of the finished product.
 Aggregates may be dense, gap-graded, uniform, well graded, or
open-graded.
Cont …

 The grading or particle size distribution of aggregate is determined

by sieve analysis
 Fineness modulus (FM)
 The finesse modulus for good sand should range between 2.25 -
3.25.
 Fine sand: 2.25 to 2.6
 Medium sand: 2.6 to 2.9
 Coarse sand: 2.9 to3.25
Shape and surface texture

 Sharp, angular, and rough aggregate particles require more

paste to make good concrete than do rounded ones.
 Flat, slivery pieces make concrete more difficult to finish and
should be limited to not more than 15 percent of the total.
This requirement is particularly important for crushed fine
aggregate, since material made in this way contains more flat
and elongated particles.
Bulk unit weight

 The bulk unit weight of an aggregate is the weight of the

aggregate divided by the total volume occupied by it.
 The normal range of bulk unit weight for aggregates for
normal-weight concrete is from 1200 to 1760 kg/m3.
 The range of aggregates that could be used in concrete is as
heavyweight, lightweight and normal weight.
Specific gravity

 It is not a measure of aggregate quality but is used in making

calculations related to mix design.
 The specific gravity of most normal weight aggregates will
range from 2.4 to 2.9
Absorption:

 Over a 24-hr period light weight aggregates may absorb water

in the amount of 5 to 20 percent of their own dry
weight ,depending on the type of aggregate and its pore
structure .
 Aggregates should be pre-wetted , but not saturated ,24 hours
before they are to be used.
Moisture content

 Two types of moisture are recognized in aggregates: absorbed

moisture and surface moisture.
 Absorbed moisture is that which is taken in by the voids in
aggregate particles and may not be apparent on the surface,
while surface moisture is that which clings to the surface of
the particle.
Cont …
 The moisture conditions of aggregates are designated as follows:
1. Oven-Dry: In this condition they are fully absorbent.
2. Air-Dry: Particles are dry at the surface but contain some interior
moisture. They are therefore somewhat absorbent.
3. Saturated Surface-Dry: In this condition there is no water on the surface,
but the particle contains all the interior moisture it will hold. It will
neither absorb moisture from nor contribute moisture to the mix.
4. Damp or Wet: The particles contain an excess of moisture on the surface
and will contribute moisture to a mix.
Crushing Strength and Durability

 One measure of the strength of an aggregate is its resistance to

freeze-thaw.
 Another test of the strength of aggregates is their ability to
withstand compressive stresses.
 Aggregates which have been tumbled down streams for
sufficient distances to be well rounded and unbroken are
strong and durable enough for concrete use.
Cleanliness (Deleterious Substances)

 Deleterious (harmful substances) have the following effects on concrete:

 Weaken bondage between cement paste and aggregates
 Interfere with hydration
 Reduce of strength and durability
 Affect water tightness of the concrete
 Modify setting action and
 Cause efflorescenceefflorescence.jpg
 Remedial measures:
 Washing to remove deleterious materials
 Avoiding aggregates with reactive tendency or using them with cement with
low alkali.
 Silt test
Hardness

 An aggregate is considered unsound when the volume changes

in aggregate induced by weather (e.g., alternate cycles of
wetting and drying, or freezing and thawing), result in the
deterioration of concrete.
 Although high moisture absorption is often used as an index for
unsoundness, many aggregates such as pumice and expanded
clays can absorb large amounts of water but remain sound.
Chemical stability

 Aggregates need to be chemically stable so that they will

neither react chemically with cement nor be affected
chemically by outside influences.
 In some cases aggregates with certain chemical constituents
react with alkalis in cement.
 Alkali Aggregate Reactions
 Alkali Silica Reaction
 Alkali Carbonate Reaction
Water

 Water serves two purposes in making concrete. It triggers the hydration

of cement and makes the mix fluid and workable.
 Impurities in mixing water may cause any one or all of the following:
 Abnormal setting time
 Decreased strength
 Volume changes
 Efflorescence
 Corrosion of reinforcement
Cont …

 Some of the impurities in mixing water that cause

these undesirable effects in the final concrete are:
 Dissolved Chemicals
 Seawater
 Sugar
 Algae
Admixtures

 Admixtures vary widely in composition, from surfactants and

soluble salts to polymers and insoluble minerals.
 Generally, worldwide, most of the concrete produced contains one
or more admixtures; it is estimated that in the developed countries
some 80 to 90% of concrete produced contains chemical
admixtures.
 Admixtures vary widely in chemical composition. Many perform
more than one function, therefore, it is difficult to classify them
according to their functions.
Importance of admixtures

 To increase the plasticity of concrete without increasing the water

content,
 To reduce bleeding and segregation,
 To retard or accelerate the time of set,
 To accelerate the rates of strength development at early ages,
 To reduce the rate of heat evolution, and
 To increase the durability of concrete to specific exposure
conditions.
Types of admixtures

1. Chemical admixtures
 Some chemicals begin to act on the cement-water system
instantaneously by influencing the surface tension of water and by
adsorbing on the surface of cement particles; others break up into
their ionic constituents and affect the chemical reactions between
cement compounds and water

2. Mineral Admixtures
 Mineral admixtures are finely divided siliceous materials that are
added to concrete during mixing in relatively large amounts.
Chemical admixtures

 ASTM C 494, Standard Specification for Chemical

Admixtures for Concrete, divides the water-reducing
and/or set-controlling chemicals into the following:
Type A Water reducing
Type B Retarding
Type C Accelerating
Type D Water reducing and retarding
Type E Water reducing and accelerating
Type F Superplasticizing/high-range water-reducing
Type G Superplasticizing and retarding/high-range water-
reducing and retarding
Cont …
Mineral admixtures

 The physical effect of the presence of these admixtures on the

rheological behavior of fresh concrete becomes immediately apparent,
but it takes several days to several months for the chemical effects to
manifest.
 Natural pozzolanic materials and industrial by-products, such as fly
ash and slag, are commonly used mineral admixtures.
 In Europe, mineral admixtures are normally called additions. Many
researchers also call them supplementary cementing materials (SCM).
Cont …

 usually used to enhance the properties of concrete in strength,

workability and durability.
 Fly ash
 Ground granulated blast-furnace slag
 Silica fume
 Rice husk ash
 Metakaoline
Fly ash

 Fly ash (pulverized fuel ash) is a by-product of an electricity-

generating plant using coal as fuel.
 During combustion of powdered coal in modern power plants,
as coal passes through the high temperature zone in the
furnace, the volatile matter and carbon are burned off,
whereas most of the mineral impurities, such as clays, quartz,
and feldspar, will melt at the high temperature
Cont …

 The fused matter is quickly transported to lower-temperature

zones, where it solidifies as spherical particles of glass.
 Some of the mineral matter agglomerates, forming bottom
ash, but most of it flies out with the flue gas stream and thus is
called fly ash.
 This ash is subsequently removed from the gas by
electrostatic precipitators.
Silica fume

 Silica fume is a by-product of induction arc furnaces in the

silicon metal and ferrosilicon alloy industries.
 Silica fume is also called condensed silica fume or
microsilica.
 Amorphous silica with high SiO2 content, extremely small
particle size, and large surface area
 Highly reactive pozzolan used to improve mortar and concrete
Cont …
Metakaolin

 High-reactivity metakaolin (MK) is one of the recently

developed supplementary cementing materials for high-
performance concrete.
 It is produced by calcining purified kaolinite clay in a specific
temperature range (650 to 800◦C) to drive off the chemically
bound water in the interstices of kaolin and destroy the
crystalline structure, which effectively converts the material to
the MK phase, an amorphous aluminosilicate.
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