• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.561-583
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• 2018

A variety of polycarboxylate ether (PCE)-based superplasticizers are commercially available. Their influence on the rheological retention and slump loss in respect of concrete differ considerably. Fluidity and slump loss are the cardinal features responsible for the quality of concrete. These are related to the dispersion of cement particles and the hydration process which are greatly influenced by type of polycarboxylate ether (PCE)-based superplasticizers. On the backdrop of relatively less studies in the context of rheological retention of high strength self-consolidating concrete (HS-SCC), the experimental investigations were carried out aiming at quantifying the effect of the six different PCE polymers (PCE 1-6) on the rheological retention of HS-SCC mixes containing two types of Ordinary Portland Cements (OPC) and unwashed crushed sand as the fine aggregate. The tests that were carried out included $T_{500}$, V-Funnel, yield stress and viscosity retention tests. The supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash (FA) and micro-silica (MS) were also used in ternary blend keeping the mix paste volume and flow of concrete constant. Low water to binder ratio was used. The results reveal that not only the PCEs of different polymer groups behave differently, but even the PCEs of same polymer groups also behave differently. The study also indicates that the HS-SCC mixes containing PCE 6 and PCE 5 performed better as compared to the mixes containing PCE 1, PCE 2, PCE 3 and PCE 4 in respect of all the rheological tests. The PCE 6 is a new class of chemical admixtures known as Polyaryl Ether (PAE) developed by BASF to provide better rheological properties in even in HS-SCC mixes at low water to binder mix. In the present study, the PCE 6, is found to help not only in reduction in the plastic viscosity and yield stress, but also provide good rheological retention over the period of 180 minutes. Further, the early compressive strength properties (one day compressive strength) highly depend on the type of PCE polymer. The side chain length of PCE polymer and the fineness of the cement considerably affect the early strength gain.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.78-85
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• 2020

Shotcrete concrete is generally used in the form of ready-mixed concrete products using type I ordinary portland cement(hereinafter referred to as OPC) and about 5% of accelerator mixed separately in the field. In this study, we tested the effect of OPC fineness and SO₃ content on a penetration resistance, compressive strength of binder for shotcrete using calcium aluminate type accerlerator. And we analysed hydrates and pore structure effects on mortar performance. In the future, it is expected to be useful for manufacturing optimized OPC as a binder for shotcrete.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.197-217
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• 2012

This research deals with the prediction of compressive strength of normal and high strength concrete using neural networks. The compressive strength was modeled as a function of eight variables: quantities of cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, micro-silica, water and super-plasticizer, maximum size of coarse aggregate, fineness modulus of fine aggregate. Two networks, one using raw variables and another using grouped dimensionless variables were constructed, trained and tested using available experimental data, covering a large range of concrete compressive strengths. The neural network models were compared with regression models. The neural networks based model gave high prediction accuracy and the results demonstrated that the use of neural networks in assessing compressive strength of concrete is both practical and beneficial. The performance of model using the grouped dimensionless variables is better than the prediction using raw variables.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.183-196
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• 2018

The rheological behaviour of high strength self compacting concrete (HS-SCC) studied through an experimental investigation is presented in this paper. The effect of variation in supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) $vis-{\grave{a}}-vis$ four different types of processed crushed sand as fine aggregates is studied. Apart from the ordinary Portland cement (OPC), the SCMs such as fly ash (FA), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) ultrafine slag (UFS) and micro-silica (MS) are used in different percentages keeping the mix -paste volume and flow of concrete, constant. The combinations of rheology, strength and durability are equally important for selection of mixes in respect of high-rise building constructions. These combinations are referred to as the rheo-strength and rheo-durability which is scientifically linked to performance based rating. The findings show that the fineness of the sands and types of SCM affects the rheo-strength and rheo-durability performance of HS-SCC. The high amount of fines often seen in fine aggregates contributes to the higher yield stress. Further, the mixes with processed sand is found to offer better rheology as compared to that of mixes made using unwashed crushed sand, washed plaster sand, washed fine natural sand. The micro silica and ultra-fine slag conjunction with washed crushed sand can be a good solution for high rise construction in terms of rheo-strength and rheo-durability performance.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.423-436
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• 2014

Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) is widely used as an effective partial cement replacement material. GGBFS inclusion has already been proven to improve several performance characteristics of concrete. GGBFS provides enhanced durability, including high resistance to chloride penetration and protection against alkali silica reaction. In this paper results of an experimental research work on influence of low-reactivity GGBFS (which is largely available in Iran) on the properties of mortars and concretes are reported. In the first stage, influence of GGBFS replacement level and fineness on the compressive strength of mortars was investigated using Taguchi method. The analysis of mean (ANOM) statistical approach was also adopted to develop the optimal conditions. Next, based on the obtained results, concrete mixtures were designed and water penetration, capillary absorption, surface resistivity, and compressive strength tests were carried out on highstrength concrete specimens at different ages up to 90 days. The results indicated that 7-day compressive strength is adversely affected by GGBFS inclusion, while the negative effect is less evident at later ages. Also, it was inferred that use of low-reactivity GGBFS (at moderate levels such as 20% and 30%) can enhance the impermeability of high-strength concrete since 28 days age.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2024

Self-compacting concrete is widely used around the globe today due to its special and unique properties. This study examines the effect of natural and crushed gravel combinations in different percentages in short-and long-term properties of concrete. The best utilized sand had a fineness modulus of 2.7. In the mentioned mix designs, silica fume was used with 0 and 7% of the weight of the cement. In order to check the properties of fresh and hardened concrete, 9 and 5 test types were performed, respectively. The carried out tests were slump flow, V-funnel, J-ring, L-box, U-box and column segregation for fresh concrete, and compressive, tensile and flexural strengths for hardened concrete. A mix with only 100% natural gravel was considered as the control mix. According to the results, the control mix design and the one containing 100% crushed gravel with silica fume were the best in fresh and hardened concrete tests, respectively. Finally, using the optimization method, a mix design with 25% natural gravel, 75% crushed gravel and silica fume was introduced as the best mix in terms of the results of both fresh and hardened concrete tests.

• Clean Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.238-243
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• 2006

The aggregate properties of chilled converter slag reformed by atomizing liquid converter slag were investigated. The properties of mortars with various replacement of standard sand by chilled converter slag as recycled fine aggregates were investigated. The particle shape of chilled converter slag by atomizing was a sphere with an open cavity which is enclosed with two layers like a bored coconut. Specific gravity, unit weight and fineness modulus increased with increasing the replacement, and solid content had the maximum at the replacement of 75% and water absorption rate had the minimum at the replacement. The hardened mortars with higher replacements have the higher specific gravity and the denser texture.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.90-97
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• 2009

The purpose of the study was to examine basic property at the time of applying cast ('CS' below) and high fineness fine particle cement ('FC' below) as a stimulant to 20% substitution cement mortar of ground granulated blast-furnace slag ('BS' below) to settle a problem that early strength of BS mortar is lowered. The results were as follows. First of all, as a characteristic of fresh mortar, liquidity was reduced as much as BS substitution rate was increased. When substituting CS for BS 20%, it didn't have a large effect regardless of substitution rate. When substituting FC, it was reduced as much as substitution was increased. In the event of compressive strength, it was reduced as much as BS substitution was increased in early age. In age 28, it was somewhat increased by reflection of potential hydraulicity. With regard to improvement of early compressive/bending strength of BS 20% substitution mortar, when substituting CS, in early age, they were a little increased as much as addition rate was increased. When substituting FC, in early and 28 age, they were largely increased as much as substitution rate was increased. To settle a problem that early strength of BS 20% substitution mortar was lowered, CS substitution has a little effect and FC 25% substitution was similar to plain with only OPC. Therefore, when substituting FC 25%, it is expected that its quality will be improved.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.487-494
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• 2011

In this research, the possibility of using bottom ash as a binder for the alkali-activated cement mortar is studied. Several experiments were performed to investigate the variation of the material properties according to the mix proportion. In the experimental program, the flowability and compressive strength were evaluated for various values of water/ash ratio, activator/ash ratio, sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide ratio, curing temperature, and the fineness of bottom ash as the main variables. The experimental results showed that high strength of 40 MPa or greater could be achieved in $60^{\circ}C$ high temperature curing condition with proper flowability. For $20^{\circ}C$ ambient temperature curing, the 28 days compressive strength of approximately 30MPa could be obtained although the early-age strength development was very slow. Based on the results, the range of optimized mix design of bottom-ash based alkali-activated cement mortar was suggested. In addition, using the artificial neural network analysis, the flowability and compressive strength were predicted with the difference in the mix proportion of the bottom-ash based alkali-activated cement mortar.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.81-88
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• 2005

The fly ash has been widely used in the latest to complement the performance and economical efficiency of the concrete which uses only a normal portland cement, the pulp ash gained through the incineration of paper sludge is possible to be used as the material of concrete because it contains the properties similar to the previous fly ash in ingredients and physical characteristics. Therefore, this research has tested physical characteristics by replacing 20% of fly ash used with the paper ash to solve the problem which lowers the early strength caused when the fly ash was used. As a result, it showed that the fluidity becomes lower and the compressive strength becomes increased by using paper ash. In addition, after mixing the paper ash with the fly ash, it showed that time and heating amount of the 2nd peak of the minor heat of hydration affecting the revelation of strength was equivalent to the combination for normal portland cement, and also indicated that the compressive strength for 3 days is superior to the combination of the fly ash. Therefore, if the paper ash having a regular fineness is used, it was effective in improving the early strength of concrete used the fly ash.