The use of high performance concrete in construction has been enhanced by the use of pozzolanic materials. However, the use of these materials has not been optimized. Such optimization may be achieved by a systematic increase in the amount and combination of pozzolanic material additions, with accompanying studies of their effects on the mechanical, durability and microstructural characteristics of blended concrete. This work evaluated various concrete durability issues by studying systematic increases of pozzolanic materials such as fly ash and blast furnace slag (BFS) in the range of 25, 50 and 70%, and silica fume at 10% of total cementitious materials, forming various binary and ternary concrete blends. The concrete specimens were cured for a period of seven days after demoulding in line with widely practiced commercial curing procedures. The research explored the role and effectiveness of various binary and ternary blends of pozzolanic materials on the mechanical, durability and microstructural characteristics of concrete. Durability was evaluated by two independent rapid chloride permeability tests measured as charge passed and chloride conductivity from the RCPT and UCT tests respectively. These two rapid tests were coupled with long-term ponding tests to evaluate chloride ingress and the extent of corrosion for a period of two years. Further durability tests such as carbonation, drying shrinkage and porosity of these blends were also undertaken. This study also utilized micro-analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy to follow the hydration mechanism in various binary and ternary blends. Statistical significance testing was used to analyse and confirm all experimental results and conclusions. It is well known that a level of caution is exercised in the construction industry in the use of ternary blends. This study aims to evaluate the durability aspects of ternary concrete blends, in addition to binary blends, for resistance to chloride, corrosion, carbonation attacks and provide recommendations relating to the limits of blending level, as well as exposure conditions for blended concretes, based on the results of this study. It is expected that this will fill a major knowledge gap observed in the concrete industry. A comparison of two rapid chloride permeability tests such as UCT and RCPT indicates that the UCT test is easy and practicable, and does not contradict results obtained in the standard RCPT. However, the statistical significance of results obtained for some blends was only able to be established by using the RCPT. This effect can be attributed to the larger size specimens compared to UCT. The recommended blend to acquire both early-age and long-term strength development in fly ash is the ternary blends comprising 10% silica fume and 25% fly ash cast using lower w/b ratio. In addition, the same blend exhibited lower carbonation depth, lower charge passed from RCPT, lower chloride ingress and higher corrosion resistance characteristics from long-term ponding test compared to other blends of fly ash. In BFS blends, an increase in compressive strength was observed only in the specimens of 25% BFS compared to other higher percentage blends, while the higher addition of 50 and 70% replacement showed no significant difference in compressive strength between them and their corresponding ternary blends with addition of silica fume. The results of this study indicate that control (OPC) specimens cast with increased w/b ratio of 0.48 showed higher chloride ingress compared to both binary blends of 70% fly ash and 70% BFS specimens. This indicates that (OPC) cast using higher w/b ratio is to be avoided in chloride environments. On the other hand, though, the ternary blends of 10% silica fume and up to 50% fly ash exhibited lower chloride ingress compared to their respective binary blends of fly ash. However, these ternary blends exhibited lower compressive strength, more negative corrosion potential and higher corrosion rate, compared to the respective binary blends of 25% fly ash and its ternary blends. Therefore, the recommended blend observed in the long-term ponding test is the ternary blend of 25% fly ash and 10% silica fume. The recommended level of corrosion resistance in slag specimens is achieved by the use of ternary blends comprising silica fume at 10% added to the blend that contains up to 70% slag. However, the recommended level of slag for a lower carbonation effect is the use of a ternary blend comprising 50% slag and 10% silica fume (3B5S1) which showed a carbonation depth of 10.8 mm and a compressive strength of 53.2 MPa after 365 days of exposure. The drying shrinkage of concrete increased with the increase in fly ash and the same trend was observed in BFS specimens. However, the results were not significantly different between their respective blends. The extent of carbonation in fly ash specimens was higher compared to BFS blends specimens. This can be attributed to the formation of dusty and weak surfaces on the outer surface in addition to the excessive leaching of sodium chloride solution from the long-term ponding test in the former specimens compared to later. The high volume pozzolanic materials, irrespective of fly ash or BFS and addition of silica fume (70% fly ash and 10% silica fume, and 70% BFS and 10% silica fume), showed higher cumulative pore volume indicating that these blends with seven days of curing were not beneficial. These high volume ternary blends required prolonged curing to release portlandite from the hydration of cement to continue the pozzolanic reaction. This study has shown that 7-days curing of the pozzolanic concrete is inadequate if pozzolanic activity is to be invoked. This is particularly the case when it is expected that the concrete is likely to be subjected to a harsher than usual environment characterised by a dry atmosphere.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/277416 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Ahmed, Mohammad Sharfuddin, Aerospace, Civil & Mechanical Engineering, Australian Defence Force Academy, UNSW |
| Publisher | Awarded by:University of New South Wales - Australian Defence Force Academy. School of Aerospace, Civil and Mechanical Engineering |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Mohammad Sharfuddin Ahmed, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright |
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