International Concrete Abstracts Portal

SP-228CD This CD-ROM of Special Publication 228 contains the papers presented at the Seventh International Symposium on the Utilization of High-Strength/High- Performance Concrete that was held in Washington, D.C., USA, June 20-24, 2005. The symposium continued the success of previous symposia held in Stavanger, Norway, (1987); Berkeley, California (1990); Lillehammer, Norway, (1993); Paris, France, (1996); Sandefjord, Norway, (1999); and Leipzig, Germany, (2002). The symposium brought together engineers and material scientists from around the world to discuss topics ranging from the latest applications to the most recent research on high-strength and high-performance concrete. In the years since the first symposium was held in Stavanger, there has been worldwide growth in the use of both high-strength and high-performance concrete. In addition to more research and applications of traditional types of high-performance concrete, the use of self-consolidating concrete and ultra-high-performance concrete has moved from the laboratory to practical applications. This publication offers the opportunity to learn the latest about these developments.

This study deals first with the deterioration of glass fiber in mortar due to the alkali of cement and how to improve the deterioration of the glass fiber in mortar using special admixture of blast furnace fume (BFF). The deterioration is estimated by an accelerated test for flexural strength of mortar stored in water at 80 °C for 3 weeks. Secondly, the deterioration of mortar due to sulfuric acid attack using blast furnace fume(BFF) is investigated. Dust collected from the top of Chinese small-sized iron blast furnaces is called BFF in Japan , and is used as admixture for high strength concrete in China. BFF is composed of very fine particles with spherical shape. Its average grain size is several micrometers in diameter. Test results of this first study shows that the deterioration of glass fiber in mortar due to alkali is not improved by using BFF alone but is significantly improved by using both BFF and blast furnace slag (BFS) or silica fume (SF). Concerning acid attack, it is found that the deterioration of mortar in dilute sulfuric acid is significantly decreased by using both of BFF and BFS or SF.

Chemical attack poses a serious problem for concrete structures in severe environments. This investigation deals with exposure of high strength/high performance concrete to sulfate attack in a controlled environment. Experimental tests consisted of measuring the compressive strength, tensile strength and modulus of elasticity after 3 years of exposure to corrosive conditions consisting of chemical solutions containing 1%(NH4)2SO4 and 2%(NH4)2SO4.

Corrosion of concrete sewer pipes by sulfuric acid attack is a problem of global scope. The current paper aims at evaluating two supplementary cementing materials metakaolin and geopolymer cement as partial cement replacements for improving the ability of concrete to resist severe sulfuric acid attack. Both, metakaolin and geopolymer cement were found to significantly improve the resistance of concrete made of Type 10 and 50E cements to 3% and 7% sulfuric acid solutions (pH of 0.6 and 0.3, respectively). Maximum weight loss reduction with respect to the control for specimens made of modified Type 50E cement ranged between 20% and 37%, depending on the additive and the concentration of the acid. Maximum weight loss reduction for specimens made of modified Type 10 cement range between 10% and 42%, depending on the additive and the concentration of the acid. For this test Type 10 cement was found to perform best in the presence of geopolymer cement while the performance of the Type 50E cement was best when metakaolin was used as partial replacement for cement. The results emphasize the important role that the nature and composition of hydration products and the completeness of the hydration process play in improving concrete resistance to acid attack.

The porosity of cement mortars can be reduced by decreasing the water cement ratio with corresponding addition of superplasticizer to maintain workability. Further, the pore structure itself can be modified by the incorporation of pozzolanic admixtures such as Silica Fume, and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) powder. The reduced water cement ratio combined with refined pore structure increases the compressive strength in addition to enhancement in durability characteristics. Such cement mortars are termed as High Performance Mortars. The paper highlights the findings of a project which investigated the sorptivity characteristics of mortar mixes using (a) different percentages of GGBFS partially replacing OPC (b) reduced water cement ratios using superplasticizer admixture to improve the workability of mixes and (c) combination of superplasticizer admixtures and GGBFS. It is concluded that High Performance Mortars can be obtained by modifying a conventional high strength mortar mix by reducing the water/binder ratio and adding pozzolanic admixtures and superplasticizers.