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Mousavinezhad, S.; Gonzales, G.J.; Toledo, W.K.; Garcia, J.M.; Newtson, C.M.; Allena, S. Ultra-High Performance Concrete Mixtures and Supplementary Cementitious Materials. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/51641 (accessed on 20 May 2024).
Mousavinezhad S, Gonzales GJ, Toledo WK, Garcia JM, Newtson CM, Allena S. Ultra-High Performance Concrete Mixtures and Supplementary Cementitious Materials. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/51641. Accessed May 20, 2024.
Mousavinezhad, Seyedsaleh, Gregory J. Gonzales, William K. Toledo, Judit M. Garcia, Craig M. Newtson, Srinivas Allena. "Ultra-High Performance Concrete Mixtures and Supplementary Cementitious Materials" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/51641 (accessed May 20, 2024).
Mousavinezhad, S., Gonzales, G.J., Toledo, W.K., Garcia, J.M., Newtson, C.M., & Allena, S. (2023, November 16). Ultra-High Performance Concrete Mixtures and Supplementary Cementitious Materials. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/51641
Mousavinezhad, Seyedsaleh, et al. "Ultra-High Performance Concrete Mixtures and Supplementary Cementitious Materials." Encyclopedia. Web. 16 November, 2023.
Ultra-High Performance Concrete Mixtures and Supplementary Cementitious Materials
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This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/ma16072622

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is a novel cement-based material with exceptional mechanical and durability properties. Silica fume, the primary supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in UHPC, is expensive in North America, so it is often substituted with inexpensive class F fly ash. However, future availability of fly ash is uncertain as the energy industry moves toward renewable energy, which creates an urgent need to find cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternatives to fly ash. Replacing cement, fly ash, and silica fume in UHPC mixtures with ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS), metakaolin, and a natural pozzolan (pumicite) are investigated. To identify acceptable UHPC mixtures (28-day compressive strength greater than 120 MPa), workability, compression, and flexural tests were conducted on all mixtures. Then, durability properties including shrinkage, frost resistance, and chloride ion permeability (rapid chloride permeability and surface resistivity tests) were evaluated for the acceptable UHPC mixtures. Results showed that 75, 100, and 40% of fly ash in the control mixture could be replaced with pumicite, metakaolin, and GGBFS, respectively, while still producing acceptable strengths. Flexural strengths were greater than 14.20 MPa for all mixtures. For durability, UHPC mixtures had shrinkage strains no greater than 406 μstrain, durability factors of at least 105, and “very low” susceptibility to chloride ion penetration, indicating that these SCMs are suitable candidates to completely replace fly ash and partially replace silica fume in non-proprietary UHPC.

durability fly ash ground granulated blast-furnace slag metakaolin natural pozzolan frost resistance shrinkage

1. Introduction

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is an emerging concrete material with exceptional mechanical and durability properties, such as resistance to frost damage and chloride ion penetration [1]. UHPC must have a minimum 28-day compressive strength of 120 MPa and a minimum tensile strength (at first crack) of 6.9 MPa to meet the combined requirements of ASTM C1856 [2], the Canadian Standards Association (CSA A23.1 [3]), and the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA 2052 [4]). Proprietary UHPC mixtures developed with specific high-quality materials are often shipped long distances, even internationally, for use on construction projects. However, the sustainability of this practice is questionable due to high production costs (up to 20 to 30 times that of normal strength concrete [NSC]) driven by expensive aggregates and steel fibers, high contents of high-quality cementitious materials that are not economically viable in all locations, and the shipping costs. Aggregate cost is often elevated due to processing high-quality sands (clean quartz or similar) to achieve an optimal gradation with a narrow range of particle sizes. Non-proprietary UHPC offers potential sustainability improvements by using local aggregates that may be of marginal quality with natural particle size distributions. Non-proprietary UHPC may also utilize inexpensive supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) that are locally available but have lower quality than SCMs commonly used in proprietary UHPC, such as silica fume.
Silica fume is a key SCM in proprietary UHPC that improves density, mechanical properties, and durability properties because of its reactivity and its small particle size [5][6]. In many locations, silica fume has been partially replaced with class F fly ash because silica fume can be expensive in locations where it is not produced [7][8]. Unfortunately for the concrete industry, class F fly ash availability is diminishing because coal-fired power plants are being decommissioned [9][10]. Consequently, there is a need to identify replacements for silica fume that can reduce cost of locally produced UHPC.
Although a few studies have been conducted on non-proprietary UHPC mixtures [11][12][13], variability in potential constituent materials and their properties in different regions demands a larger body of research to further the development of these sustainable mixtures. Previous non-proprietary UHPC studies have typically used just one alternative SCM to replace the primary SCMs (silica fume and fly ash) in UHPC mixtures. Additionally, most have used either ultra-fine aggregates or an optimized gradation, both of which increase the cost of UHPC production. The narrow focus of individual research papers leaves a need for comprehensive studies to comparatively evaluate the effects of a broad range of SCMs on rheological, mechanical, and durability properties of non-proprietary UHPC mixtures, especially mixtures containing locally available aggregates with larger aggregate top size and with less processing to control gradation.
This research investigated the possibility of replacing cement, fly ash, and silica fume as primary constituents in non-proprietary UHPC due to the high costs and environmental impacts of silica fume and fly ash, respectively, in North America [7][8][9][10]. To replace the original cementitious materials, three SCMs that are considered to be more sustainable were used. The alternative SCMs included a natural pozzolan (pumicite), metakaolin, and  ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS). These SCMs were selected because they are the most readily available and among the most sustainable SCMs in the USA. Specifically, pumicite is locally available in New Mexico, USA, where the research has been conducted. Although metakaolin and GGBFS are not locally produced in New Mexico, USA, they are available regionally.
To conduct the research, the effects of replacing cement, fly ash, and silica fume with pumicite, metakaolin, and GGBFS on workability, compressive strength, and flexural strength of 16 mixtures were assessed to identify mixtures that qualified as UHPC (compressive strength greater than 120 MPa and tensile strength at first crack greater than 6.9 MPa). After identifying acceptable UHPC mixtures, durability characteristics including shrinkage, frost resistance, rapid chloride permeability, and surface resistivity were investigated. It should be noted that a locally available, naturally occurring sand (4.75 mm top size) that is commonly used for concrete production in New Mexico, USA, was used without additional processing to control gradation.

2. UHPC Sustainability

Studies have shown that the superior durability of UHPC has the potential to extend the service life of structures to more than two hundred years, which is two or three times greater than the service lives of the structures made with NSC [14][15]. Additionally, the high strength of UHPC (greater than 120 MPa) can facilitate significant reductions in the size of some concrete elements. According to Habert et al. [16], the CO2 emission of UHPC (using more than 1400 kg/m3 Portland cement) initially appears to be five to seven times greater than that of NSC when comparing the same amount of material. However, the environmental impact of UHPC can be less than 72% of the environmental impact from the NSC by considering the reduced concrete consumption and the improved service life.

3. Natural Pozzolan

A natural pozzolan is a raw or calcined natural material with pozzolanic properties that can lower both costs and carbon dioxide emissions for concrete. Pozzolanic materials are siliceous or siliceous and aluminous materials that can produce cementitious properties when they react with calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) in the presence of water [17]. Studies on different types of concrete such as NSC and self-compacting concrete indicate that natural pozzolans can act as both filler and pozzolanic material in concrete and are capable of increasing rate of hydration, reducing heat of hydration, and improving durability properties, such as resistance to sulfate attack and alkali–silica reaction [18][19][20].
In UHPC mixtures, studies have shown that partially replacing cement (up to 30%) and silica fume (up to 50%) with a natural pozzolan resulted in UHPC specimens with very low (or negligible) chloride ion penetration and drying shrinkage of less than 500 μstrain, whereas workability and mechanical properties of these UHPC mixtures did not substantially change [21][22]. However, the literature reporting the effects of natural pozzolans in non-proprietary UHPC is severely lacking and each of these studies either used aggregates with a maximum size less than 1.2 mm, optimized gradation, or both [21][22][23]. Using ultra-fine aggregates or an optimal gradation increases UHPC production cost which negatively impacts sustainability. Another area where the literature is extremely lacking is in regards to replacing fly ash with natural pozzolan in non-proprietary UHPC mixtures.

4. Metakaolin

Metakaolin is an inexpensive SCM produced by calcination of kaolin. Since metakaolin is manufactured, its production can be tightly controlled to produce a consistent, highly reactive SCM. There are several studies on different types of concrete (not UHPC) containing metakaolin that highlight the positive effects of metakaolin on the mechanical and durability properties as well as sustainability of the concrete [24][25]. Additionally, the body of literature for UHPC mixtures containing metakaolin appears to be more extensive than for natural pozzolan. However, many of the papers have reported on mixtures that would not qualify as UHPC according to any widely used specification, such as ASTM C1856 [2], CSA A23.1 [3], or SIA 2052 [4]. Of the studies that produced acceptable UHPC, each used either aggregates with a top size of less than 1.25 mm, optimized gradation, or both [26][27][28][29]. As previously stated, using ultra-fine aggregates or an optimized gradation increases the cost of UHPC production. Additionally, there is little literature showing the effects of fly ash replacement with metakaolin in non-proprietary UHPC mixtures.
It has been found that replacing all of the silica fume (20% by mass of cementitious materials) with metakaolin reduced UHPC compressive strength by only 6.7% [27]. It should be noted that silica fume was the only SCM used in that study. In another study, inclusion of metakaolin in UHPC mixtures to replace silica fume resulted in acceptable durability properties [28]. It has also been shown that chloride permeability, time of set, workability, and shrinkage decreased with increasing metakaolin content in UHPC [18][21][26][29]. Using metakaolin in UHPC was found to reduce diffusion due to its high specific surface area and extremely fine particles [30]. In yet another study, replacing silica fume with a blend of metakaolin and fly ash led to better workability, greater 28-day compressive strength, and lower drying shrinkage [31].

5. Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag

GGBFS is a highly cementitious by-product of iron extraction in a blast-furnace that appears to be a suitable alternative for cement, fly ash, and silica fume in UHPC. Although there are many studies on different types of concrete, but not UHPC, reporting the positive effects of GGBFS on early age strength, economic and environmental benefits, and service life [32][33][34][35], there are few studies on UHPC mixtures containing GGBFS, which is generally an inexpensive waste material. More importantly, previous studies have again used either an aggregate top size of less than 1.0 mm, optimal gradation, or both. As with natural pozzolan and metakaolin studies, there is little literature showing the effects of fly ash replacement with GGBFS in non-proprietary UHPC mixtures.
Previous UHPC studies aimed at minimizing silica fume content have not evaluated a broad range of rheological, mechanical, and durability properties. For instance, Ghafari et al. [36] focused only on shrinkage and reported that replacing 100% of the silica fume (by volume) with GGBFS in UHPC can decrease autogenous shrinkage without significantly changing compressive strength. There are studies that have evaluated a broad range of rheological, mechanical, and durability properties; however, those works maintained silica fume contents greater than 15% (by mass of cementitious materials) or only replaced Portland cement in their UHPC mixtures [37][38][39][40]. For instance, researchers showed that replacing 50% of the cement with GGBFS can produce 28-day compressive strengths comparable to the control mixtures (greater than 150 MPa) while increasing flowability and drying shrinkage in the first 24 h. Additionally, replacing cement with GGBFS was found to decrease short-term autogenous shrinkage while increase long-term autogenous shrinkage [37][38][39][40][41].

References

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  2. ASTM C1856/M-17; Standards Practice for Fabricating on Testing Specimens of UHPC. ASTM International: West Conshohocken, PA, USA, 2017.
  3. CSA A23.1; Concrete Materials and Methods of Concrete Construction, Annex U-Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC). Canadian Standards Association: Mississauga, ON, Canada, 2019.
  4. SIA 2052; Béton Fibré Ultra-Performant (BFUP)-Matériaux, Dimensionnement et Exécution (Ultra-High Performance Fibre Reinforced Cement-Based Composites - Construction Material, Dimensioning and Application). Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects: Zurich, Switzerland, 2016.
  5. Graybeal, B. Design and Construction of Field-Cast UHPC Connections; Publication No. FHWA HRT-14-084; FHWA, U.S. Department of Transportation: Washington, DC, USA, 2014.
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Subjects: Engineering, Civil
Contributors MDPI registered users' name will be linked to their SciProfiles pages. To register with us, please refer to https://encyclopedia.pub/register :
Seyedsaleh Mousavinezhad
,
Gregory J. Gonzales
,
William K. Toledo
,
Judit M. Garcia
,
Craig M. Newtson
,
Srinivas Allena
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Revisions: 2 times (View History)
Update Date: 16 Nov 2023
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