International Concrete Abstracts Portal

The first two abrasion-erosion concrete repair projects in the United States that used silica fume (SF) concrete started in 1983. One was the stilling basin rehabilitation of the Kinzua Dam, in northwestern Pennsylvania. The other was the Los Angeles River low-flow channel rehabilitation project (completed in 1985). The first known application of SF concrete (SFC) addressing cavitation resistance occurred in 1985, also at the Kinzua Dam, but for a sluice repair. This paper largely summarizes long term performance information relating to the 1983 to 1985 SFC placements. Other, more recent, SFC projects in which abrasion-erosion or cavitation was a concern are mentioned. Also presented are two mixtures featuring portland cement with ground granulated blast furnace slag and SF that were recently used in a very severe environment. Overall, after up to 10-1/2 years in service, the various SFCs are performing very well. The 1983 Kinzua Dam stilling basin SFC wear after 10-1/2 years is only a small fraction of that seen in previously utilized concretes. For the Los Angeles River SFCs, all of the three different SFC mixtures that were employed are performing comparably as of March 1994. Overall erosion was uniform and to an estimated 4 to 12 mm depth. The 1985 Kinzua Dam sluice repair concrete showed no evidence of cavitation damage by 1994.

Describes chemical attack caused by a high concentration CaCl 2 solution and its preventive measures by the addition of a mineral admixture. Changes which occur in mechanical strengths and chemical properties in mortars with and without fly ash, blast furnace slag, and silica fume when immersed in a 30 percent CaCl 2 solution at different temperatures were investigated. Portland cement mortars seriously deteriorated at early ages of exposure to a high concentration CaCl 2 solution, its deterioration being associated with cracking and spalling on the surfaces of specimens. On the other hand, 10 percent silica fume and 50 percent blast furnace slag mortars showed a good resistance to calcium chloride attack, although 30 percent fly ash mortars slightly deteriorated at late ages of exposure. X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis indicated that the deterioration of portland cement mortars cause by the chemical attack of a high concentration CaCl 2 solution was attributed primarily to both the dissolution of calcium hydroxide and the simultaneous formation of a complex salt in the mortar. Thus, the combined effect of a decrease in calcium hydroxide content and a reduced chloride ion permeability by the addition of a mineral admixture effectively improved the resistance of mortar to calcium chloride attack.

Describes test results obtained on the heat of hydration, strength development, hydration products, pore structure, and combined water of blended cements with high fineness and large amounts of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and discusses the relationship between them, comparing them with ordinary portland cement (OPC) and blended cement with smaller amounts of GGBS. The following conclusions were drawn from this study. 1. The heat of hydration of blended cement with over 70 percent content of GGBS reduces significantly. The blended cement incorporating a large amount of GGBS with high fineness can have the properties of lower heat of hydration and relatively high compressive strength required for massive concrete generally used in Japan. 2. The blended cement with high fineness and high content of GGBS results in a more compact pore structure than OPC due to the formation of finer hydration products.

Various accelerated test methods have been proposed for the assessment of sulfate resistance of cements. A majority of these methods measure the expansion of mortar prisms in sulfate solution. Differences in test procedure can have a significant effect on the expansion observed and may possible affect the ranking of cement types. The different performance in sulfate solutions of cements containing different slag percentages and water- cement ratios and the lesser influence of different slag alumina contents have been reported previously. This paper summarizes data from various test works which demonstrate the effect on expansion of variations in the following test parameters: aggregate- cement ratio (at constant water-cement ratio), specimen shape, initial curing period, specimen compaction, initial curing deficiencies, early carbonation, concentration of sulfate solution, and type of sulfate solution. The first three of these parameters had comparatively little influence on expansion; the remainder had more significant influences on expansion. Sieving mortar for test specimens from production concrete provided a useful and comparable method of assessment. The test programs were principally concerned with slag cement blends, but as any test method had to be applicable to all types of cement, a number of sulfate-resisting portland cements were tested. The wide range of expansion characteristics suggest that a "typical" control SRPC may not be easily defined.

When using high-strength concrete in large structures, it is important to minimize generation of thermal stresses during hydration of cement and to minimize variation of concrete properties. The proper workability is also very important. A research program is underway with the above aspects in mind to optimize the requirements of high strength, low heat generation, and pumpability, using both the newly developed low heat cement (LSC) with high content of finely ground blast furnace slag and the high-range, water-reducing admixture. This paper describes the test results on fundamental properties, pumpability, and thermal stress reduction effects on high-strength concrete of 60 MPa, using this type of low heat cement. The following results were obtained. 1. The heat generation of LSC is remarkably lower than conventional low heat cement (blended cement: FMKC). When using LSC, the thermal stress was reduced by 60 percent compared to concrete using normal portland cement. 2. The quality of concrete manufactured in the concrete plant was comparatively uniform. 3.Pressure loss during pumping was three to four times larger than ordinary concrete. However, it was verified that after pumping, the quality of concrete using LSC showed satisfactory workability and had less variation compared to the quality of concrete using FMKC. 4. From results mentioned above, by selecting proper high-range, water-reducing admixture, the use of LSC is considered to be a solution for reducing cracks due to hydration in high-strength concrete while maintaining suitable workability and sufficient strength development.