International Concrete Abstracts Portal

Compressive fatigue strength of concrete in a submerged condition deteriorates drastically compared with concrete in an air-dried condition. One of the reasons for the lowering of fatigue strength in submerged or wet concrete appears to be the influence of the reduction of the bond at the interface between the aggregate and the cement paste. However, this reduction may be mitigated by reducing the calcium hydroxide content and filling the voids at the interface. In this study, compressive fatigue tests were performed in submerged conditions using concrete composed of blast furnace slag or silica fume. The 2-million-cycle fatigue strength of this submerged concrete improved up to 44 percent of its static strength in water compared to 31 percent for ordinary concrete in water. However, this was found to be smaller than 56 percent for ordinary concrete in air. During these tests, the pH of the water in the test tank and the strain of the specimens were measured, and the amounts of calcium hydroxide that oozed out from the specimen and the strain behavior were investigated. The increase in fatigue strength is due to an improvement in the aggregate interface bond and watertightness. However, the expansion of cracks just before failure, which is a distinct characteristic of fatigue in water, was not checked.

Silica fume is no longer a waste by-product from the silicon metal and ferrosilicon alloy industries, but a well-established pozzolanic material which can contribute unique properties to portland cement products. The use of silica fume in cement and concrete technology has sharply increased in North America in the last 5 years. An overview of recently published literature on the subject is presented. Silica fume modifies physical characteristics of fresh cement paste as well as the microstructure of the paste after hardening. The various mechanisms of action of silica fume that cause physical and chemical changes in concrete are discussed. The role of silica fume in altering engineering properties of concrete is highlighted. In particular, the effects of silica fume on the following properties of concrete are discussed: rheological properties (such as consistency and cohesiveness), mechanical properties (such as compressive, tensile, and flexural strengths; bond strength with reinforcement; creep and drying shrinkage), and durability (such as resistance to deterioration by aggressive chemicals, abrasion-erosion, and freeze-thaw cycles).

Cement pastes of interest for high-strength concrete technology were investigated by high-resolution solid state magic angle spinning (MAS) Si-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in combination with thermal analysis (DTA/TG). NMR reveals the degree of hydration for C3S/C2S in cement, pozzolanic activity of condensed silica fume, and average chain length of the silicate anions in the CSH-gel. A combination of NMR and DTA/TC data gives the empirical formula of the CSH-gel. The binders investigated were made from blended portland cement containing 0, 8, and 16 percent cement replacement with condensed silica fume and water-binder ratios of 0.20, 0.30, and 0.40. The specimens were allowed to cure in sealed conditions for 1, 3, 7, 28, 126, and 442 days. The results confirmed that condensed silica fume is a very reactive pozzolan. The conversion rate of condensed silica fume to hydration products after 3 days of curing was, in fact, higher than for the neat cement at the same age. After 3 days of curing, condensed silica fume reduced the degree of hydration of the cement in the blended cement pastes when compared with pastes without it. The effect was enhanced at later ages when the cement hydration process stopped while the pozzolanic reaction continued to near completion. In regard to the composition of the CSH-gel, it was found that the average chain length for the linear polysilicate anions increased with decreasing w(c + s) and, in particular, with increasing dosages of condensed silica fume. Furthermore, the c/s of the gel decreased considerably with increasing dosages of condensed silica fume. The mechanism of the pozzolanic reaction of condensed silica fume is discussed.

The decrease in relative humidity during hydration and the chemical shrinkage have been measured for different cement paste compositions. The amount of nonevaporable water per degree of hydration as found by NMR, pore size distribution by mercury intrusion, and total porosity to water have also been determined. The cement pastes were made form portland cement with 0, 8, and 16 percent condensed silica fume, with w/c + s of 0.20, 0.30, and 0.40. The relative humidity (RH) was found to decrease rapidly during the first 2 weeks and reach about 78 percent RH after more than a year for the lowest w/c + s, independent of the CSF dosage. The highest ratio gave about 87 percent RH. The nonevaporable water per degree of hydration depends on the NMR-based estimate of the degree of cement hydration, but it is most consistent (i.e., independent of w/c + s and CSF dosage) when it is assumed that the CSF dosage does not consume any water. The water porosity was found to increase with increasing CSF dosage, while the mercury intrusion results showed both a finer pore structure and smaller total porosity with increasing CSF dosage. Mercury intrusion into miniconcretes (dmax = 8 mm) with the same binders gave a much coarser pore size distribution, indicating that the paste-aggregate interface region is more open than the bulk paste. No evidence was found that increased CSF dosage improved the interface pore structure. This is in contrast to other evidence in the literature, and may be caused by partial dehydration and/or microcrack formation during the drying at 105 C.

Silica fume has an accelerating effect on the early hydration of portland cement. Also, silica fume reduces the retarding effect of lignosulfates. At standard curing conditions, the contribution to strength from the pozzolanic reaction takes place primarily at 5 to 7 days. As a result, existing equations for prediction of strength development based on pure portland cement are no longer valid for concrete with silica fume. Some new equations for concrete with various contents of silica fume are presented.