CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY– 22CE402

NAME : Perarasan M, Arulraj S, Sabarinath J, Adhithya R

REG NO : 727822TUCV015 ,004,002,021
DEPARTMENT : B.E , CIVIL ENGINEERING
YEAR : SECOND YEAR
SUBJECT : CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY
SUBJECT CODE : 22CE402
TITLE : Assessing of water absorption on concrete
DATE : 6.05.2024

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Abstract

The studies were carried out to find a relation between important physical property and the
main mechanical parameter of concretes containing fly ash (FA) in order to develop indications
for the production of durable composites with the addition of this waste. The tests included low
volume fly ash concrete (LVFAC). The cements used in the studies were following: ordinary
Portland cement (OPC), (FA-00) and two blended Portland cements containing FA in the
amount of: 20 %, (FA-20) and 30 % (FA-30). Measurements of water adsorption (wa) by
immersion and compressive strength (fcm) of analysed composites have been performed. The
microstructure of all three materials was also assessed. Due to the fact that, the methodology
of the wa tests was to reflect the conditions prevailing in the case of concrete- and reinforced
concrete structures operating below the water table these tests were very significant from both
a scientific and engineering point of view. Test results indicated that LVFAC mixes developed
28-day fcm between 45.10 for FA-30–48.96 MPa for FA-20 with a value of 47.51 MPa for the
reference concrete. Neverless wa of LVFAC mixes decreased with the increase in FA content.
The average values of wa was 4.6 % for FA-30 % and 5.3 % for FA-20, respectively, while for
concrete without FA it was 5.0 %. Thus, it was found that wa by immersion was inversely
proportional to the fcm. Based on the microstructural studies it was found that this behavior is
attributed to reduced pore diameters and densification of cement matrix microstructure in FA-
30 concrete. On the other hand concrete of series FA-20 showed a loose and porous
microstructure, and wa in this composite increased accordingly.

Introduction
Construction is a fast-growing industrial sector that meets the current trends of industrialization
and infrastructure development. Concrete, on the other hand, is a structural material
constituting a module inseparably related to this area of the economy What's more, the
development of concrete production technology in recent years has gained a pace that has never
been recorded in history .

Nevertheless, this highly useful construction material is still burdened with negative
consequences resulting from the use of cement binder for its production. The basic binder in
concrete is ordinary Portland cement (OPC), the production of which is unfortunately the main
contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mainly CO2, associated with global warming
and climate change on Earth .It is estimated that the amount of CO2 produced during the
burning of the Portland clinker, from which OPC is obtained after grinding, is from 8 % to even
10 % of the global annual emission of this harmful oxide .

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At this point, it should be noted that both of the above composites, i.e., LVFAC and HVFAC,
although both contain the same type of FA, are completely different materials. Due to the
significant differences in the level of OPC substitution between LVFAC and HVFAC, FA in
each of the above concretes plays a different role in the process of material structure formation.
In the case of more frequently used and better recognized LVFAC, reinforcement of the cement
matrix with a modified composition is mainly the result of the pozzolanic activity of the FAs
used. In the case of HVFAC, due to the very high replacement of cement by FA, only part of
the grains of the additive used is able to participate in the processes of the pozzolanic reaction.
In this type of composites, some of the grains do not react even after a very long period of
curing. In this case, unreacted FA grains are treated as an additional microfiller in the cement
matrix structure.

Since most of the previous research and applications concern mainly concretes with a content
of FA up to 30 % by weight of cement, in the presented article an important physical property
affecting the durability of concretes with FA in relation to LVFAC has been analyzed. The
manuscript presents the assessment of water absorption for concretes modified with various
amounts of FA additive in the context of durability assessment of this construction material. In
addition to the analysis of the specific property of LVFAC, the presented research also
addresses the solution of the above-mentioned problems in terms of reducing CO2 emissions
from the cement sector. For this reason, a more in-depth understanding of the next characteristic
of LVFAC may enable an increase in the use of this material in concrete technology and a more
sustainable development of the construction industry.

Materials

All of the materials used in the studies came from the area of Polish. Both the type of materials
used and the place of their acquisition were the same as in the case of previous studies of the
same composites assessing their other parameters, e.g.. Therefore, it was possible to confront
the results obtained in the following experiments with others, obtained earlier, e.g., fracture
toughness tests assessed both at: I, II, III and a mixed cracking model, or the assessment of
brittleness and microcracks in the ITZ area 010.

• Therefore, component materials used in this study are:

• ordinary Portland cement CEM I 32.5 R (Chełm cement plant),
• class F FA (Puławy thermal-electric power station),coarse aggregate (natural gravel
with grain diameters ranging from 2.0 to 8.0 mm, Las Suwalski deposit),
• fine aggregate (pit sand with a maximum size of 2.0 mm, Markuszów deposit),

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 • plasticizer (Basf Liquol BV-18),
• tap water.
• The chemical compositions and main properties of binders used are listed

Mix design
In previous studies of the same LVFAC it has been established among others, that significant
changes in the analyzed parameters of concretes are brought by modification of their binder by
20 % and 30 % by FA additive. Experiments with the use of 10 % of this SCM showed no
significant differences in the values of the analyzed strength parameters and fracture mechanics
parameters of concretes [24], [60], [67], [127].

Therefore, the implementation of all tests was assumed for three types of concrete, while
concrete mix proportions were determined based on the following assumptions:

• constant: total amount of binder, amount of coarse and fine aggregate and water,
• constant water-binder ratio, w/b= 0.4,
• FA content in different series was: 0 (FA-00), 20 (FA-20) and 30 (FA-30),
• the quantities of FA is expressed as percentages of mass of the cement content.
• The quantities of component materials for 1 m3 of concrete mix were calculated based
on these conditions. The designed quantities of component materials are shown in Table

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Casting and curing of test specimens
A laboratory concrete mixer with 100 L capacity was utilized in preparation of all concrete
mixtures. Mixture time was about 9 min for each mixture. The process of mixing its
components included the following basic steps:

• mix gravel and sand in a drum mixer for 120 s,

• add the binding materials, i.e., OPC and FA, and mix for 180 s,
• add the mixture of 0.5 water, and mix for 120 s,
• add the mixture of 0.5 water and plasticizer, and mix to obtain a homogenous mixture
for about 120 s
• Moreover, it should be noted that in order to maintain constant workability for each
fresh concrete mixture, plasticizer was used (Table 3).
• Subsequently, the mixture was poured into the molds. Mechanical vibration was
applied for casting and compacting the fresh specimens. Cubes with a dimension of
150 × 150 × 150 mm were prepared from each mixture to determine compressive
strength parameter and water absorption property.

• After preparing specimens, they were stored in the casting room for 48 h. Specimens
were covered by wet burlap to prevent water loss. After demolding the specimens,
they were taken to moist curing chamber, and maintained at 20 ± 2 ℃ and more than
95% relative humidity for first 14 days. Next, for the following two weeks until
testing the specimens were maintained under laboratory conditions.

Compressive strength analysis

The compressive strength of concrete – fcm was tested in accordance with the

European Standard EN 12390–3:2011 +AC:2012 on 150 mm cubes with the use of

Walter +bai ag hydraulic servo testing machine as shown in. Six specimens were

tested for each concrete type. During the tests:

o the specimens were loaded statically,

o maximum bearing capability was 3000 kN,

o loading rate of compressive strength test was in range between

0.5 MPa/s and 0.8 MPa/s.

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Water absorption examination

Concrete absorption tests were carried out on cubic specimens with a side of 150 mm (6 with
each series of concrete), cured for 28 days, by completely immersing endried cubes. During
the studies the amount of water absorbed per unit of initial mass of specimens was recorded.
The test setup with all details is shown in.