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Influence of various amounts of limestone powder on performance of

Portland limestone cement concretes

Article in Cement and Concrete Composites · November 2009

DOI: 10.1016/[Link].2009.08.003

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 Cement & Concrete Composites 31 (2009) 715–720

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Cement & Concrete Composites

journal homepage: [Link]/locate/cemconcomp

Influence of various amounts of limestone powder on performance

of Portland limestone cement concretes
Ali A. Ramezanianpour a, E. Ghiasvand b,*, I. Nickseresht b, M. Mahdikhani b, F. Moodi b
a
Head of Concrete Technology and Durability Research Center, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The benefits of limestone as a partial replacement for Portland Cement (PC) are well established. Eco-
Received 19 April 2009 nomic and environmental advantages by reducing CO2 emissions are well known. The paper describes
Received in revised form 13 August 2009 the effect of various amounts of limestone on compressive strength, water penetration, sorptivity, elec-
Accepted 14 August 2009
trical resistivity and rapid chloride permeability on concretes produced by using a combination of PC and
Available online 20 August 2009
limestone at 28, 90 and 180 days. The percentages of limestone that replace PC in this research are 0%, 5%,
10%, 15% and 20% by mass. The water/(clinker + limestone) or (w/b) ratios are 0.37, 0.45 and 0.55 having a
Keywords:
constant total binder content of 350 kg/m3. Generally, results show that the Portland limestone cement
Limestone
Compressive strength
(PLC) concretes having up to 10% limestone provide competitive properties with PC concretes.
Water penetration Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sorptivity
Electrical resistivity
RCPT

1. Introduction dilution effect, filler effect and heterogeneous nucleation [3–5].

The increase in the amount of limestone involves a decrease in
Concrete is a material used in many civil engineering projects. the amount of cement and consequently, an increase in the effec-
The majority of the cementitious binder used in concrete is based tive w/c ratio. The filler effect implies a modification in the initial
on Portland cement clinker, the manufacture of which is an porosity of the mix, and it generally produces a decrease in the
energy-intensive process. In addition, it produces a large amount water required to maintain constant workability. Heterogeneous
of greenhouse gas emissions, mostly CO2, resulting from release nucleation occurs because limestone particles act as nucleation
of CO2 from limestone in the pyro-processing of clinker. On the sites, increasing the early hydration of cement and, therefore, pro-
other hand, the concrete industry is one of the major consumers ducing a more disoriented crystallization of CH [6].
of natural resources. In order to reduce energy consumption, CO2 Most Portland cement specifications allow the use of limestone
emission and increase production, cement plants produce blended up to 5%. Beyond that, Portland limestone cements are categorized
cements, comprised of supplementary cementitious materials such based on the percentage of limestone added to the cement. Port-
as slag, natural pozzolan, fly ash and limestone. land limestone cements consisting of limestone from 5% up to
Before the 1980s, limestone was assumed as an inert filler. 35% are being produced and used in various countries around the
However, the results of recent studies show that calcium carboalu- world.
minate hydrates precipitate during the hydration of Portland Lime- The European Standard (EN 197-1-2000) has permitted up to 5%
stone Cement (PLC). In addition, there is an interaction between limestone as a minor additional constituent and also identifies four
tricalcium silicate (C3S) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3); the latter types of PLC containing 6–20% limestone (types II/A-L and II/A-LL)
accelerates the hydration of C3S and modifies the Ca/Si ratio of and 21–35% limestone (types II/B-L and II/B-LL), respectively [3].
C–S–H [1]. It is worth noting that limestone does not show pozzo- The ASTM Standard (C150-04) allows up to 5% of limestone. The
lanic properties and, consequently, does not produce C–S–H gel [2]. calcium carbonate (CaCO3) content calculated from the calcium
When limestone is used in cementitious materials, changes in the oxide content should be at least 70% by mass, so that the require-
capillary porosity occur due to several physical effects such as, ments of this standard are met [7].
Since 1983, the Canadian standard has allowed the inclusion of
up to 5% limestone addition for types 10 and 30 Portland cements.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 21 64543074; fax: +98 21 66414213. There is a similar trend in Latin American countries such as Argen-
E-mail address: Ebrahim_gh_63@[Link] (E. Ghiasvand). tina, Brazil, and Mexico [6].

0958-9465/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/[Link].2009.08.003
716 A.A. Ramezanianpour et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 31 (2009) 715–720

For instance, the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research

of Iran (ISIRI 4220-2005) allows the inclusion of 6–20% limestone
for PLC [8].
In this paper, the effect of various amounts of limestone on
compressive strength, water penetration, sorptivity, rapid chloride
permeability test (RCPT) and electrical resistivity in concretes pro-
duced by a combination of PC and limestone at 28, 90 and 180 days
are investigated.

2. Experimental program

2.1. Material

ASTM C 150 type I Portland cement was used in all the concrete
mixtures. Chemical and physical characteristics of clinker and Fig. 1. The grading of the coarse and fine aggregate.
limestone are shown in Table 1. The limestone should meet three
requirements: 2.2. Mixture proportion
(a) CaCO3 content greater than 75%; (b) clay content, deter-
mined with Methylene blue test (MBA), less than 1.20 g/100 g; The concrete production was carried out in a mixer of 60 liters
and (c) the total organic carbon (TOC) content shall conform to capacity. The percentages of limestone that replace PC in this re-
one of the following criteria: search are 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% that were added to clinker
in the laboratory. All replacements were made by mass. The water:
- LL: shall not exceed 0.20% by mass. binder (w/b) ratios were 0.37, 0.45 and 0.55 having a constant total
- L: shall not exceed 0.50% by mass [9]. binder (cement + limestone) content of 350 kg/m3. Slump was kept
constant at 9 ± 2 cm. The mixture proportions for concrete speci-
The used limestone satisfied all these requirements. mens are summarized in Table 2.
For all mix designs, coarse aggregates were crushed calcareous
stone with a maximum size of 19 mm and fine aggregate was nat- 2.3. Testing procedure and specimen preparation
ural sand. The coarse aggregates have a specific gravity and a water
absorption of 2510 kg/m3 and 1.90%, respectively, and the fine Concrete test specimens were vibrated over a vibrating table to
aggregate has a water absorption of 2.75% and a specific gravity remove entrapped air. After casting, the concrete specimens were
of 2570 kg/m3. The gradings of the coarse and fine aggregates covered with a wet towel for 24 h and cured under laboratory con-
according to the BS 882 Standard [10] are presented in Fig. 1. ditions. Then, they were demolded and cured in lime-saturated
The naphthalene-based superplasticizer, Rheobuild, with a specific water at 23 ± 2 °C to prevent possible leaching of Ca (OH)2 from
gravity of 1200 kg/m3, was employed to achieve the desired work- these specimens.
ability in specimens having w/b = 0.37. Concrete cubes of 100  100  100 mm dimension were cast for
compressive strength. They were tested for compressive strength
after 3, 7, 28, 90 and 180 days of water curing. The water penetra-
tion test, which is most commonly used to evaluate the permeabil-
Table 1
ity of concrete, is the one specified by BS EN-12390-8:2000 [11]. In
Chemical and physical characteristics of clinker and limestone.
this test, 150 mm concrete cubes, after 28, 90 and 180 days of
Clinker Limestone water curing, were dried under laboratory conditions for 24 h.
Chemical components Water was applied on one face of the specimen under a pressure
Calcium oxide (CaO) (%) 61.50 54.77 of 0.5 MPa. This pressure was maintained constant for a period of
Silicon dioxide (SiO2) (%) 21.50 1.47
72 h. After the completion of the test, the specimens were taken
Magnesium oxide (MgO) (%) 4.80 0.30
Aluminium oxide (Al2O3) (%) 3.68 0.22 out and split open into two halves. The water penetration profile
Ferric oxide (Fe2O3) (%) 2.76 0.29 on the concrete surface was then marked and the maximum depth
Sulphate oxide (SO3) (%) 2.50 0.06 of water penetration in three specimens was recorded and consid-
Potassium oxide (K2O) (%) 0.95 0.08 ered as an indicator of the water penetration.
Sodium oxide (Na2O) (%) 0.12 0.05
Titanium oxide (TiO2) (%) 0.04 0.05
The sorptivity was measured on 100 mm concrete cubic speci-
Phosphorus oxide (P2O5) (%) 0.23 0.01 mens, which were dried in a 50 °C oven for 14 days. After mass sta-
LOI (%) 1.35 42.23 bilization, the specimens were coated with the epoxy resin on their
Mineralogical compositiona lateral surfaces only, in order to ensure uniaxial water absorption.
C3S (%) 51 – The specimen was rested on rods to allow free access of water to
C2S (%) 23 – the surface and the tap water level was kept no more than 5 mm
C3A (%) 5 –
above the base of the specimen. The masses of the specimens were
C4AF (%) 8 –
measured after 0, 3, 6, 24 and 72 h of absorption. The sorptivity
Chemical characteristics
coefficient (S) according to BS EN-480-5:1997 [12] was obtained
CaCo3 content (%) – 97.8
Total organic carbon (TOC) (%) – 0.05 using the following expression:
Methylene blue adsorption (MBA) (gr/100 gr) – 0.07 Q pffiffi
Moisture content (%) – 0.37 ¼cþS t ð1Þ
A
Physical characteristics where Q is the amount of water adsorbed; A is the cross section of
Blaine (m2/kg) 320 330
specimen that was in contact with water; t is the time (second); c
Specific gravity 3.21 2.69
is the constant coefficient; and S is the sorptivity coefficient of the
a
According to ASTM C150–04. specimen (m/s1/2).
 A.A. Ramezanianpour et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 31 (2009) 715–720 717

Table 2
Mix proportions of concrete.

Mix w/bindera Limestone (%) Concrete composition (kg/m3) Superplasticizer (%binder) Slump (mm)
Limestone Cement Water Coarse aggregate Fine aggregate
A-0 0.37 0 0 350 129.5 973.9 960 1.1 80
A-5 0.37 5 17.5 332.5 129.5 971.6 960 1.1 85
A-10 0.37 10 35 315 129.5 969.6 960 1.1 90
A-15 0.37 15 52.5 297.5 129.5 967.4 960 1.1 85
A-20 0.37 20 70 280 129.5 965.3 960 1.1 80
B-0 0.45 0 0 350 157.5 912.3 950 – 75
B-5 0.45 5 17.5 332.5 157.5 910.2 950 – 80
B-10 0.45 10 35 315 157.5 908.1 950 – 80
B-15 0.45 15 52.5 297.5 157.5 906 950 – 80
B-20 0.45 20 70 280 157.5 903.9 950 – 75
C-0 0.55 0 0 350 192.5 740.8 1050 – 95
C-5 0.55 5 17.5 332.5 192.5 738.7 1050 – 100
C-10 0.55 10 35 315 192.5 736.6 1050 – 100
C-15 0.55 15 52.5 297.5 192.5 734.5 1050 – 95
C-20 0.55 20 70 280 192.5 732.4 1050 – 90
a
Binder = Cement + Limestone.

The electrical resistivity meter was used to measure the surface

resistivity at the ages of 28, 90 and 180 days. Saturated cylinders
(100  200 mm) were used at each test age. The electrical resistiv-
ity test for concretes was carried out by the four-point Wenner
array probe technique. The probe array spacing used was 40 mm.
The resistivity measurements were taken at four quaternary longi-
tudinal locations of the specimen.
The rapid chloride permeability test was conducted in
accordance with ASTM C-1202 [13] at 28, 90 and 180 days. Two
specimens of 100 mm in diameter and 50 mm in thickness condi-
tioned according to the standard were subjected to a 60-V poten-
tial for 6 h. The total charge passed through the concrete
specimens was determined and used to evaluate the chloride
permeability of each concrete mixture.
For scanning electron microscopy studies, selected cement
paste samples cured for 3 and 28 days were used. A cement prism
was cut into cubes of 10 mm square, one side of which was ground
flat. The hydrated samples were flooded with acetone to stop
hydration reactions and were, eventually, dried and coated with
gold.

3. Results and discussion

As shown in Table 2, slumps in PLC concretes are greater than in

PC concretes. It demonstrates that there is a reduction of the water
demand in PLC concretes. According to Tsivilis et al. the increase of
limestone content to 20% and 35% causes a decrease of the water
demand from 26% to 23.5% and 22.8% [14]. Vuk et al. found the
addition of 5% limestone decreased water content for the standard
consistency of paste by an average of 0.5% in absolute scale [15].
Fig. 2 shows the compressive strength of concrete specimens
with varying w/b ratios. As expected, the compressive strength of
all concrete specimens increases with the period of curing and de-
creases with increasing the w/b ratio. In addition, generally, when
limestone is increased, compressive strength decreases. However,
up to 10% limestone replacement is not significant in this reduc-
tion. As a case in point, compressive strength for the C-20 mixture
after 180 days was 23% lower than the C-0 mixture.
The maximum compressive strength in concrete specimens at
180 days was 67.0 MPa corresponding to the A-10 mixture and
Fig. 2. The effect of limestone on the compressive strength at various ages.
the minimum compressive strength was 32.0 MPa corresponding
to the C-20 mixture. The reduction in compressive strength is ex-
plained as the result of a clinker dilution effect. The dilution effect In Portland limestone cements, the filler effect and heteroge-
is a consequence of replacing a part of cement by the same quan- neous nucleation react opposite of the dilution effects. For this
tity of limestone. reason, there is an optimum limestone replacement for Portland
718 A.A. Ramezanianpour et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 31 (2009) 715–720

limestone cements. For lower values, properties of PLC are better decreases with the period of curing and increases with limestone
than PC and vice versa. replacement. Also, there is no significant difference between the
Dhir et al. showed that at equal w/c ratios, with equal cement sorptivity of specimens containing 0% and 5% limestone. For exam-
and water contents, the strength of concrete mixes was found to ple, after 180 days, the sorptivity coefficient for the B-20 mixture
decrease with increasing the limestone content, although differ- was 1.6 times as large as that for the B-0 mixture but this param-
ences between PLC concrete containing 15% limestone and PC con- eter for the B-5 mixture was only 1.02 times as large as that for the
crete were minimal [16]. B-0 mixture.
Table 3 summarizes the results of the water penetration depths Ghrici et al. [20] showed that incorporation of 15% limestone
in all concrete mixtures. It is observed from this table that for all into PC diminishes the sorptivity of concrete by 2% and 9% at
concrete mixtures, the water penetration depth increases with 28 and 90 days of age, respectively, for the w/b ratio of 0.6. Also,
increasing the w/b ratio. The maximum depth of water penetration
is 21 mm for the C-20 mixture after 28 days and the minimum is
8 mm for the A-10 mixture. After 180 days, the maximum depth Table 4
of water penetration is 14.5 mm for the C-20 mixture and the The effect of limestone on the sorptivity coefficient (106) (m/s0.5) at various ages.

minimum is 2.5 mm for the A-10 mixture. Mix 28 days 90 days 180 days
The results indicate that PLC concretes containing up to 10% A-0 7.3 5.53 4.84
limestone generally have lower depths of water penetration than A-5 7.72 5.59 4.91
PC concretes and PLC concretes containing more than 10% limestone A-10 7.31 5.57 5.01
show greater depths. For example, after 180 days for C series spec- A-15 8.66 6.47 6.26
A-20 9.44 9.18 8.97
imens, the depth of water penetration increases from 20% to 45% for
B-0 8.24 7.93 7.73
concretes containing 15% and 20% of limestone, respectively. B-5 8.8 8.48 7.9
The decrease and increase of penetration depths are related to B-10 13.49 10.63 8.46
the filler effect, heterogeneous nucleation and the dilution effect B-15 14.66 13.07 12.11
respectively. The results of several studies [17–19] show similar B-20 14.66 13.32 12.36
C-0 17.35 13.27 12.21
trends. C-5 17.32 16.66 15.59
Water transportation in cementitious materials depends on cap- C-10 19.77 15.88 15.03
illary porosity, its connectivity and the pore structure (tortuosity C-15 23.58 18.4 15.91
and constriction or disconnection); these parameters are directly C-20 23.54 19.06 17.97
related to the w/b ratio and the progress of cement hydration.
Irassar [6] reported for Portland cement pastes with a w/c of
0.40, 0.45 and 0.50, capillary porosity becomes disconnected when
Table 5
the hydration degree is approximately 0.72, 0.82 and 0.93, respec- The effect of limestone on the electrical resistivity (kX cm) at various ages.
tively. On the other hand, capillary disconnection is very difficult
Mix 28 days 90 days 180 days
for w/c higher than 0.60, and impossible for w/c of 0.70.
However, for reduction of capillary porosity in Portland lime- A-0 16.7 26.3 30.5
A-5 18.0 24.0 30.0
stone cement paste, a lower w/b is needed with increasing the
A-10 19.3 28.3 31.5
limestone replacement. This issue is related to the dilution effect. A-15 20.5 25.3 29.5
For example, to obtain the capillary porosity threshold in pastes A-20 16.0 23.3 28.3
made with PLC fully hydrated (a = 1) and w/b ratio of 0.50, 0.45 B-0 16.5 20.0 21.7
and 0.40, the maximum percentage of limestone addition will be B-5 15.0 20.3 20.7
B-10 14.7 19.7 20.3
5%, 15% and 25% respectively. In other words, capillary disconnec-
B-15 13.2 20.0 20.0
tion of cement paste containing 5%, 10%, 20% and 35% limestone B-20 13.9 19.0 20.2
will be obtained by using a w/b of approximately 0.50, 0.48, 0.43 C-0 12.9 16.8 16.8
and 0.34, respectively [6]. C-5 11.5 16.3 16.3
C-10 11.0 14.7 15.3
Table 4 shows the influence of the w/b ratio on the sorptivity of
C-15 11.7 13.7 15.3
concretes containing different amounts of limestone at the age of C-20 11.7 14.7 15.0
28, 90 and 180 days. It is clear that the w/b ratio reduction
decreases the sorptivity. In all three series (A–C), sorptivity

Table 6
Table 3 The effect of limestone on the rapid chloride ions permeability (Coulomb) at various
The effect of limestone on the water penetration depth (cm) at various ages. ages.

Mix 28 days 90 days 180 days Mix 28 days 90 days 180 days
A-0 1.1 0.6 0.35 A-0 3329 2551 1392
A-5 0.9 0.65 0.3 A-5 3445 2528 1565
A-10 0.8 0.6 0.25 A-10 3027 2311 1525
A-15 1.05 0.85 0.4 A-15 3344 2707 1700
A-20 1.25 0.95 0.9 A-20 3707 2900 1938
B-0 1.3 0.8 0.55 B-0 4842 3905 2150
B-5 1.2 0.75 0.4 B-5 5142 3824 2277
B-10 1.4 0.85 0.6 B-10 4448 3406 2124
B-15 1.3 1 0.8 B-15 5154 4003 2747
B-20 1.7 1.3 1 B-20 5432 4101 3390
C-0 1.7 1.1 1 C-0 5073 4461 3310
C-5 1.6 1.1 0.9 C-5 6151 5225 3965
C-10 1.8 0.9 1 C-10 5754 4950 3755
C-15 1.9 1.5 1.2 C-15 4870 4376 3624
C-20 2.1 1.75 1.45 C-20 6171 5625 4125
 A.A. Ramezanianpour et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 31 (2009) 715–720 719

Fig. 3. SEM photograph of cement pastes and typical limestone.

Tsivilis et al. reported that replacing 15% of PC with limestone at Results obtained from electrical resistivity tests (Table 5) indi-
w/b = 0.7 had an insignificant effect on the sorptivity of concrete cate that the electrical resistivity decreases with increasing the
[21]. w/b ratio. The electrical resistivity decreased in the B and C series
The corrosion-resisting performance of concrete is influenced with increasing limestone replacement. However in the A series,
by its electrical resistivity, which refers to the resistance that an PLC concretes containing 10% and 20% limestone replacement
electrical charge experiences while passing through the concrete. show maximum and minimum resistivity values, respectively.
The increased electrical resistivity of concrete hinders the move- The highest value of electrical resistivity is 31.5 kX cm for the
ment of electrons from the anodic to the cathode regions, and A-10 mixture after 180 days and the minimum is 15.0 kX cm for
thereby retards the propagation of the corrosion process. the C-20 mixture. The results for chloride penetration, measured
720 A.A. Ramezanianpour et al. / Cement & Concrete Composites 31 (2009) 715–720

in terms of the electric charge passed through the specimens in References

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[24] Ye G, Liu X, De Schutter G, Poppe A-M, Taerwe L. Influence of limestone
crete containing 10% and 20% limestone replacement have max- powder used as filler in SCC on hydration and microstructure of cement pastes.
imum and minimum values respectively. Cement Concrete Comp 2007;29:94–102.
 Chloride ion permeability is increased considerably when the
(w/b) ratio is increased from 0.37 to 0.55. For the materials in
this study, the optimum replacement of limestone is between
10% and 15%.

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