An Approach towards High Performance

Concrete
Long-term performance of structures has become vital to the economies of all
nations. Concrete has been the major instrument for providing a stable and reliable
infrastructure since the days of the Greek and Roman civilization. At the turn of the
20th century, concrete compressive strength was in the range of 13.8 MPa, by
the1960s it was in the range of 27.6 – 41.4 MPa. Deterioration, long term poor
performance, and inadequate resistance to hostile environment, coupled with
greater demands for more sophisticated architectural form, led to the accelerated
research into the microstructure of cements and concretes and more elaborate codes
and standards. As a result, new materials and composites have been developed and
improved cements evolved. Today concrete structures with a compressive strength
exceeding138 MPa are being built world over. In research laboratories, concrete
strengths even as high as 800 MPa are being produced.

One major remarkable quality in the making of High performance concrete (HPC) is
the virtual elimination of voids in the concrete matrix, which are mainly the cause of
most of the ills that generate deterioration. ACI defines HPC as “Concrete meeting
special combinations of performance and uniformity requirements that cannot
always be achieved routinely using conventional constituents and normal mixing,
placing and curing practices”. Such concretes can be either normal strength or high
strength. Normal strength concrete by ACI definition is a concrete that has a
cylinder compressive strengths not exceeding 42 MPa. All other concretes are
considered High Strength Concretes (HSC). HPCs with 140 MPa are currently being
used in high rise structures in USA and Europe.

Important governing factors for HPCs are strength, long term durability,
serviceability as determined by crack and deflection control, as well as response to
long term environmental effects. High performance concretes (HPC) are concretes
with properties or attributes which satisfy the performance criteria. Generally,
concretes with higher strengths and attributes superior to conventional concretes
are desirable in the construction industry. HPC is defined in terms of Strength and
Durability.

Therefore HPC can be considered as a logical development of cement concretes in

which the ingredients are pro-portioned and selected to contribute efficiently to the
various properties of cement concrete in fresh as well as in hardened states.

Salient Features of HPC[2]

– High Strength 42 – 100 MPa, Very High Strength 100 – 150 MPa, Ultra High
Strength > 150 MPa.
– Water-binder ratio =0.25-0.35 ,therefore very little free water
– Reduced flocculation of cement grains
– Wide range of grain sizes
– Densified cement paste
– No bleeding homogeneous mix
– Less capillary porosity
– Discontinuous pores
– Stronger transition zone at the interface between cement paste and aggregate
– Low free lime content
– Endogenous shrinkage
– Powerful confinement of aggregates
– Little micro-cracking until about 65-70% of characteristic strength
– Smooth fracture surface

Advantages of using HPC

The advantages of using high strength high performance concretes often balance the
increase in material cost. The following are the major advantages that can be
accomplished.[1]

– Reduction in member size, resulting in increase in plinth area / useable area and
direct savings in the concrete volume saved.
– Reduction in the self-weight and super-imposed DL with the accompanying saving
due to smaller foundations.
– Reduction in form-work area and cost with the accompanying reduction in shoring
and stripping time due to high early-age gain in strength.
– Construction of High –rise buildings with the accompanying savings in real- estate
costs in congested areas.
– Longer spans and fewer beams for the same magnitude of loading.
– Reduced axial shortening of compression supporting members.
– Reduction in the number of supports and the supporting foundations due to the
increase in spans.
– Reduction in the thickness of floor slabs and supporting beam sections- which are
a major component of the weight and cost of the majority of structures.
– Superior long term service performance under static, dynamic and fatigue loading.
– Low creep and shrinkage.
– Greater stiffness as a result of a higher modulus, Ec
– Higher resistance to freezing and thawing, chemical attacks, and significant
improvement in long-term durability and crack propagation.
– Reduced maintenance and repairs.
– Smaller depreciation as a fixed cost.

Composition of HPC

The ingredients of HPCs are almost same as those of normal strength concretes
(NSC). But, because of lower water cement ratio, presence of pozzolans and
chemical admixtures etc., the HPCs usually have many features which distinguish
them from NSCs. From practical considerations, in concrete constructions, apart
from the final strength, the rate of development of strength is also very important.
The high performance concrete usually contains both pozzolanic and chemical
admixtures. Hence, the rate of hydration of cement and the rate of strength
development in HPC is quite different from that of normal strength concretes (NSC).
The proportioning(or mix design) of normal strength concretes is based primarily on
the w/c ratio ‘law’ first proposed by Abrams in 1918.For high strength concretes,
however, all the components of the concrete mixture are pushed to their limits.
Therefore, it is necessary to pay careful attention to all aspects of concrete
production, i.e., selection of materials, mix design, handling and placing.[1][2]
In essence, the proportioning of HPC concrete mixtures consists of three interrelated
steps:
– Selection of suitable ingredients – cement, supplementary cementitious materials
(SCM), aggregates, water and chemical admixtures
– Determination of the relative quantities of these materials in order to produce, as
economically as possible, a concrete that has the rheological properties, strength
and durability,
– Careful quality control of every phase of the concrete making process.

Types of Supplementary Cementitious Materials

The most commonly used supplementing cementitious materials / mineral

admixtures for achieving HPC are [1][2][3]
– Silica Fume
– Fly Ash
– GGBFS(Ground granulated blast furnace slag)
– High Reactivity Metakaolin (HRM)

Mix proportions for HPC

Only a few formal mix design methods have been developed for HPC / HSC to date.
Most commonly, purely empirical procedures based on trial mixtures are used.
Therefore, it calls for extensive field trials for designing desired strength of concrete
using various mix proportions of SCMs, admixtures and water / binder ratio.

Use of Super-plasticizers

Use of super-plasticizers becomes essential for designing mixtures to achieve HPC.A

scan be seen, the water / binder ratio has an important bearing on achieving the
strength parameters. In order to achieve dense concrete with reduced permeability,
super-plasticizers of following types are in general use[1][3]

1. SNF – Sulphonated Napthalene based

2. Melamine sulphonate based

3. Lignosulphonate based

4. Polycarboxylic type.

Of the above types, the latest and the most effective super-plasticizer is SNF based.
ASTM also has recommended use of this type for attaining the optimum benefits like
good workability and minimum w/binder ratio. Around 2% by weight of cementitious
materials is normally used for achieving required workability.

Chemical and physical properties of the SCMs and flow chart for typical
design mix
The following table gives the chemical properties of the above SCMs. However, the
values given here are only to appreciate the range and percentage of each of the
elements contained in them.The cited values vary between products obtained from
various sources for the same SCM. [1][2][3][6]

Curing of HPC -The most intricate part[1][3][5]

HPC has very low w / binder ratio and better particle distribution due to the use of
mineral admixtures, which result in significantly less pore per unit volume of
cementitious materials in the mixture than the NSC. Filling of the voids by hydration
product in HPC is much faster than that of NSC as smaller pores needs less
hydration products to fill.

Therefore, moisture loss due to capillary action stops earlier in case of HPC
compared to NSC under the same curing conditions. The moisture loss from HPC has
been found predominant up to the first 24 hours. Owing to very low w / binder
ration and use of super plasticizer, the early stage hydration rate of HPC is higher
than NSC leaving less long term hydration potential. Curing duration after the initial
moisture protection has been found to have little effect on long term chloride
permeability of HPC containing micro-silica or fly-ash. All these indicate that the
requirement of curing duration for HPC is less compared to NSC.

Duration of wet curing has significance on the shrinkage of HPC, which is not the
case with NSC. Method of curing has similar effect on HPC both for creep and
shrinkage of concrete, which are again influenced by the type and duration of curing.

Curing is the most intricate part of construction of the structures with HPC. For a
given level of workability, HPC has lesser quantity of water compared to the
conventional cement concrete, sometimes being lower than the minimum necessary
for complete hydration and self-desiccation. Therefore, loss of moisture from the
concrete at an early stage leads to detrimental effects on the soundness and long
term properties of the concrete. Therefore, protection against moisture loss from
fresh HPC is crucial for the development of strength, prevention of plastic shrinkage
cracks as well as for durability.

Again, wet curing of HPC cannot be done at an early stage because this will increase
the water-binder material ratio adjacent to the exposed surface causing
deterioration of the concrete quality. In one of the studies, it was found that the
moisture loss from HPC is maximum during the first 24 hours after placement. Fresh
concrete mix of HPC is more cohesive and bleeding is very less compared to that of
NSC. Evaporation of bleed water takes place rapidly which makes HPC more prone
to plastic shrinkage cracks. Critical time to start forming of plastic shrinkage cracks
is around the initial setting time. Therefore, plastic shrinkage cracks can be very
serious problem under curing condition of elevated temperature, low humidity and
high winds, which accelerate the evaporation of water from fresh concrete.
Therefore, to overcome this problem, curing process should start immediately after
the placement of fresh HPC.

Wet curing, if applied immediately, after the placement of concrete to combat plastic
shrinkage cracks, as in the case of NSC, would also have harmful effects on the
quality of surface layer of the hardened concrete. In case, wet curing is applied
before final setting of the concrete, the curing water will dilute the cement paste
near surface thereby increasing w/c ratio. As a result, strength and impermeability
properties of concrete will be seriously hampered. Therefore, HPC should be cured at
an early stage without applying water directly on the exposed surface of fresh
concrete. This calls for entire curing procedure for HPC to be divided into two stages.

Therefore, curing of HPC is generally done in two stages- initial curing and wet
curing. Water is not used directly during the initial curing. Time of commencement of
both stages of curing and their duration depends on the initial and final setting time
of concrete. It is difficult to make a general specification for curing, applicable for all
weather conditions as well as for all types of structural elements. Loss of moisture
from fresh HPC depends on the ambient conditions, wind velocity, temperature and
humidity and also exposed surface area to volume ratio(s/v). Structural geometry,
reinforcement layout and construction methods have bearing on the initial curing
procedure.

Curing Duration for HPC

The initial curing of HPC should be started immediately after the placement of fresh
concrete and continued till the final setting of the concrete. A better proposition may
be to extend it about an hour after the final setting time. The initial curing is
followed by wet curing. Total curing duration of HPC is the sum of the initial curing
duration and wet curing duration out of which the second part is the longer one.

Method of curing has similar effect on HPC both for creep and shrinkage of concrete,
which is again influenced by the type and duration of curing. Overall, considering the
above, a curing duration of 7 to 10 days seems to be necessary for HPC though
curing duration of about 1-2 days could be sufficient from strength gaining.

Fresh Properties of High Strength Concrete

High-strength concrete can be made easier to place by substituting proportions of

ultrafine particles for cement. In the presence of super plasticizers, finer the micro
filler, lower is the flow resistance and torque viscosity of the mixture. Up to 20%
ground silica or limestone did not increase the super plasticizer requirement to
achieve a constant workability, even though one of these fillers had a surface area
as high as 10,000 m2/kg. Silica fume, however, while being the most effective filler
from a rheological point of view, increased the super plasticizer demand at a
constant workability. This may suggest that a high surface area is not the sole
parameter influencing the super plasticizer demand of silica fume mixtures, and that
silica fume may have a strong affinity for multi-layer adsorption of super plasticizer
molecules. Micro fillers did not seem to reduce significantly the slump loss of fresh
HSC, and were advantageous in some instances in maintaining better workability
over time. Micro fillers were also successful in inhibiting the induced bleeding of
fresh concrete. Therefore, it is possible to design triple-blended composite cements
including different fillers to achieve improved rheological characteristics.

Mechanical Properties of High Strength Concrete[4]

The Pozzolanic material provides not only chemical strength affects but also physical
packing effects. The following are the effects on the mechanical strengths.
Compressive Strength

The compressive stress curves may keep growing as the concrete ages. Compressive
strength, in the beginning stage, is in inverse proportion to W/B due to the use of
lower amount of cement and higher amount of pozzolanic materials. Therefore, the
strength in the beginning stage is much influenced by the amount of cement in the
sample. In other words, it is closely related to W/C and the ultimate strength is
controlled by W/B. The strength of HPC with silica fumes is higher than HPC with
slag to partially replace cement. However, one year later, the HPC strength of slag
partially replacing cement is superior to samples with silica fumes to partially
replacing cement, and it is superior to the control group strength as well. The reason
might lie in the efficiency of the slag reaction which gets stronger as time passes or
in the heterogeneous mix of silica fumes.

Splitting Tensile Strength

The splitting tension of HPC increases after aging. The splitting tension mentioned
above is about 5% to 10% of the compressive strength and tends to decline as the
strength increases. Splitting Tensile strength of control group is higher than ACI-
318, because the HPC uses more pozzolanic materials which have not yet fully
developed pozzolanic reactions at the age of 28 days splitting tension of HPC has a
close relation with the square root of compressive strength, and its related equation
may be expressed as follows:

Wherein (a, b) the mean values of the control group, the slag group, and the silica
fumes group are (0.51, 0.03), (0.48, 0.08), and (0.49, 0.08) respectively.

Flexure Strength

Flexure strength is about 7.5% to 13% of the compressive strength. The ratio of
flexure strength to compressive strength of the control group declines in response to
the increment of compressive strength. The ratio of flexure strength to compressive
strength gets higher in response to higher ratios of slag and silica fumes.[8][9]

Compressive Strength Efficiency of Cement

According to the strength development of various mixture proportions, every

kilogram of cement in HPC offers about 0.24 to0.32MPa of strength. Normal high
strength concrete, owing to more cement, has quicker strength development in the
early stage. But, as far as compressive strength efficiency of cement is concerned, it
is not so good as that of HPC. The reason is that HPC, based on the densified mix
proportion algorithm, lowers water content and enhances the packing effect of
aggregates, and the contribution of pozzolanic reactions becomes significant in
developing better strength efficiency.[8][9]

Enhancing Ductility of High Strength Concrete members[1]

Ductility is an essential property in structures that have to respond to inelasticity in
severe earthquakes, it is defined as a measure of the ability to undergo large
deformations without failure (important in seismic zones). Experiments have shown
that very high strength concrete are brittle as compared to normal strength
concrete. The falling branch of the stress -strain diagram is much steeper and
develops at a faster rate as the compressive strength is increased. For making use
of high strength concrete in seismic zones special confining reinforcements are
provided through use of spirals or rectangular ties to enclose the longitudinal
reinforcement so as to form with the enclosed core a con-fined concrete area
subjected to tri axial stress. Hence confinement is a technique to achieve high
performance in high strength concrete (which is otherwise a brittle material)
structural elements through the design of the required steel confining ties or spirals.

Durability of HPC[1]

Strength and Durability are the USPs of High Performance Concrete. The strength
aspects have been addressed else where in the paper. In this section durability
aspects are discussed.

High performance is characterized by the special attributes which are achieved both
long term and short term wise. This is attained through use of non-conventional
ingredients such as mineral admixtures (fly ash, blast furnace slag, silica fume),
chemical admixtures (high range water reducing admixtures).

The durability of HPC can be achieved through the following parameters.

– Low Permeability to resist

– Chemical attack (chlorides & Sulphates)
– Reinforcement corrosion
– Salt penetration
– Freeze and thaw attack
– Abrasion resistance (more relevant for bridge decks)
– Fire Resistance
– Resistance to alkali aggregate reaction
– Resistance to Creep & Shrinkage

Economics of High Performance Concrete[1]

The high strength concrete being of higher quality and with inclusion of mineral
admixtures (e.g. fly ash, GGBS, silica fumes etc.) and chemical admixtures (e.g.
HRWR etc.) obviously costs more than normal strength concrete per unit quantity.
But the increased per unit cost is offset by the reduction in the volume of concrete
required to construct the structure (As characteristic compressive strength fck is
increased for concrete & member size gets reduced). The most substantial savings in
the use of High Strength Concrete comes from the reduction in non material costs
associated with structures. For example in case of a bridge with I-Girders the use of
high strength concrete reduces the number of girders, reduces the labour cost in the
production of girders, reduces the transportation costs, reduces the erection cost,
reduces the overhead expenses. Use of HPC ensures lesser cost of maintenance
owing to enhanced durability and serviceability. In addition to the monetary savings,
use of HPC substantially reduces construction time and thus the structures can be
put into use much earlier than normal strength concrete structures. Therefore in
totality the overall cost is reduced substantially with the inclusion of high strength
concrete. Since cost is the major factor in the choice of material and the level of
high strength concrete to be used for the facility to be constructed charts on cost-
benefit data should be obtained from the reputed ready –mix suppliers in order to
make a studied judgment.

Applications of HPC in India and some real time design mixes[3]

– M 60 grade HPC used for nuclear power plants at Kaiga (Karnataka) executed by
M/s L&T and RAPP (Rajasthan) executed by M/s HCC, both during the year 1998.
Silica fume has been used to get the desired strength.

– M 75 grade HPC is presently being used in fly-overs being constructed by M/s

AFCONS at PUNE. High strength is being achieved due to addition of Silica fume and
flyash as supplementary binders. And because of this, it has been possible to design
slender piers and post-tensioned segmental superstructure over longer spans.

– M 60 grade HPC is presently being used in the construction of Delhi Metro Rail.

– M 75 grade HPC has been used for the first time in India in 2002 in JJ Hospital Fly
Over Project by Gammon India Ltd.

Conclusion

High Strength and durable concrete will dominate the new and rehabilitated
infrastructure of the new millennium. Mixing procedures and equipment would have
to be modified considerably using high speed mixers instead of truck mixing and
robotic technology to place concrete in forms. Instrumentation of the infrastructure,
both newly constructed and existing, will be a standard procedure to monitor
performance. Engineering education will have to adapt to this highly sophisticated
materials technology by the inclusion of adequate instruction to equip engineers with
knowledge of the behaviour of these constituents. By adapting this technology
safety would be enhanced and impending failure could be prevented. The inherent
nature of major infrastructure projects will place increasing demands on the new
millenniums engineer.

In short as stated by Mather[1]

“Concrete is International and as we have air to breath, water to drink, earth to

grow plant in, it is the foundation of civilization.”

References

1. Nawy, Edward G, Fundamentals of High Performance Concrete.

2. Nevellie, A. M., Brookes, J. J., Concrete Technology.
3. Sai Prasad, P. V., and Jha, Kamlesh, High Performance Concrete, Project Work for
Course No.624-Sr.Professional Course (Bridges & General)
4. Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, Vol. 27, No. 7, pp. 1081-1085
(2004)
5. The Indian Concrete Journal,Vol-80, June 2006
6. Shetty, M. S., Concrete Technology.
7. Basu, P.C., and Mittal, Amit, High Performance Concrete for Indian Nuclear Power
Plants, Transactions of the 15th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in
Reactor Technology (SMiRT-15), Seoul, Korea, August 15-20, 1999.
8. ACI 318
9. ACI 363