Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 727736

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Technical note

Strength and durability characteristics of ternary blend and lightweight

HPC
G. Dhinakaran , K. Revanth Kumar, S. Vijayarakhavan, M. Avinash
School of Civil Engineering, SASTRA University, Thanjavur 613401, India

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

Article history: High performance concrete (HPC) in three different forms were used in the present research and they
Received 14 June 2016 were made with mineral admixtures, air entraining agent (AEA) and light weight aggregate (LWA).
Received in revised form 2 December 2016 This paper deals with compressive strength, sorptivity, porosity, corrosion resistance and load carrying
Accepted 29 December 2016
capacity of HPC. Experimental results reveal that, HPC with ground granulated blast furnace slag
Available online 6 January 2017
(GGBFS) (20%) and Quartz powder (10%) gave 68.4 MPa (for fck = 70 MPa) the maximum compressive
strength among three different forms used. In terms of durability the same mix showed a reduction of
Keywords:
60% in voids compared to control concrete. The load carrying capacity of that mix was only 6% less than
High performance concrete
Expanded clay
control concrete. Performance of HPC made with LWA and AEA was inferior to HPC with mineral admix-
Air entraining agent ture. Hence HPC with GGBFS (20%) and Quartz powder (10%) was an optimum mix among the various
Compressive strength mixes used.
Load deflection 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Voids

1. Introduction and found that all the materials used were effective in producing
durable concrete. Kumthekar et al. [2] studied the effect of chem-
High performance concrete was governed by three main fea- ical admixtures on properties of high performance concrete. They
tures namely strength, ductility and durability. This type of con- found that addition of chemical admixtures made the green con-
crete was preferred when a characteristic compressive strength crete more flowable and yielded higher elastic modulus, higher
of 70 MPa and above was required. The HPC was more brittle in flexural strength and better resistance to permeability in hardened
nature compared conventional normal strength concrete. It was concrete. They also highlighted that the above facts only made HPC
due to higher quantity of cement used. High performance could as the most viable option for the infrastructure projects. Zi Qiao Jin
be achieved with lower water cement ratio and without compro- et al. [3] found that use of GGBFS, fly ash and micro silica reduced
mising workability. Hence use of chemical, mineral admixtures early age strength and caused shrinkage cracks. It also required
and fibers were used to take care of workability (even with lesser more water demand. Hence some new techniques were developed
water to binder ratio), brittleness and improvement in ductility to overcome such problems. The outcomes were alkali addition,
of HPC. thermal treatment and reduction of size etc. Some researchers
Many researchers were focusing on achieving better perfor- worked on the effect of GGBFS and fly ash in durability character-
mance of HPC by different means. Earlier works were mainly con- istics viz chloride diffusion, air permeability, water absorption and
centrating on replacement of cement with mineral admixtures found that the mineral admixtures performed well in HPC (Elahi
obtained as waste products from industries to ensure a reduction et al. [4], Susanto Teng et al. [5]). Many researchers focused on
in carbon foot print. Kevin Smith et al. [1] investigated strength effect of water-binder ratio, curing conditions, age of concrete, bin-
and durability of various mixes of high-performance concrete to ary, ternary and quaternary blend on high performance concrete
give solutions to produce a concrete, which can be durable and characteristics (Dinakar [6], Montes et al. [7], Pan et al. [8], Guney-
effective for use as a material in bridge deck. Mineral admixtures isi et al. [9], Cordeiro et al. [10], Chinnaraju et al. [11], Mazanec
such as fly ash, GGBFS and micro silica were used for the purpose et al. [12], Lu et al. [13] and Hwang et al. [14]). Vijayasarathy and
Dhinakaran [15] studied the effect of GGBFS on strength and dura-
bility of high performance concrete. They found that it was possi-
Corresponding author. ble to replace the cement with 50 percentages of GGBFS without
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (G. Dhinakaran), revanthindia1200239@ compromising the quality of HPC. Saravanakumar and Dhinakaran
gmail.com (K.R. Kumar), [email protected] (S. Vijayarakhavan),
[1619] have done detailed experimental investigations on using
[email protected] (M. Avinash).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.12.201
0950-0618/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
728 G. Dhinakaran et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 727736

high volume of mineral admixture like fly ash ranging from 30 to 2.2. HPC mix design
50% in normal and recycled aggregate based high strength con-
crete. They found that compressive strength and durability param- The mix design for the present study was done in accordance
eters were suffered due to dual effect of mineral admixture and with the requirements of ACI 211.1 [26]. Three different types of
recycled aggregate. Finally they proposed the optimum percentage HPC were prepared with water-binder ratio of 0.30. In the first
of replacement of fly ash and recycled aggregate to be used in the form HPC was prepared with ternary blend admixtures namely
field. Rooban et al. [20] reviewed the performance of hybrid fiber GGBFS and Quartz powder to understand its effect. In the second
based high performance concrete in terms of mechanical and dura- form was made using ternary blend of GGBFS and MK with two dif-
bility properties. Three different fibers were used namely steel, ferent percentages of AEA. AEA was added to produce light weight
polypropylene and basalt fiber hybrid and individual form. It was concrete. The third form was made replacing granite coarse aggre-
concluded that rather than using fibers in individual form use of gate with two different percentages of light weight aggregate
ternary fibers enhanced mechanical properties and exhibited (expanded clay) to study its effect. Here again MK and GGBFS were
excellent load carrying capacity and structural stiffness. Rex and used mineral admixtures. In total eleven different mixes were
Kameshwari [21] developed modeling for pumice based light investigated [(1  control mix) + (2  GGBFS and Quartz blend)
weight concrete with quarry dust using particle swarm optimiza- + (4  GGBFS and Metakaolin with AEA) + (4  GGBFS and Meta-
tion and Ant colony optimization and Genetic Algorithm. From kaolin with expanded clay)]. The details of mixes and actual quan-
the total data collected from the experiments, 80% of data were tities of ingredients used for the present study were tabulated in
used for training and the remaining 20% for validation. It was con- Table 3.
cluded that during testing of data with ACO technique, all the Designation of mixes
strength parameters were matching with experimental values.
He et al. [22] investigated the effect of surface coating modified C1: Control concrete with w/b = 0.3
light weight aggregate on spalling strength of concrete subjected M1: Ternary blend (cement 80% + GGBFS 15% + 5% Quartz)
to elevated temperature. From the results it was understood that M2: Ternary blend (cement 70% + GGBFS 20% + 10% Quartz)
specimens of ordinary light weight concrete and crushed limestone A: Ternary blend (cement 60% + MK 10% + GGBFS 30%) with AEA
concrete were completely spalled after exposure to elevated tem- 0.4%
perature from 400 to 1000 C. Modified concrete specimens were B: Ternary blend (cement 60% + MK 10% + GGBFS 30%) with AEA
found to be stable and retained residual strength of 2530%. From 0.5%
the available literature it was found that many admixtures. Few C: Ternary blend (cement 60% + MK 12% + GGBFS 28%) with AEA
works were available on performance with light weight aggregate 0.4%
and with fibers. There was no comparison results of HPC made D: Ternary blend (cement 60% + MK 12% + GGBFS 28%) with
with different means and was not comprehensive. AEA 0.5%
Hence in the present work it was proposed to investigate the E: Ternary blend (cement 60% + MK 10% + GGBFS 30%) with
key parameters such as compressive strength, load deflection char- LWA 25%
acteristics and durability characteristics of high performance con- F: Ternary blend (cement 60% + MK 10% + GGBFS 30%) with
crete for three different forms of HPC. The first form was made LWA 20%
with mineral admixtures alone. The second form was with mineral G: Ternary blend (cement 60% + MK 12% + GGBFS 28%) with
admixtures and air entraining agent and the third one was with LWA 25%
partially replaced coarse aggregate with LWA to produce light H: Ternary blend (cement 60% + MK 12% + GGBFS 28%) with
weight HPC. Finally the performances of all the three forms of LWA 20%
HPC were compared to have better understanding about HPC.
Hence forth the above mixes will be referred by its designation.

2. Experimental investigations 2.3. Specimen details

2.1. Material properties Concrete specimens of size 100 mm  100 mm  100 mm

cubes were cast in accordance with the requirements of BS 1881
Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) used in the present work was [27] to test the compressive strength of concrete. A total of 33
ASTM Type I [23]. GGBFS a waste product obtained from nearby specimens were cast and tested for compressive strength. Speci-
steel industries. The Metakaolin used for the research was obtained mens of 120 mm height and 60 mm diameter were cast to assess
from Jeetmull Jaichandlall (M) Pvt Ltd suppliers, Chennai, India. the corrosion potential of steel in concrete. Similar to compressive
Quartz powder was used as one of the ingredient and its density strength 33 cylindrical specimens were cast to perform half cell
was found to be 2.65 g/cc. Locally available river sand with a down potential in accordance with ASTM C876-09 [28]. Cylindrical spec-
size of 2.36 mm conforming to grading Zone III was used as fine imens of size 100 mm diameter and 50 mm height were cast to
aggregate and crushed granite stones of 12.5 mm down size were study durability characteristics such as voids (in accordance with
used as coarse aggregates. Specific gravity of coarse aggregate ASTM C642 [29]) and sorptivity (in accordance with ASTM C1585
was determined by using wire basket method as per ASTM C 127 [30]). Beams of 0.1 m  0.15 m  1.2 m were cast to study load-
[24]. The coarse aggregates are replaced by Expanded Clay (light deflection characteristics.
weight aggregate), which was acquired from Future Farms, Chen-
nai. The Air-Entraining Agent (AEA) used was CERAPLAST AEA 2.4. Methods
which was acquired from Cera-Chem Pvt. Ltd. Sulphonated naph-
thalene polymer based super plasticizer called Conplast SP 430 Compressive strength of specimens made from eleven different
G8 was used to improve the workability of the fresh concrete. combinations of mixes was cast in cubical steel moulds and well
The addition of super plasticizer reduced the w/c ratio and the compacted. Then they were cured and tested at the age of 28 days
workability was verified with slump cone test according to ASTM to understand the effect of ternary blending of mineral admixtures
C143 [25]. The chemical and physical properties of materials used and water-binder ratio. The test to determine the compressive
are given in Tables 1 and 2. strength was conducted using digital compression testing machine
 G. Dhinakaran et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 727736 729

Table 1
Chemical composition of materials used.

Formula Concentration (%)

Cement GGBFS MK Expanded clay Quartz powder
CaO 68.05 34.85 0.08 3.26 0.03
SiO2 25.91 34.01 62.58 68.1 99.72
Al2O3 5.85 16.62 28.73 10.6 0.05
MgO 0.07 9.11 0.13 1.83 0.01
Fe2O3 0.12 1.71 1.10 1.34 0.03
SO3 1.55 0.05
TiO2 0.69 0.55 0.12
Na2O 0.48 1.89 3.16
K2O 0.46 3.94 3.71
MnO 0.27 0.04
BaO 0.10
P2O5 0.04 <0.01
SrO 0.04
Cl 0.03
ZrO2 0.03
As2O3 37 ppm

Table 2
Specific gravity of materials used.

Name of material Specific gravity Average Particle Size

Cement 3.11 45 lm
GGBFS 2.80 17.15 lm
Metakaolin 2.50 1.75 lm
Quartz Powder 2.50 100 lm
Fine aggregate 2.65 1.00 mm
Coarse aggregate 2.65 12.50 mm
Expanded clay 0.68 100 lm
Air entraining agent 1.00
Super Plasticizer 1.18

of 3000 kN capacity with 200 kN/min as rate of loading. In each

mix three specimens were tested and average value was used in
the results.
Half-cell potential test was done in accordance with ASTM
C876-09 (see Figs. 1 and 2). This test was used to measure the cor-
rosion potential of steel in concrete. Saturated Calomel electrode Fig. 1. Specimens subjected to acidic environment for Half cell potential test.
immersed in potassium chloride solution was used as reference
electrode. The specimens were subjected to accelerated acid curing
for 28 days. The corrosion potential in volts was measured at the Volume of permeable pores was assessed by the method in
age of 28 days. accordance with ASTM C642. This test method was used to deter-
The ability of resistance against capillary suction was deter- mine density, percent absorption, and percent voids in hardened
mined in accordance with ASTM C1585. In this method, specimens concrete. As per this method, the volume of specimen shall be
of 100 mm diameter and 50 mm height cylinders were prepared not less than 350 cm3. After removing from the mould, the speci-
and were placed in the environmental chamber at a temperature men was kept at a temperature of 110 C for 24 h in hot air oven.
of 50 C for 3 days. After the 3 days, it was placed inside a sealable Then it was kept at a temperature of 25 C and mass was deter-
container. Then the specimen was kept at 23 C for 15 days before mined. Then it was immersed in water at 21 C for 48 h and the
the start of the absorption procedure. All the surfaces were coated mass was taken. Then the specimen was boiled in tap water for
with epoxy resin except bottom surface. Bottom surface was 5 h and cooled for 14 h to a final temperature of 25 C. Finally spec-
exposed to water. Then the mass of the specimen was noted at dif- imen was suspended into water and the mass was determined.
ferent intervals of time (see Fig. 3).

Table 3
Mix Proportions adopted in the present study.

Quantity/m3 of concrete C1 M1 M2 A B C D E F G H
Cement (kg) 500 400 350 300
Metakaolin (kg) 50 60 50 60
GGBFS (kg) 0 75 100 150 150 140 140 150 150 140 140
Quartz (kg) 0 25 50
Coarse aggregate (kg) 1016 762 813 762 813
Expanded clay (kg) 254 203 254 203
Fine aggregate (kg) 847 832 827 847
Air Entraining Agent (%) 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.5
w/b ratio 0.3
730 G. Dhinakaran et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 727736

The dial gauge readings were noted until the failure of the beam.
The flexural behavior of the beam was observed carefully and the
first crack load was noted. The results were plotted and the load
deflection curve was drawn.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Compressive strength

The results of compressive strength for different mix combina-

tion was depicted in Fig. 5 to understand the effect of ternary blend
and age of concrete on HPC and LWHPC. From Fig. 5, it was under-
stood that attainment of early age strength in the case of ternary
blend concrete irrespective of the mixes were found to be less
and rate of gain in strength from 14 days to 28 days and was signif-
icant. It was also inferred that increase of AEA beyond 0.4% makes
the concrete more porous and hence there was a reduction in com-
pressive strength of concrete irrespective of mix combinations.
Among the two aspects of producing LWHPC say with AEA and
LWA, role of AEA proved to be more pronounced compared to con-
crete produced with AEA. It was due to reduced density of LWA
with added problem of replacement of cement with mineral
admixtures. Both AEA and LWA performs better in gaining later
age strength of HPC among three different ages tested.
LWA used in the present work gets crushed during compaction
due to its lesser ability to resist and from the results it was found
Fig. 2. Typical measurement of corrosion potential.
that LWHPC with 20% LWA could be insufficient to fill the voids as
done by the natural coarse aggregate and hence more volume of
permeable pores lead to reduction in strength (mixes F&H). How-
ever in the case of LWHPC with 25% LWA the voids could be filled
relatively in a better manner such that there was a ascending trend
in strength magnitude (due to relatively lesser voids). At the age of
28 days, only control concrete attained better value than desig-
nated characteristic compressive strength where as all the other
mixes do not so due to insufficient pozzolanic action. Among the
two mixes investigated for studying effect of ternary blend on
HPC, mix M2 performs better than the mix M1. The reason could
be due to effective filling of micro voids and modification of
microstructure with the finer particles. When slag added less than
20%, the role of slag in gaining strength was not seen. Hence it was
understood that minimum amount of slag to be fixed as 20% as
mineral admixture in concrete. For the mix M2, around 95% of
characteristic compressive strength was attained at the age of
28 days, where as in mix M1 the strength gain was around 85%.
Hence it is suggested that mix design to be done for characteristic
compressive strength of 70 MPa for the required strength of
60 MPa in the field if concrete produced with (20% GGBFS + 10%
Fig. 3. Epoxy coated specimens in water for sorptivity test.
quartz powder). Compressive strength of LWHPC mixes fall
between 45 and 60 MPa. Use of expanded clay as light weight
Substituting the values of mass in different conditions in the for- aggregate reduced compressive strength to a larger extent. In the
mula, the volume of voids and water absorption was determined. case of LWHPC produced with AEA gave better results than LWHPC
The LWA beams were cast with the size of about 100 mm wide with expanded clay. Hence it was suggested that mix design to be
and 150 mm deep in cross section. They were 1200 mm in length done for characteristic compressive strength of 70 MPa for the
and are simply supported with an effective span of 1000 mm. Area required strength of 50 MPa and 40 MPa in the field if concrete
of steel required was calculated as 346 mm2 and provided area of produced with (10% metakaolin + 30% of GGBFS with 0.4% AEA)
steel was 402 mm2, which slightly above the required quantity. and (10% metakaolin + 30% of GGBFS with 25% LWA) respectively.
The beam was designed as doubly reinforced beam. Two numbers Lower values were suggested by considering uncertain parameters
of 16 mm diameter bars were provided in the tension zone and two in the field.
numbers of 8 mm diameter bars were provided in the compression
zone as longitudinal reinforcement. Transverse reinforcement was 3.2. Resistance against corrosion
provided with 8 mm diameter bar at a spacing of 125 mm near
supports and was increased towards center (see Fig. 4). A number of methods and mechanisms were available to test
The load was applied with an increment of 5 kN on two points. the corrosion resistance of steel in concrete. In the present work
The corresponding deflection is noted by using dial gauges of the effect of ternary blend on corrosion resistance of HPC and
0.01 mm under the load point and also at the midspan of the beam. LWHPC was studied using Half-cell potential test in accordance
 G. Dhinakaran et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 727736 731

Fig. 4. Reinforcement details of concrete beam.

Fig. 5. Variation of compressive strength for HPC and LWHPC.

with ASTM C876-09. The corrosion potential of steel embedded in better resistance in the respective group of mixes. Among two cat-
concrete was studied by measuring volts at the age of 28 days of egories of LWHPC produced, mix with AEA was effective in resist-
accelerated curing in potassium chloride solution. ing corrosion of steel in concrete.
It can be observed that the higher value of 200 mV was
obtained for control specimen indicating that the steel in control 3.3. Evaluation of water absorption and voids in hardened concrete
concrete has corroded to that extent. LWHPC specimens with MK
and GGBFS as mineral admixtures showed a gradual decrease in The resistance against water absorption, density and voids in
rate of corrosion as the percentage of the mineral admixture is ternary blend high performance concrete was studied in accor-
increased from 20 to 30%, i.e., a higher rate of 185 mV can be seen dance with ASTM C642. The water absorption and voids values
for M1 mix and the rate gradually decreased to 168 mV for M2 were calculated as per the standard procedure. The water absorp-
mix in acid medium (see Fig. 6). Hence it was understood that tion values were found to be 2.56% for the mix C1, 2.08% and 1.69%
these mixes can sustain better resistance against corrosion and for the mixes M1 and M2 (see Fig. 7). The amount of water absorp-
could prolong the process of corrosion, which gives adequate time tion was found to be higher for control concrete and the same was
in health monitoring of structures and longevity will be better. reduced for the mix M2 considerably. The mix M2 was effective in
The mix M2 exhibited higher resistance to corrosion potential offering resistance against capillary suction. Mixes prepared with
and was 16% more resistance than control concrete. This percent- AEA and LWA absorbs more amount of water compared to ternary
age for the mix M1 was 7.5%. The results conveyed the message blend high performance concrete and less than the control con-
that concrete with ternary blend was more effective in resisting crete. However LWHPC mixes F&H have shown higher degree of
corrosion of steel. Ternary blended mixes with AEA and LWA show water absorption than the control concrete. It could be due to
better resistance to corrosion compared to control concrete which improper distribution of particles, in the sense that lesser volume
was evident from Fig. 6 and yielded a lesser corrosion rates ranging of LWA might have left with more voids and hence lead to more
from 185 to 199 mV F & H due to poor micro structure. In general water absorption. Similar trend was observed in voids also (see
it can be seen that the overall performance of ternary blended Fig. 8). It was found that ternary blend HPC and LWHPC with
mixes were good in resisting corrosion than the control concrete. 0.4% AEA was found to be denser.
These results are similar to the results reported earlier by Karthike-
yan and Dhinakaran [31] 3.4. Evaluation of sorptivity characteristics
The mixes investigated in LWHPC with AEA and LWA gave little
bit lesser resistance than ternary blend HPC but more than the con- The resistance against capillary suction was studied by conduct-
trol concrete except mix H. Here again mixes A&C and E&G show ing sorptivity test in accordance with ASTM C1585-13. The final
732 G. Dhinakaran et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 727736

Fig. 6. Variation of corrosion potential for HPC and LWHPC.

Fig. 7. Variation of water absorption for HPC and LWHPC.

Fig. 8. Variation of voids for HPC and LWHPC.

sorption coefficients were plotted in the Fig. 9. The amount of cap- pared to ternary blend HPC and all sorption coefficient values
illary suction was less in the case of ternary blend high perfor- were found to be less than the control concrete. This was arrived
mance concrete. For the mix M2 the sorption coefficient was from the coefficient of correlation. Addition of mineral admixtures
only 50% of the value of control concrete. Even the mix M1 sucks like MK, GGBFS, and quartz powder and makes the concrete more
only lesser amount of water under capillary action. The mixes pre- densified and reduces voids resulting better resistance against
pared under LWHPC have shown higher degree of sorption com- sorption. Hence it was concluded that ternary blend high
 G. Dhinakaran et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 727736 733

0.0045
0.004
0.0040
0.0033 0.0032 0.0034

Soprption Coefficient
0.0035 0.0031
0.0029 0.0028 0.003
0.0030 0.0026 0.0027
0.0025
0.002
0.0020
0.0015
0.0010
0.0005
0.0000
C1 M1 M2 A B C D E F G H
Type of Mix

Fig. 9. Sorption coefficient values for HPC and LWHPC.

performance concrete offers better resistance to sorption called the beams were cast and tested with optimum values arrived as
capillary suction. This parameter can also be considered as a short above.
term durability parameter for concrete with ternary blend.
By considering compressive strength results and various dura- 3.5. Flexural behavior
bility test results it was found that the mixes M2, A and E were
found to be optimum mixes in the respective categories of ternary The load deflection curves were drawn for the beams cast with
blend HPC, LWHPC with AEA and LWHPC with expanded clay as control concrete, ternary blend HPC, LWHPC with AEA and LWA.
light weight aggregate. To study the load deflection characteristics, For the assessment of load deflection behavior two beams in each

140
130 kN

120 121 kN
112 kN

100 100 kN
Load in kN

80

60

40
Ternary blend HPC with LWA
Ternary blend HPC with AEA
20
Ternary blend HPC
HPC-Control
0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Deflection in mm

Fig. 10. Load deflection curves for HPC and LWHPC.

Fig. 11. Development of cracks in control beam.

734 G. Dhinakaran et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 727736

category were cast and tested. Average values of two beams were respective beam at initial level of loading. It was found that first
depicted in the results. In the case of ternary blend high perfor- crack developed much early in the case of LWHPC compared to
mance concrete the beams were cast for the optimum values other two categories of beams. The ultimate loads carried by the
arrived from the strength and durability characteristic study. beams were 130, 121, 112 and 100 kN respectively for control con-
Hence beams were cast for the mix M2, A and E from ternary blend crete, ternary blend HPC, LWHPC with AEA and LWHPC with LWA
HPC, LWHPC with AEA and LWHPC with LWA respectively. The (see Fig. 10). The values of the peak load for each category of beam
loads at the first crack in the beams were found to be 32 kN, was given in parentheses in the Fig. 10.
30 kN, 25 kN and 20 kN for control concrete, ternary blend HPC, Hence the ultimate load carrying capacity of ternary blend high
LWHPC with AEA and LWHPC with LWA respectively. The load at performance concrete was 7% less than the load carrying capacity
the first crack gave an idea of internal resistance offered by the of control beam, 14% for LWHPC with AEA and 23% for LWHPC with

Fig. 12. Development of cracks in ternary blend high performance concrete beam.

Fig. 13. Development of cracks in LWHPC concrete beam with AEA.

Fig. 14. Development of cracks in LWHPC concrete beam with LWA.

 G. Dhinakaran et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 727736 735

LWA. The reduction in ultimate load carrying capacity of ternary case of LWHPC with (10% metakaolin + 30% of GGBFS with
blend high performance concrete beam compared to control beam 0.4% AEA) and (10% metakaolin + 30% of GGBFS with 25%
was insignificant. Hence it is suggested that ternary blend high LWA), same mix design will work to obtain 50 MPa and
performance concrete with 20% GGBFS and 10% quartz powder 40 MPa when replacing 40% cement in the field.
could be used in the place where normal high performance con-  Hence it was concluded from the present study that concrete
crete used without compromising strength and durability charac- with 20% GGBFS and 10% quartz powder, LWHPC with 0.4%
teristics. LWHPC with AEA and LWHPC with LWA could be used AEA and LWHPC with 25% LWA were found to be optimum val-
with structures where lesser load carrying capacity or lower grade ues in ternary blend HPC, LWHPC with AEA and LWHPC with
of concrete was required. Figs. 1114 depict the development of LWA respectively in terms of fracture and flexural behavior.
cracks during loading of beams. As the load increased, the beam
started to deflect in the direction of load and cracks were devel-
oped along the tension face of the beam specimens. Eventually Acknowledgements
all the beam specimens failed in a typical flexure mode. In the case
of control concrete, beam was subjected to higher frequency The authors would like to thank the Vice Chancellor of SASTRA
cracks. Ternary blend HPC beam performs little bit inferior to con- UNIVERSITY for having provided experimental facilities in the
trol beam in terms of load carrying capacity with cracks of higher School of Civil Engineering to do this research work and also for
magnitude. Though the load carrying capacities of LWA and AEA the continuous support and encouragement given throughout this
based HPC beams were less compared to control concrete, it pro- research work.
duced lesser magnitude cracks.

References
4. Conclusions
[1] M. Kevin Smith, J. Andrea Schokker, Tikalsky J. Paul, Performance of
supplementary cementitious materials in concrete resistivity and corrosion
From the experimental investigations carried out on ternary monitoring evaluations, ACI Mat. J. 101 (5) (2004) 385390.
blend high performance concrete for its strength and durability [2] M.B. Kumthekar, G.S. Vyas, N.T. Suryawanshi, M.B. More, Techno-economical
benefit of metakaolin over micro silica in developing high performance
characteristics, the following conclusions were arrived:
concrete, Constr. Eng. Constr. Rev. 7 (2007) 4250.
[3] Zi Qiao Jin, Xian Jun Lu, Shu Gang Hu, Alkali activation of granulated blast
 Ternary blend High performance Concrete with GGBFS and furnace slag, Adv. Mater. Res. 158 (1) (2010) 111.
[4] A. Elahi, P.A.M. Basheer, S.V. Nanukuttan, Q.U.Z. Khan, Mechanical and
quartz powder reduced compressive strength to an extent of
durability properties of high performance concrete containing
26% and with AEA it was around 34%. Similar performance supplementary cementitious materials, Constr. Build. Mater. 24 (2002) 292
was observed in durability characteristics also. 299.
 The maximum compressive strength of 68.4 MPa was achieved [5] T. Susanto, Tze Yang Darren Lim, Bahador Sabet Divsho, Durability and
mechanical properties of high strength concrete incorporating ultra fine
for ternary blend high performance concrete for the M2 (20% ground granulated blast-furnace slag, Constr. Build. Mater. 40 (2013) 875881.
GGBFS and 10% Quartz powder). A reduction in compressive [6] P. Dinakar, High reactivity metakaolin for high strength and high performance
strength of the mix M2 compared to desired value of 70 MPa concrete, Ind. Concr. J. 4 (2011) 2832.
[7] P. Montes, W. Theodore, B.F. Castellanos, Interactive effects of fly ash and CNI
was insignificant even with good amount of cement on corrosion of reinforced high-performance concrete, Mater. & Str. 39 (2)
replacement. (2006) 201210.
 Higher resistance against corrosion potential and sorptivity was [8] Z.H. Pan, F. Hiromi, T.H. Wee, Preparation of high performance foamed
concrete from cement, sand and mineral admixtures, Mater. Sci. Edn. 22 (2)
observed in ternary blend high performance concrete. Resis- (2007) 295298.
tance offered by all the mixes of ternary blend high perfor- [9] E. Guneyisi, M. Gesoglu, A study on durability properties of high-performance
mance concrete was better than the control concrete. concretes incorporating high replacement levels of slag, Mater. & Str. 41 (3)
(2008) 479493.
 Water absorption and voids values of ternary blend high perfor-
[10] G.C. Cordeiro, R.D.T. Filho, E.M. Rego Fairbairn, Use of ultra fine rice husk ash
mance concrete was found to be less compared to control con- with high-carbon content as pozzolan in high performance concrete, Mater. &
crete. Around 60% reduction in voids compared to control Str. 42 (7) (2009) 983992.
[11] K. Chinnaraju, K. Subramanian, S.R.R. Senthilkumar, Strength properties of HPC
concrete was observed in the (mix M2) ternary blend high per-
using binary, ternary and quaternary cementitious blends, Str. Conc. 11 (4)
formance concrete. It could be due to reason that when cement (2010) 191198.
replacement exceeds 30%, microstructure gets unbalanced and [12] O. Mazanec, D. Lowke, P. Schie, Mixing of high performance concrete: effect of
hence mixes with 40% replacement of cement gave reverse concrete composition and mixing intensity on mixing time, Mater. & Str. 43 (7)
(2010) 357365.
trend irrespective mix combinations. [13] J.F. L, H. Guan, W.X. Zhao, H.J. Ba, Compressive strength and permeability of
 In the case of beam, the ultimate load carrying capacity of tern- high-performance concrete, Mater. Sci. Edn. 26 (1) (2011) 137141.
ary blend high performance concrete was found to be 7% less [14] S.D. Hwang, K.H. Khayat, D. Youssef, Effect of moist curing and use of
lightweight sand on characteristics of high-performance concrete, Mater. Str.
than the control concrete and this reduction was reasonably 46 (1) (2013) 3546.
acceptable. [15] R. Vijayasarathy, G. Dhinakaran, Strength and durability characteristics of
 It was worthy to note that 30% replacement of cement with the GGBFS based HPC, Asian J. App. Sci. 7 (4) (2014) 224231.
[16] P. Saravanakumar, G. Dhinakaran, Effect of admixed recycled aggregate
combination of GGBFS (20%) and quartz powder (10%) mini- concrete on properties of fresh and hardened concrete, J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 24
mizes the requirement of cement in production of concrete (4) (2012) 494498.
and hence more chances of lowering carbon-di-oxide emissions. [17] P. Saravanakumar, G. Dhinakaran, Strength characteristics of high volume fly
ash based recycled aggregate concrete, J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 25 (8) (2013) 1127
 Results of LWHPC with AEA and LWA exhibited poor perfor-
1133.
mance compared to control concrete. Among two types of [18] P. Saravanakumar, G. Dhinakaran, Durability characteristics of recycled
LWHPC used in the present study, LWHPC with AEA performed aggregate concrete, Str. Eng. Mech. 47 (5) (2013) 701711.
[19] P. Saravanakumar, G. Dhinakaran, Durability aspects of HVFA based recycled
better than the LWHPC with LWA.
aggregate concrete, Mag. Conc. Res. 66 (4) (2014) 186195.
 Concrete with 20% GGBFS and 10% quartz powder gave a com- [20] Rooban Chakravarthy Srikanth Venkatesan, Indubhushan Patnaikuni, Review
pressive strength of 67.8 MPa at the age of 28 days compared to on hybrid fiber reinforced high performance high volume flyash concrete, Int.
a desired value of 70 MPa. Hence, it is suggested that a con- J. Struct. Civ. Eng. Res. 5 (1) (2016) 3943.
[21] J. Rex, B. Kameshwari, Studies on pumice lightweight aggregate concrete with
struction engineer can do mix design for 70 MPa concrete to quarry dust using mathematical modeling aid of ACO techniques, Adv. Mater.
obtain 60 MPa when replacing 30% cement in the field. In the Sci. Eng. 112 (2016).
736 G. Dhinakaran et al. / Construction and Building Materials 134 (2017) 727736

[22] Ke-cheng He, Rong-xin Guo, Qian-min Ma, Feng Yan, Zhi-wei Lin, Yan-Lin Sun, [27] British Standards Institution (BS), Testing concrete. Method for making test
Experimental research on high temperature resistance of modified lightweight cubes from fresh concrete. BS 1881-108, British Standards Institution, 2 Park
concrete after exposure to elevated temperatures, Adv. Mater. Sci. Eng. 16 Street London W1 A 2BS, 1983.
(2016). [28] American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Standard test method for
[23] American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Standard Specification for corrosion potentials of uncoated reinforcing steel in concrete. ASTM C 876,
Portland Cement. ASTM C150/C150M, ASTM International, West ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, USA, 2009.
Conshohocken, PA, 2015. [29] American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Standard Test Method for
[24] American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Standard Test Method for Density, Absorption, and Voids in Hardened Concrete. ASTM C642, ASTM
Density, Relative Density (Specific Gravity) and Absorption of Coarse International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2013, http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/
Aggregate. ASTM C 127, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, USA, C0642-13.
2012. [30] American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Standard test method for
[25] American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Standard Test Method for measurement of rate of absorption of water by hydraulic-cement concretes.
Slump of Hydraulic-Cement Concrete. ASTM C 143, ASTM International, West ASTM C1585, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, 2013,
Conshohocken, PA, USA, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/C1585-13.
[26] American Concrete Institute (ACI), Standard practice for selecting proportions [31] B. Karthikeyan, G. Dhinakaran. Strength and durability studies on High
for normal, heavyweight and mass concrete. ACI 211-91, 1991. Farmington Strength Concrete using ceramic waste powder. Str. Eng. Mech., 2017 (In
Hills, MI, USA. Press).