December  2009  

SCC mixes with limestone and chalk powder - The Indian experience

Bhupinder Singh, Rajesh Kumar and Abhishek Singh Mukati

The use of limestone powder and chalk powder as fillers in self-compacting concrete (SCC) was investigated. Flow and strength characteristics of the concrete mixes prepared using these materials were studied. With minor adjustments in the superplasticiser dosage, it was possible to develop concrete mixes with suitable self-compactability by using limestone powder. The morphology of the powders had a significant influence on flow behaviour and the best deformability was obtained in the SCC mixes containing the fine limestone powder whereas the coarser chalk powder gave poor performance. Besides particle size, the shape of the powder particles also had a significant influence on deformability. The deformability of the SCC mix with the coarser but spherically shaped fly ash particles was comparable to that of the SCC mixes with the much finer but irregularly shaped limestone particles. The slump flow retentivity of the SCC mixes with the Glenium 51 superplasticiser was checked over two hours after casting and was found to be satisfactory except in the mixes with the coarser chalk powder. However, the plastic viscosity of the mixes with higher powder addition levels was found to increase rapidly with time. The compressive strength of the SCC mixes containing the fine limestone powder was significantly greater than that of the control SCC mix with the same powder content.



















Impact of aggregate sizes on fresh & hardened states of concrete

Subrato Chowdhury, Sandeep Kadam, Satyaki Sarkar and Partha P. Biswas

There is a general view that the size of coarse aggregate affects only the properties of fresh concrete and its impact on hardened properties is insignificant. This paper presents the results of a series of tests on concrete mixtures to examine the impact of different sizes of coarse aggregate on fresh and hardened properties of concrete. While slump cone test evaluated the fresh concrete properties, compressive strength test and rapid chloride penetration test (RCPT) determined the hardened state properties. Concrete mixtures were proportioned with three types of cements; Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and Portland Slag Cement (PSC). Graded coarse aggregates with maximum aggregate size (MSA) as 12.5, 16 and 20 mm; and water-binder ratios of 0.3 and 0.4 were selected for this experimental programme for each cement. The results show that while the coarse aggregate size influences the slump, it is not relevant to compressive strength and RCPT. The latter properties are governed by (w/b) ratio, cement type and cement content.



















State of stress and ultimate strength of multi-layered RC sections subjected to combined bending and tension

Saptarshi Sasmal and K. Ramanjaneyulu

Combined bending and high tensile axial loads are common in walls of silos and tanks, nuclear power plant structure and in other special types of structures, yet handbooks and the codes have not dealt with these design aspects in detail. With different types and magnitude of loading and the possibility of reversal of loading, structural members have layers of reinforcement. This makes section analysis complicated. For example, design checks for the adequacy of the reinforcement, thickness of the concrete section and the orientation of the reinforcement through the calculation of the state of stress at different layers of reinforcement are needed. This paper discusses different possibilities of tension and bending, and proposes a methodology to calculate the strength and the state of stress at a section with multi-layers of reinforcement subjected to tension and bending.