June  2006  

Optimisation of high early strength steam cured concrete mixtures using central composite design

C. Ramesh Babu and Manu Santhanam

Steam curing is a useful technique for accelerating strength gain in concrete. It increases the initial rate of strength development by accelerating the chemical reactions of hydration. Proper selection of delay period and curing temperature is required to achieve the early strength without affecting long-term performance. In the present investigation, steam-curing technique was adopted to achieve high early strength of 30 MPa in 24 hours. Central composite design, an augmented factorial design, was used for analysis. The effects of cement content, water-cement ratio (w/c), curing temperature and delay period on the one-day compressive strength of steam cured concrete mixtures were investigated. Based on the experimental results, optimised conditions of steam curing to achieve the desired strength were proposed.



















Phenomenological model for assessment of strength development in CLSM

T.S. Nagaraj, B.C. Udayashankar, A. Shashishankar, and H.R. Pradeep

Controlled low-strength materials (CLSM), also known as flowable fills are self compacting cementitious slurries capable of developing required low levels of strength in the range of 1 to 10 MPa. These are essentially cement-based materials along with combination of fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS). The fine aggregate constitutes, apart from sand, other marginal materials such as rock dust, foundry waste sand, ponded or bottom ash and such other materials. The water-cementitious materials ratio varied from 0.7 to 2.5 with intermediate values being 1.0 and 1.6. In this investigation a phenomenological model is formulated within the basic framework of Abrams' law for cement and fly ash as cementitious materials. This model is validated with another independent set of experimental data for tertiary combination of cement, fly ash and GGBS as multi-component cementing materials. The fine aggregate used in all the cases was rock dust. The specific advantage of this phenomenological model is to get the range of water-cementitious materials ratio required for the wide spectrum of strength requirement with the input strength data at a reference value of water-cementitious materials ratio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concrete composites with ground granulated blast furnace slag

Subhajit Saraswati and Prabir C. Basu

Concrete composites incorporating high volume of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) as cementitious mineral admixture is being increasingly used in the construction of structures for large projects in many countries. Use of ground granulated blast furnace slag concrete (GGBSC) has a positive effect in disposing GGBS in environmental-friendly way and preserving resources and above all in producing concrete of better quality. Though the use of GGBS in the form of Portland slag cement is not uncommon in India, experience of using GGBS concrete in India is scanty. Experimental studies were conducted to develop and examine the performance of concrete mixes using GGBS as cement replacing admixture and mixing it at the batching plant. Commercially available GGBS, ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and other ingredients were used. The present paper discusses the effects of GGBS in concrete and includes the outcome of experimental trials to develop GGBS concrete.

 

 

 

 










Modelling of low-rise shear walls for push-over analysis of buildings

P. Gajalakshmi and Amlan K. Sengupta

For the push-over analysis of a building with a shear wall, modelling of the shear force versus drift behaviour of the shear wall is necessary. This paper presents a method for predicting the behaviour of a low-rise framed shear wall. The method is based on the softened truss model. The in-plane normal stress and strain generated in the wall in presence of boundary elements, were evaluated based on finite element analyses of walls. The method of solution by the softened truss model was modified to incorporate the effect of boundary elements. The predicted non-linear shear force versus drift curve was simplified to generate the shear hinge property of a wall.

 

 

 

 

 



 

 


Heat-cured, low-calcium, fly ash-based geopolymer concrete

B. Vijaya Rangan, Steenie Wallah, Dody Sumajouw and Djwantoro Hardjito

The paper presents the results of an extensive research programme on heat-cured, low-calcium, fly ash-based geopolymer concrete. Both short-term and long-term properties of geopolymer concrete along with the behaviour and strength of reinforced geopolymer concrete structural members are described. Heat-cured, low-calcium, fly ash-based geopolymer concrete offers many advantages such as excellent structural properties, low creep, very little drying shrinkage, excellent resistance to sulphate attack, and good acid resistance.