Construction and Building Materials 133 (2017) 234–242

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

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

Evaluation of fresh cement pastes containing quarry by-product

powders
Rudiele Aparecida Schankoski a,⇑, Ronaldo Pilar a, Luiz Roberto Prudêncio Jr. a, Raissa Douglas Ferron b
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
b
Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, USA

h i g h l i g h t s

Use of quarry powders (gneiss and diabase) as a replacement for limestone filler showed satisfactory performance.

Gneiss particles present lower flocculation than those of diabase and limestone.

Filler mineralogy is not an influential factor in the yield stress (95% confidence level).

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

Article history: Large amounts of powders have been collected in quarries and the storage of these by-product dusts is a
Received 28 March 2016 serious environmental concern. In this paper, the effects of limestone filler, diabase, and gneiss quarry
Received in revised form 18 October 2016 powders on the properties of fresh cement pastes were investigated. The influence of the mineralogy
Accepted 15 December 2016
and particle size distribution was evaluated by rheological methods on cement pastes containing the
Available online 24 December 2016
materials under investigation. In addition, in-situ particle size analysis of the fresh pastes was conducted
to observe how these different by-product dusts affect agglomeration kinetics. Pastes containing quarry
Keywords:
powders showed lower yield stress and lower viscosity than pastes containing only cement. The results
Limestone
Gneiss
show the benefit (in terms of paste rheology) of partial replacement of cement by diabase or gneiss pow-
Diabase ders, and the ability of these materials to be used as an alternative substitute to limestone filler as a min-
Quarry dust eral admixture.
Powders Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Rheology
Flocculation

1. Introduction
Mineral aggregate quarrying produces a significant amount of
environmental waste in the form of fine material (quarry dust
powder); this is especially a concern for the aggregate beneficia-
tion process for manufactured fine aggregate for use in Portland
cement concrete due to standards and performance requirements.
Numerous standards, like the ASTM C 33 [1] and ABNT NBR NM 46
[2], limit the microfine (smaller than 75 lm) content, due to the
deleterious effects on water demand and concrete strength [3].
In Brazil, quarries remove about 0.7–1 ton of fine material for
every 50 tons of manufactured fine aggregate. In other countries,
similar situations are reported by several researchers [4–6]. In
⇑ Corresponding author at: Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC
88040-900, Brazil.
E-mail addresses: rudiele@gmail.com (R.A. Schankoski), ronaldo_pilar@hotmail.
com (R. Pilar), prudenciouk@hotmail.com (L.R. Prudêncio Jr.), rferron@mail.utexas.
edu (R.D. Ferron).
most cases, quarries do not have adequate destination for this
product. However, these powders can be used as a viscosity enhan-
cer in cement mixtures, like self-compacting concrete (SCC).
SCC is a high performance concrete that must maintain ade-
quate fresh state properties throughout the casting process. SCC
requires adequate viscosity, as well as high deformability and high
segregation resistance to be able to flow into restricted spaces and
openings without segregation. To maintain adequate rheological
properties, it is common to modify the paste phase by including
viscosity-modifying agents (VMAs) to the mixtures and/or by add-
ing large amounts of mineral admixtures. VMAs can be used to
improve paste viscosity by increasing the water phase viscosity.
However, there are a number of disadvantages to using a VMA,
mainly the high costs and side effects in the mixture, such as set
retarding and excessive air entrainment [3]. Limestone powder
has been used in SCC to control the potential segregation and
deformability [7,8]. However, where this material is not available,
the use of alternative fine materials, such as quarry dusts, could be
ideal for SCC applications.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.12.056
0950-0618/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 R.A. Schankoski et al. / Construction and Building Materials 133 (2017) 234–242 235

Fillers of basalt, granite, marble and limestone have been tested Table 2
by several authors in pastes, mortars and concretes, mainly SCC. Chemical and physical characteristics of fillers.

These authors reported improvements in the performance of these Filler L D G

materials, including mechanical properties, workability and cost Origin Limestone Diabase Gneiss
reduction [3,7,9–13]. Few or no studies have been conducted on
Chemical analysis (%)
other rock types concerning their performance as additives in CaO 54.03 8.48 1.12
cement mixtures. Al2O3 0.31 15.46 15.95
The objective of this research was to evaluate the use of quarry Fe2O3 0.22 2.10 0.90
dust of dibasic and gneissic origins as alternatives to limestone fil- SiO2 0.85 51.88 70.13
MgO 1.91 4.58 0.69
ler for use as a viscosity enhancer. Specifically, the rheological K2O 0.02 0.76 6.22
properties and the microstructure of fresh cement pastes were
Physical properties
evaluated, and the influence of particle characteristics on these Specific gravity 2.80 2.82 2.77
properties is discussed. The rheology of cement pastes and con-
crete is strongly related to the agglomeration of the cement parti-
cles [14], which in turn affects the microstructural development of Table 3
mortar and concrete [15,16]. Impact of grinding on average particle size, D50, of fillers.
As the presence of different powder particles influences cement
Filler Denomination D50 (lm) Grinding time (h)
paste rheology and, consequently, its microstructure, understand-
ing how these different quarry dusts impact rheological behavior Cement C0 15.19 0
Limestone 0 L0 38.09 0
is important to achieve a fundamental understanding of how to
Limestone 1 L1 25.22 1.5
control the fresh state behavior of concrete containing these dusts. Limestone 2 L2 16.45 7.5
In this research, insight on the nature of agglomeration was Diabase 0 D0 33.01 0
obtained by measurements conducted using a focused beam reflec- Diabase 1 D1 24.22 1.5
Diabase 2 D2 16.12 6.0
tance measurement (FBRM) probe. The FBRM technique provides
Gneiss 0 G0 34.15 0
indirect observation of the dynamic microstructure of cement Gneiss 1 G1 25.09 9.0
paste during mixing [17,18] through chord length measurements Gneiss 2 G2 16.56 18
of the agglomerates.

2. Experimental study
0
2.1. Materials
20
% Retained

A commercially available Portland cement classified as Type III 40

by ASTM C150 [19] and Type CPV ARI by the Brazilian Standard L0
ABNT NBR 5733 [20], was used in all of the mixtures. According 60 L1
to the cement manufacturer, it had a Blaine fineness of
394 m2/kg, and specific gravity of 3.12. The oxide composition of 80 L2
the cement is shown in Table 1. A commercially available Type F C0
polycarboxylate superplasticizer (SP) [21] was used in all of the 100
0 10 20 30 40 50
mixtures. The solid concentration of the admixture was reported
by the manufacturer as approximately 23%, with a specific gravity Size (µm)
of 1.05. All the mixtures were prepared using deionized water.
Fig. 1. Limestone – Laser particle size distribution.
Three different fillers were evaluated in this work. One filler
was of limestone origin (represented as L), and two industrial
waste fillers: a quarry dust powder of diabase origin (represented
as D) and a quarry dust powder of gneiss origin (represented as G). 0
The chemical and physical characteristics of the fillers are summa-
20
rized in Table 2.
% Retained

The fillers were obtained directly from quarries and the average 40
particle diameter of the as-collected powders (denominated L0, D0, D0
and G0 in Table 3) was between 33 and 38 lm. To evaluate the 60
D1
influence of particle size, each type of filler was ground until the
average particle size was close to 15 lm, similar to that of the 80 D2
cement used. A ball mill was used to reduce the size of the parti- C0
cles. Depending on the hardness of the filler, more or less time 100
0 10 20 30 40 50
was required to obtain the desired particle size (Table 3). The laser
particle size distributions for cement and for all the as-received fil- Size (µm)
lers and fillers after grinding are presented in Figs. 1–3, and were Fig. 2. Diabase – Laser particle size distribution.

Table 1
Oxide composition of the cement.

Basic oxides SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO SO3 Na2O and K2O
Amount (%) 19.04 4.33 2.73 61.5 4.42 2.69 0.69
236 R.A. Schankoski et al. / Construction and Building Materials 133 (2017) 234–242

0 similar rheological properties when only the admixture content

was adjusted. In addition, in most SCC mixture design methods,
20 particularly empirical methods that are widely used by the indus-
try, the water/binder is fixed and determined according to the
% Retained

40 required compressive strength. To achieve the desired flowability

60
80
100
0 10 20 30 40
Size (µm)
Fig. 3. Gneiss – Laser particle size distribution.
measured using Microtrac S3500 Particle Size Analyzer, based on
the laser diffraction method with dry dispersion. The size distribu-
tion curves of fillers with similar D50 values are quite comparable.
Visual inspection of the particle shape can be seen in Fig. 4 (images
obtained by SEM for each type of filler).
2.2. Mix proportions
The mixture proportions of the pastes were based on SCC that
was designed using the European guidelines for SCC [22]. The pro-
portions are presented in Table 4. All cement replacements by fil-
lers were made on a volume basis.
The demand of superplasticizer varied depending on the inert
powder used and was defined for each mixture, with target mini-
slump diameter of 110 ± 5 mm. The objective of this procedure
was to verify whether the powders would produce pastes with
G0
(usually measured by slump flow), the amount of superplasticizer
G1 is adjusted [23]. Thus, this procedure is important to evaluate mix-
G2 tures with similar characteristics, since use of the same superplas-
ticizer content in all pastes would lead to completely different
C0
mixtures that had no practical application.
50 Thirty mixtures were evaluated, varying in mineralogical type
(three) and D50 particle size (three) in mixtures with three differ-
ent water/powder ratio. Pastes with the same water/powder ratio,
containing only Portland cement were used as reference.
2.3. Sample preparation
Each suspension was prepared following ASTM 1738 [24]. The
addition of the admixture occurred during the rest period. This
practice provides a paste with rheological properties similar to
those obtained in a concrete from which the aggregate had been
removed. The mini-slump flow test was performed immediately
after preparing the pastes. At least two independent mixtures were
conducted for each filler used to check the repeatability of results.
Mean values were used for the analysis.
2.4. Rheological tests
Three rheological properties were measured: static yield stress,
dynamic yield stress and viscosity. The static yield stress was

L0 L1 L2

D0 D1 D2

G0 G1 G2
Fig. 4. Images obtained by SEM.
 R.A. Schankoski et al. / Construction and Building Materials 133 (2017) 234–242 237

Table 4
Mixture proportions to produce 1 L of paste.

Paste Cement (g/L) Filler (g/L) Water (g/L) Admixture (g/L) water/powder vol
C1 1478 – 526 2.07 1.1
C2 1560 – 500 2.18 1.0
C3 1634 – 476 2.29 0.9
L0.1 993 435 526 1.05 1.1
L0.2 943 553 500 1.95 1.0
L0.3 898 660 476 2.57 0.9
D0.1 993 438 526 0.30 1.1
D0.2 943 557 500 0.68 1.0
D0.3 898 665 476 1.43 0.9
G0.1 993 430 526 2.72 1.1
G0.2 943 547 500 4.12 1.0
G0.3 898 653 476 5.08 0.9
L1.1 993 435 526 1.57 1.1
L1.2 943 553 500 2.38 1.0
L1.3 898 660 476 3.28 0.9
D1.1 993 438 526 2.60 1.1
D1.2 943 557 500 4.14 1.0
D1.3 898 665 476 5.05 0.9
G1.1 993 430 526 2.96 1.1
G1.2 943 547 500 4.16 1.0
G1.3 898 653 476 5.58 0.9
L2.1 993 435 526 1.76 1.1
L2.2 943 553 500 2.50 1.0
L2.3 898 660 476 3.40 0.9
D2.1 993 438 526 2.94 1.1
D2.2 943 557 500 4.29 1.0
D2.3 898 665 476 5.51 0.9
G2.1 993 430 526 2.88 1.1
G2.2 943 547 500 3.91 1.0
G2.3 898 653 476 5.59 0.9

measured via a stress growth experiment. In this technique, the
material is sheared at a low and constant shear rate and the shear
stress is monitored over time [25–27]. The dynamic yield stress
and viscosity were calculated with flow curves and according to
the Bingham model.
Rheological tests were conducted with a commercially available
rotational rheometer, Anton Paar MCR 301. For the flow curve
tests, the rheometer was configured with a vane geometry. The
vane is selected to avoid wall slip and allow for the determination
of yield stress via a growth experiment [28]. The vane tool had four
blades, 22 mm in width (diameter) and 40 mm in height. The outer
cup diameter was 28.9 mm and the temperature of the outer cylin-
der was maintained at 23 ± 1.0 °C with a Peltier setting. The cup of
the rheometer was filled with 40 mL of cement paste and the mea-
surement sequence was started. All the rheological properties were
measured 10 min after the first contact of water with the
cement/fillers.
The rheological tests were conducted using the following steps:
2.5. Statistical analysis of experimental data
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the signif-
icance of the factors evaluated to achieve the rheology parameters.
2.6. FBRM
FBRM was used to verify whether the presence of different fil-
lers altered the flocculation process of the paste. It was important
to analyze the influence of fillers in the cement paste microstruc-
ture. This technique provides particle conditions, such as chord
length distributions and chord counts [18].
After preparing the pastes, about 50 mL of the paste was placed
into the container and then subjected to agitation speeds in two
consecutives steps, each for 30 min: 40 rpm, followed by
400 rpm. The laser beam scans at a fixed velocity (2 m/s).
3. Results

1. Static yield stress was measured at a low rotational rate

3.1. Rheological tests
(0.2 rpm) for 60 s and calculated according to [29,30].
2. 10 s rest period.
Fig. 5 shows the results of stress growth tests to determine sta-
3. Following the rest period, the sample was preconditioned with
tic yield stress. For the same water/powder ratio, the pastes con-
a preshear of 50 s1 for 60 s, followed by a 30 s rest period.
taining cement only had the highest yield stress. Therefore, the
4. Finally, the flow curve test was performed by increasing and
addition of any of the materials would be beneficial if the fluidity
decreasing (0–50–0 s1) the shear in 9 consecutives steps of
remained unaltered. No large differences were observed in the
30 s each one.
results of static yield stress as a function of the filler mineralogy,
but were observed as a function of particle size distribution.
The rheology data for decreasing shear rate were fitted to a lin-
Pastes with limestone or diabase fillers had the lowest static
ear equation using ordinary least squares regression to determine
yield stress when the powders used were not ground (with D50
the slope and the intercept so that the Bingham model parameters
between 32 and 38 lm). In contrast, the use of ground gneiss
could be determined (Eq. (1)).
(G1 and G2) led to lower results than that of gneiss 0 (unground).
s ¼ s0 þ g  c ð1Þ For a water/powder ratio of 1.1, the highest static yield stress
occurred when the fillers used had a D50 of 25 lm. For a water/
where, s: shear stress (Pa); s0: yield stress (Pa); c: shear rate (1/s); powder ratio of 1.0, the highest values occurred in pastes with finer
n: viscosity (Pa.s). fillers (D50 of 16 lm). However, for a water/powder ratio of 0.9, the
238 R.A. Schankoski et al. / Construction and Building Materials 133 (2017) 234–242

160
Unground
140 D50: 25 um
D50: 16 um
120

Static Yield Stress (Pa)

100

80

60

40

20

0
1.1 1.0 0.9 1.1 1.0 0.9 1.1 1.0 0.9 1.1 1.0 0.9
Limestone Diabase Gneiss Cement
Water/powder ratio and Mineralogy

Fig. 5. Results of stress growth tests.

Table 5
ANOVA for the stress growth test results (static yield stress).

Source SS DF MS Fratio P value Probability %

Size (D50) 6392.92 2 3196.46 27.88 8.8E08 100.00
Water/powder (w/p) 2431.71 2 1215.85 10.61 2.2E04 99.96
Mineralogy 754.83 2 377.42 3.29 4.2E02 94.75
Size * w/p 2073.67 4 518.42 4.52 6.9E03 99.37
Size * Mineralogy 8479.50 4 2119.88 18.49 1.0E07 100.00
w/p * Mineralogy 6047.52 4 1511.88 13.19 2.9E06 100.00
Size * w/p * Mineralogy 2461.10 8 307.64 2.68 4.4E02 97.40
Error 3095.09 27 114.63
Total (SQT) 31736.34 53

SS: sum of squares; DF: degree of freedom; MS: mean square; Fratio: F-statistic (source/error); Pvalue: obtained from Fisher’s distribution table.

160

140 Unground
D50: 25 um
120 D50: 16 um
DynamicYield Stress (Pa)

100

80

60

40

20

0
1.1 1.0 0.9 1.1 1.0 0.9 1.1 1.0 0.9 1.1 1.0 0.9
Limestone Diabase Gneiss Cement
Water/powder ratio and Mineralogy

Fig. 6. Dynamic Yield stress calculated according to the Bingham model.

static yield stress response of the pastes was different for each of
the fillers used.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to pinpoint the
individual and interactive effects of variable factors on the depen-
dent variable. The results of ANOVA for static yield stress are pre-
sented in Table 5. The isolated factors in order of importance were:
size (D50), water/powder, and powder mineralogy. The iteration
between all factors was statistically significant on the results of
static yield stress, at the 95% confidence level.
The viscosity and dynamic yield stress values were calculated
according to the Bingham model, since the coefficient of determi-
nation (R2) values for linear flow curve behavior were over 0.95
for all samples. Clearer comparisons of the results of dynamic yield
stress and viscosity can be seen in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively. The
 R.A. Schankoski et al. / Construction and Building Materials 133 (2017) 234–242 239

1.0
Unground
0.9 D50: 25 um
0.8 D50: 16 um

0.7

Viscosity (Pa.s)
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
1.1 1.0 0.9 1.1 1.0 0.9 1.1 1.0 0.9 1.1 1.0 0.9
Limestone Diabase Gneiss Cement
Water/powder ratio and Mineralogy

Fig. 7. Viscosity calculated according to the Bingham model.

Table 6
ANOVA for the dynamic yield stress test results.

Source SS DF MS Fratio P value Probability %

Size (D50) 468.88 2 234.44 3.53 3.5E02 95.64
Water/powder (w/p) 652.17 2 326.08 4.90 1.1E02 98.47
Mineralogy 10.64 2 5.32 0.08 9.2E01 7.67
Size * w/p 2408.20 4 602.05 9.05 7.3E05 99.99
Size * Mineralogy 1516.03 4 379.01 5.70 1.9E03 99.81
w/p * Mineralogy 2474.23 4 618.56 9.30 5.9E05 99.99
Size * w/p * Mineralogy 1929.11 8 241.14 3.63 8.7E03 99.45
Error 1795.58 27 66.50
Total (SQT) 11254.86 53

SS: sum of squares; DF: degree of freedom; MS: mean square; Fratio: F-statistic (source/error); Pvalue: obtained from Fisher’s distribution table.

groups are separated by powder mineralogy and the water/powder
ratio in volume (0.9, 1.0 and 1.1).
Regarding the influence of the particle size (D50), the results of
static yield stress and dynamic yield stress exhibited the same
behavior. The grinding process was beneficial to the gneiss filler,
but detracted from the performance of limestone and diabase.
Similar to static yield stress results for a water/powder ratio of
1.0, higher dynamic yield stress results occurred in pastes contain-
ing the finer fillers (D50 of 16 lm). For a water/powder ratio of 1.1,
higher values occurred with the use of intermediate filler (D50 of
25 lm), with the exception of gneiss, where the results were sim-
ilar for all the particle sizes tested.
The use of finer particles did not necessarily increase the yield
stress, because of difference in superplasticizer content in the mix-
tures studied. For example, pastes containing unground limestone
filler (L0) required 44 to 77% more superplasticizer than pastes
containing unground diabase quarry dust (D0) for the same
slump-flow (see Tables 3 and 4).
Table 6 shows ANOVA for dynamic yield stress results for pastes
containing limestone, diabase and gneiss. A factor was considered
to have significant effect on the rheological parameters when the P
value was less than 0.05 (95% confidence level). Table 6 shows that
all the variable factors, except mineralogy, had significant effects
on static yield stress, since their levels of significance, P values,
were less than 0.05.
The factors in order of importance were: all iterations between
second-order iterations, third-order iteration, water/powder ratio,
size (D50) and mineralogy. Although the isolated effect of mineral-
ogy did not have a strong influence on the dynamic yield stress, the
second-order effects showed that a degree of grinding (D50) and
water/powder ratio is dependent on mineralogy.
Pastes containing only cement had the highest viscosity, fol-
lowed by pastes containing limestone filler. However, none of the
pastes showed bleeding, because the majority of the values were
of similar viscosity, between 0.35 and 0.65 Pa.s. As the superplasti-
cizer content was adjusted for each mixture, pastes containing
finer powder did not necessarily have higher viscosities. Similarly,
a higher water/powder ratio did not necessarily result in lower vis-
cosities, although this is the trend observed by other researchers
[31].
The higher viscosity values of pastes with a water/powder ratio
of 0.9 occurred when using unground fillers (higher D50), which is
not a logical trend, since for the same amount of water, finer mate-
rials tend to increase paste viscosity. However, as the amounts of
admixtures used were different, these results are perfectly accept-
able, since pastes containing finer materials required a larger
amount of superplasticizer. The other water/powder ratios showed
no trend in function of the size of the filler used.
Pastes containing limestone or gneiss had lower viscosity when
the water/powder ratio was 1.0. For pastes containing diabase and
pastes containing only cement, a water/powder ratio of 0.9
resulted in lower viscosities than those of water/powder ratios of
1.1 and 1.0. This indicates that the amount of powder in the mix-
ture can be optimized. Solids content has been shown to be related
to mixture viscosity, governing the behavior of the mixtures, and it
appears to be a synergistic effect of solids content volume [32,33].
Table 7 shows ANOVA for the viscosity results of pastes contain-
ing limestone, diabase and gneiss fillers. All the factors and
240 R.A. Schankoski et al. / Construction and Building Materials 133 (2017) 234–242

Table 7
ANOVA for the viscosity test results.

Source SS DF MS Fratio P value Probability %

Size (D50) 0.2175 2 0.1088 8.78 7.01E04 99.88
Water/powder (w/p) 0.0994 2 0.0497 4.01 2.30E02 97.01
Mineralogy 0.5388 2 0.2694 21.74 9.07E07 100.00
Size * w/p 0.1414 4 0.0353 2.85 5.19E02 95.70
Size * Mineralogy 0.1729 4 0.0432 3.49 2.35E02 97.98
w/p * Mineralogy 0.2085 4 0.0521 4.21 9.92E03 99.11
Size * w/p * Mineralogy 0.3659 8 0.0457 3.69 7.83E03 99.50
Error 0.3345 27 0.0124
Total (SQT) 2.0789 53

SS: sum of squares; DF: degree of freedom; MS: mean square; Fratio: F-statistic (source/error); Pvalue: obtained from Fisher’s distribution table.

iterations of the same were influential, at the 95% confidence level.
Mineralogy was the most important isolated factor influencing the
viscosity, followed by size (D50) and water/powder ratio. The iter-
ations between all factors were also important for viscosity.
Considering all the rheological parameters, it is clear that the
presence of mineral additions in cement pastes leads to better per-
formances in fresh properties, compared with those of pastes con-
taining cement only. This is in agreement with that reported in the
literature regarding the presence of other types of additions [34].
This may due the presence of inert mineral particles that can
reduce both the tendency of cement particles to agglomerate and
interparticle friction.
According to Nehdi, Mindess and Aitcin [35], various kinds of
forces coexist in a cement suspension. There are forces of colloidal
origin that arise from mutual interactions between particles. These
forces are affected by the polarizability of water. Thus, the inert
mineral material (filler) can influence the electrostatic forces
depending on its mineralogical nature and the state of its particle
surface charges. The interposition of finer filler grains between
cement particles may affect their electrostatic attraction and thus
their flocculated structure, because colloidal forces also depend
on the distance between nearest neighbor particles and their inter-
position. The authors also point out that the replacing cement with
a material of different specific surface area would change the wet-
table surface area and the amount of water adsorbed. Some inert
mineral materials that have a certain solubility in water may mod-
ify the electrolyte solution and thus the electrostatic forces. These
effects of the filler are beyond the scope of this investigation.
3.2. FBRM
Table 8 shows the mean of total particle counts and mean chord
length recorded for each mix subjected to different stirring inten-
sities over a 30 min period: stirred at 40 rpm for 30 min and stirred
at 400 rpm for 30 min. Figs. 8 and 9 show the counts of particle
evolution and mean chord length evolution of pastes with a
water/powder ratio of 1.0, containing only cement (C0) and with
the addition of L0, D0 or G1. The pastes with mineral additions
exhibited better rheological parameters.

Table 8
FBRM results (mean values).

Paste with D50 Water/powder 40 rpm 400 rpm

Counts per seconds Chord length (microns) Counts per seconds Chord length (microns)
Cement C0 1.1 68,697 36.8 70,672 35.9
1.0 68,445 35.7 70,847 35.2
0.9 68,435 36.5 71,077 35.5
Limestone L0 1.1 67,173 36.8 69,717 34.4
1.0 65,939 37.7 71,234 34.0
0.9 68,172 35.1 73,283 32.7
L1 1.1 68,779 37.0 72,412 34.7
1.0 68,193 35.7 72,779 33.0
0.9 72,638 34.6 77,440 32.4
L2 1.1 71,856 36.3 75,648 33.7
1.0 73,015 34.9 77,603 32.5
0.9 76,349 33.0 80,043 31.9
Diabase D0 1.1 69,349 33.4 70,405 32.4
1.0 68,716 34.4 70,961 32.2
0.9 68,526 35.3 69,859 34.6
D1 1.1 70,399 35.3 75,288 32.3
1.0 70,977 34.3 77,588 30.8
0.9 74,840 31.7 78,759 30.4
D2 1.1 75,023 32.7 79,374 30.2
1.0 77,300 30.8 81,976 28.3
0.9 80,454 28.6 84,710 26.5
Gneiss G0 1.1 73,380 32.6 77,516 30.1
1.0 76,533 30.9 80,211 28.0
0.9 77,517 29.2 82,183 27.4
G1 1.1 74,983 31.8 79,843 29.0
1.0 79,331 27.2 82,199 25.9
0.9 83,584 25.9 86,084 24.9
G2 1.1 76,247 29.1 80,830 26.5
1.0 77,850 27.9 83,119 25.3
1.1 83,308 24.7 86,072 23.9
 R.A. Schankoski et al. / Construction and Building Materials 133 (2017) 234–242
85
L0 D0 G1
Counts per second (x 1000)
80
75
70
65
60
0 10
Fig. 8. Influence of type of filler on total counts evolution in cement pastes with 1.0 water/powder ratio.
40
Mean chord lenght (microns)
35
30
25
L0 D0 G1 C0
20
0 10
Fig. 9. Influence of type of fillers on average chord length in cement pastes with 1.0 water/powder ratio.
The count decreased when the chord length increased. This
shows that the kinetics of aggregation dominates at low stirring
intensity and reflects the phenomena of floc formation when indi-
vidual particles come together to form a larger particle [17].
When N = 400 rpm, the disaggregation process dominates and
larger flocs are broken into smaller flocs, because the high stirring
intensity decreases aggregation efficiency [17,36].
Regardless of the particle size (D50) and the water/powder ratio,
pastes containing gneiss filler had higher counts and smaller mean
chord lengths compared with pastes containing limestone and dia-
base filler, with the same D50 and the same water/powder ratio.
This indicates that gneiss particles showed less flocculation com-
pared with the particles of limestone or diabase.
When the floc size is smaller, it is likely that the microstructure
of the floc is less porous (i.e., more compact), and this would
decrease the susceptibility to breakage [37,38]. Differences in the
velocity gradients near the extremes of the particle surface are
likely to decrease as the floc size decreases, resulting in the smaller
flocs being exposed to lower shear stresses [17].
The samples prepared with limestone filler displayed the fewest
particle counts and largest chord length in most pastes with the
same D50 and the same water/powder ratio. This suggests that
their fresh state microstructure was more agglomerated than the
samples prepared with the other quarry dusts. This is consistent
with the general trends that were seen in flow rheology, and is
in agreement with previous research. Yim, Kim and Shah [39]
observed an increase in the viscosity of a cement paste as its pack-
ing density increased. Han and Ferron [18] observed that mixtures
with larger chord length and smaller particle counts also had
higher viscosities in rheology testing.
241
C0
20 30 40 50 60
Time (min)
20 30 40 50 60
Time (min)
4. Conclusion
Based on the data developed in this study, the following conclu-
sions can be drawn.
– All pastes containing only cement had the highest yield stress
and viscosity, regardless of the water/powder ratio. Therefore,
the addition of mineral powders to reduce admixture content
for the same fluidity is recommended.
– In most of cases, it is possible to achieve similar rheological
properties of pastes containing limestone using quarry dusts
(diabase and gneiss) as a replacement material. However, these
types of mineral admixtures may demand higher amounts of
superplasticizer.
– Powder mineralogy does not significantly affect the yield stress
but strongly influences viscosity.
– The particle size distribution of the powders, represented by
D50, had an influence on the results. Gneiss quarry dust per-
formed better after the milling process.
– The results of FBRM showed good correlation with the results
of rheology testing. Pastes containing gneiss fillers had the
lowest flocculation and lower viscosities. Pastes contain-
ing limestone filler showed large flocculation and higher
viscosities.
– The process of flocculation and deflocculation of mixtures con-
taining only cement, or with the addition of mineral powders
(limestone, diabase, gneiss) showed the same behavior in the
FBRM tests. When N = 40 rpm, the kinetics of aggregation dom-
inate (flocculation) and when N = 400 rpm, the disaggregation
process dominates and breakage of larger flocs occurs.
242 R.A. Schankoski et al. / Construction and Building Materials 133 (2017) 234–242
Powder mineralogy does not damage the rheological properties
of the mixtures that they constitute. Even though quarry dust
pastes showed lower viscosity than the filler pastes containing
limestone, no bleeding occurred. The constant volume of solids in
the mixtures, the more elongated shape of quarry dusts particles
and their high surface area may have contributed to prevent
bleeding.
The use of these quarry dusts could result in significant cost
saving in regions where limestone filler is not available, and it is
an effective use of a material that would otherwise be a waste
product.
Acknowledgements
CAPES: Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível
Superior – Ministério da Educação – Brazil. 99999.008308/2014-
04 and 99999.008307/2014-08.
LCME: Laboratório Central de Microscopia Eletrônica – UFSC –
Itambé Cements.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in
the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.
2016.12.056.
References
[1] ASTM C33, Standard Specification for Concrete Aggregates, ASTM Int. (2013)
11.
[2] ABNT NBR NM 46, Agregados – Determinação do material fino que passa
através da peneira 75 lm, por lavagem, 2003.
[3] B. Felekoglu, Utilisation of high volumes of limestone quarry wastes in
concrete industry (self-compacting concrete case), Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 51
(2007) 770–791.
[4] M. Galetakis, G. Alevizos, K. Leventakis, Evaluation of fine limestone quarry by-
products, for the production of building elements – an experimental approach,
Constr. Build. Mater. 26 (2012) 122–130.
[5] D. Manning, J. Vetterlein, Exploitation and use of quarry fines, Solutions 44
(2004) 1–60.
[6] B. Hudson, Discovering the lost aggregate opportunity, Pit Quarry 44 (2003).
[7] D.W.S. Ho, A.M.M. Sheinn, C.C. Ng, C.T. Tam, The use of quarry dust for SCC
applications, Cem. Concr. Res. 32 (2002) 505–511.
[8] G. Ye, X. Liu, G. De Schutter, A.M. Poppe, L. Taerwe, Influence of limestone
powder used as filler in SCC on hydration and microstructure of cement pastes,
Cem. Concr. Compos. 29 (2007) 94–102.
[9] A.S.E. Belaidi, L. Azzouz, E. Kadri, S. Kenai, Effect of natural pozzolana and
marble powder on the properties of self-compacting concrete, Constr. Build.
Mater. 31 (2012) 251–257.
[10] M. Uysal, Self-compacting concrete incorporating filler additives: performance
at high temperatures, Constr. Build. Mater. 26 (2012) 701–706.
[11] H.A.F. Dehwah, Mechanical properties of self-compacting concrete
incorporating quarry dust powder, silica fume or fly ash, Constr. Build.
Mater. 26 (2012) 547–551.
[12] A.A. Aliabdo, A.E.M. Abd Elmoaty, E.M. Auda, Re-use of waste marble dust in
the production of cement and concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 50 (2014) 28–41.
[13] M. Tennich, A. Kallel, M. Ben, Ouezdou, Incorporation of fillers from marble
and tile wastes in the composition of self-compacting concretes, Constr. Build.
Mater. 91 (2015) 65–70.
[14] J. CHAPPUIS, Rheological measurements with cement pastes in viscometers: a
compreliensive approach, in: P.F. Banfill (Ed.), Rheol. Fresh Cem. Concr. Proc.
an Int. Conf. Liverpool, 1990, E & F.N. SPON, Liverpool, 1990, p. 373.
[15] P.F.G. Banfill, Rheology of fresh cement and concrete, Rheol. Rev. 2006 (2006)
61–130.
[16] O. Burgos-Montes, M.M. Alonso, F. Puertas, Viscosity and water demand of
limestone- and fly ash-blended cement pastes in the presence of
superplasticisers, Constr. Build. Mater. 48 (2013) 417–423.
[17] R.D. Ferron, S. Shah, E. Fuente, C. Negro, Aggregation and breakage kinetics of
fresh cement paste, Cem. Concr. Res. 50 (2013) 1–10.
[18] D. Han, R.D. Ferron, Effect of mixing method on microstructure and rheology of
cement paste, Constr. Build. Mater. 93 (2015) 278–288.
[19] ASTM C150, Standard specification for portland cement, ASTM Int. 552 (2015)
7–9.
[20] ABNT 5733, ABNT NBR 5733: Cimento Portland de alta resistência inicial,
ABNT Cat. (1991).
[21] ASTM C494, Standard Specification for Chemical Admixtures for Concrete,
ASTM Int. (2015) 1–9.
[22] EFNARC, The European Guidelines for Self-Compacting Concrete, Eur. Guidel.
Self Compact. Concr. (2005).
[23] C. Shi, Z. Wu, K. Lv, L. Wu, A review on mixture design methods for self-
compacting concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 84 (2015) 387–398.
[24] ASTM C1738, Standard practice for high-shear mixing of hydraulic cement
pastes 1, ASTM Int. (2014) 11–13.
[25] D.C.H. Cheng, Yield stress: a time-dependent property and how to measure it,
Rheol. Acta 25 (1986) 542–554.
[26] D.V. Nguyen, Quoc Dzuy, Boger, Measuring the flow properties of yield stress
fluids, Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 24 (1992) 47–88.
[27] S. Amziane, C.F. Ferraris, Cementitious paste setting using rheological and
pressure measurements, ACI Mater. J. 104 (2007) 137–145.
[28] A.W. Saak, H.M. Jennings, S.P. Shah, A generalized approach for the
determination of yield stress by slump and slump flow, Cem. Concr. Res. 34
(2004) 363–371.
[29] D.V. Nguyen, Q.D. Boger, Direct yield stress measurement with the vane
method, J. Rheol. (N. Y. N. Y) 29 (1985) 335–371.
[30] A. Kashani, J.L. Provis, G.G. Qiao, J.S.J. Van Deventer, The interrelationship
between surface chemistry and rheology in alkali activated slag paste, Constr.
Build. Mater. 65 (2014) 583–591.
[31] M. Cyr, C. Legrand, M. Mouret, Study of the shear thickening effect of
superplasticizers on the rheological behaviour of cement pastes containing or
not mineral additives, Cem. Concr. Res. 30 (2000) 1477–1483.
[32] L. Svermova, M. Sonebi, P.J.M. Bartos, Influence of mix proportions on rheology
of cement grouts containing limestone powder, Cem. Concr. Compos. 25
(2003) 737–749.
[33] J. Daczko, Self-Consolidating Concrete: Applying What We Know, 2a ed., CRC
Press Book, Boca Ration, FL, 2012.
[34] C.F. Ferraris, K.H. Obla, R. Hill, The influence of mineral admixtures on the
rheology of cement paste and concrete, Cem. Concr. Res. 31 (2001) 245–255.
[35] M. Nehdi, S. Mindess, P.-C. Aïtcin, Rheology of high-performance concrete:
effect of ultrafine particles, Cem. Concr. Res. 28 (1998) 687–697.
[36] C. Negro, L.M. Sanchez, E. Fuente, Angeles Blanco, J. Tijero, Polyacrylamide
induced flocculation of a cement suspension, Chem. Eng. Sci. 61 (2006) 2522–
2532.
[37] A. Yeung, R. Pelton, Micromechanics: a new approach to studying the strength
and breakup of flocs, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 184 (1996) 579–585.
[38] M. Yang, H.M. Jennings, Influences of mixing methods on the microstructure
and rheological behavior of cement paste, Adv. Cem. Based Mater. 2 (1995)
70–78.
[39] H.J. Yim, J.H. Kim, S.P. Shah, Cement particle flocculation and breakage
monitoring under Couette flow, Cem. Concr. Res. 53 (2013) 36–43.