ADMIXTURES AND OTHER FACTORS

INFLUENCING DURABILITY OF SPRAYED CONCRETE (SHOTCRETE)

Knut F. Garshol - MBT Latin America – Miami, FL, USA

Michael Rispin, P.Eng. – Master Builders, Inc. – Cleveland, OH, USA

SUMMARY

Quality and durability of sprayed concrete depends on the concrete mix design, the type and use
of accelerator and all the aspects of the placement onto the rock surface in the underground
working. A large number of influence factors are involved and they must be managed for a
successful and durable permanent sprayed concrete structure to be produced. The paper
discusses some of the central issues, including how to view the long-term effects of chemical
admixtures and accelerators in wetmix sprayed concrete. Permanent lining sprayed concrete for
rock support is increasingly being used today and the durability can be equally achieved as for
any other concrete.

INTRODUCTION

Sprayed concrete for rock support in tunneling was previously synonymous with drymix
application for temporary, initial protection to be followed by an in-situ concrete lining. This
approach was quite dominant only 15 to 20 years ago and is still widely adopted. With the
introduction of the wetmix method, use of robotic equipment with accurate accelerator dosage,
hydration control admixture and various fiber reinforcement alternatives, sprayed concrete has
increasingly been accepted as a high quality concrete product. Sprayed concrete is now
frequently being used for permanent linings in mines and tunnels because of the advantages it
provides and the well-documented quality.

There is still a lot of skepticism among designers and owners often caused by a mixture of
concerns regarding design issues (structural design questions and lack of universally accepted
design methods), practical application control and workmanship, methods and equipment and
finally, quality assurance and durability. Such concerns are legitimate when sprayed concrete
shall be used for demanding purposes like metro stations, highway tunnels and water conduits,
and long term mine installations with a long planned operational lifetime, but all can be
addressed by modern application methods coupled with appropriate quality management
systems.

Factors that influence quality and durability

Sprayed concrete involves a complex manufacturing and placement process involving a number
of possible concrete admixtures. Normally an accelerator is used, the equipment is important,
compressed air pressure and quantity, spraying angle and nozzle distance, application technique,
curing conditions, type of reinforcement and working lights are other examples. A well-balanced
control of the influence factors is necessary to ensure the targeted result.
Most normal concrete technology requirements apply to sprayed concrete as well, like maximum
chloride (Cl¯ ions) content of 0.2% or 0.4% of the cement weight (see Table 10 of EN 206-1:
2000), cleanliness of mix water, particle shape of sand and aggregates etc. Therefore, additional
aspects of special importance in sprayed concrete that are sometimes overlooked, are focused
upon in this paper.

CONCRETE MIX DESIGN

Wetmix sprayed concrete presents a set of requirements on the mix design arising from the fact
that the concrete has to be pumped and sprayed. The workability (or slump) has to be quite high,
the cement content (or total fines) is high and any aggregate particles larger than 12 mm will
increasingly cause rebound and do little for the concrete in place [1]. Within the boundaries
created by the process, quality and durability are primarily determined by the water to cement
ratio (w/c-ratio) like for any other concrete.

One issue frequently overlooked is the need for high early strength. This is often a safety issue
and consequently must be given high priority. Under conditions where the designers expect
exposure to sulphates, the standard approach is (for durability reasons) to select a sulphate
resistant cement (with low C3A). Such cements provide a too slow reaction and are normally
also slow with accelerators used in sprayed concrete. The result is very low early strength even
at a high dosage of accelerator, which can cause safety risks at an early stage and poor quality
and durability over time.

This situation can be avoided by using ordinary Type 10 cement, provide the required sulphate
resistance by the addition of silica fume and ensure a low w/c-ratio. This solution can easily be
made to outperform the sulphate resistance of a concrete based on sulphate resistant cement as
the only measure, without the negative effect on early strength. Actually, investigations carried
out by SINTEF on behalf of MBT, shows that good sulphate resistance was achieved by adding
the “internal curing” MEYCO TCC735 admixture to the concrete [2]. The report concluded that
the two following sprayed concrete mixes had “High sulphate resistance”:

1. Basic mix with 1.2% TCC735 and 7% alkali free accelerator MEYCO SA160. Expansion
after 6 months in a 5% solution of Na2SO4 + 1% MgSO4 was 0.047%

2. Basic mix with 1.2% TCC735, 3% silica fume and 7% MEYCO SA160 showed 0.033%
expansion after 6 months in the same solution.

In a different investigation by SINTEF [3] they reported a significantly different sulphate attack
effect on accelerated sprayed concrete (using MEYCO SA160) between concrete with w/c-ratio
0.52 and one with 0.45. This is not surprising, considering the reduced porosity with the lowest
w/c-ratio, but it is not always seen as a factor among sulphate resistance measures. For high
quality durable sprayed concrete, the w/c-ratio should always be below 0.45.

Sprayed concrete has sometimes a long and difficult way from the batching plant to the under
ground spraying location. Open time of the mix is therefore frequently very important. If open
time is provided by choosing a water-reducing admixtures with retardation effect (or by adding a
dedicated retarder), this will negatively influence accelerator reactivity and early strength and
increase accelerator dosage. Even worse is it when unauthorised addition of water happens. A
better solution is to keep the time period between batching and spraying as short as possible, or,
more preferably to use a hydration control admixture. Using hydration control admixture allows
the reaction created by the accelerator addition to take place on fresh cement many hours after
batching.
AT THE BATCHING PLANT

When a concrete mix design has been decided it is important that all batches are leaving the
plant according to this recipe, like for any other concrete. However, since the concrete is going
to be pumped and sprayed this is even more important than for ordinary concrete. The
consequences of wrong consistency as an example may influence negatively many aspects of the
final product.

Consequences of too stiff consistency when arriving to the spraying equipment (less than 15 cm
slump measure):

• Lower filling ratio of the concrete pump cylinders. With reduction in filling ratio the length
of piston travel without movement of concrete will increase. This gives more pulsation
during changeover from one cylinder to the other and may lead to short periods of little or no
concrete through the nozzle, only the accelerator and air are flowing. Average dosage of
accelerator increases and the concrete may get thin low-strength layers where accelerator
alone was sprayed.

• When the concrete arrives in the nozzle the compressed air has the task of disintegrating the
concrete thick-stream and converting it into an “atomised” concrete jet. The compressed air
also carries the accelerator and it is important that the accelerator gets distributed as
uniformly as possible into the concrete mass. Both these tasks will be performed under less
favourable conditions when the concrete is too sticky and stiff. Accelerator dosage will
increase rather than decrease (which is contrary to what many users believe to be the effect
of low slump).

Consequences of too fluid consistency when arriving at the spraying equipment (more than 25
cm slump):

• Such a high slump can only be reached by extra use of water-reducing admixture and/or by
extra water. Too much admixture will increase the cost and depending on type of admixture,
may also have other negative effects. Too much water means a higher w/c-ratio, which will
lower the concrete quality and reduce durability.

• To counteract the high fluidity and prevent running and surface craters from stone impacts,
the accelerator dosage will normally need to be increased. Accelerator dosage should be kept
as low as possible both for economic reasons and to reach the best possible quality.

Another issue that is more important than for ordinary concrete is to make sure that the batch is
not delivered with a lot of oversize aggregate. This may happen if the mixer or the truckmixer
was not properly cleaned from a previous batch of ordinary concrete or by contamination from
one aggregate silo to another. Oversize may cause problems feeding the concrete through the
control sieve on the concrete pump hopper or may also cause pumping line and nozzle
blockages. Even though such problems are more of a practical nuisance than directly linked to
final quality, it is easy to see that such production problems and delays may finally also
influence quality and overall economy of the project.

AT THE SPRAYING SITE

It is difficult to be specific about some of the practical influencing factors that are determined at
the spraying location. However, they are important and must all be considered.
• In many uses of sprayed concrete for rock support the bond strength to the substrate is more
important than most other parameters. If the substrate shows a rock mass quality allowing
cleaning with water and compressed air, this has to be done properly. Dust, soot, residues
from diesel engines or oil patches from compressed air drilling equipment, may seriously
reduce bond strength.

• Good working light in the area of application is an absolute necessity for the operator to be
able to execute quality work.

• Of course, the skill of the robot operator (or nozzleman) is very important. Training and
industry approved certification is already available in North America.

• Compressed air is a crucial part of concrete spraying. When the air pressure is varying
during spraying the compaction of the sprayed concrete will be variable and locally
unsatisfactory. Poor compaction has a direct influence on porosity, compressive strength and
durability. The best solution is to use robot equipment with an on-board compressor. Any
external compressed air supply must be very well controlled, operated and maintained to
avoid problems.

• Compaction of the sprayed concrete is not only determined by the compressed air pressure
and volume. The nozzle operator has the task of keeping the nozzle to substrate distance
within acceptable limits, which in most cases are between one and two meters. Furthermore,
the concrete jet must be perpendicular to the substrate. Deviation from 90º angle will
increase rebound and reduce compaction. When sprayed concrete is combined with mesh
reinforcement, lack of uniform compaction is a serious problem. Mesh is discontinuous and
joints are created by overlap. In many places there are 3 layers of mesh on top of each other
and it is impossible to ensure proper compaction. The long-term effect will be water
migration; mesh corrosion and eventual concrete cover spalling. The cure here is to change
to fiber reinforcement. Today, it is well proven that mesh can be replaced by suitable fibers.
The investigation presented in reference [4] is one of many with the same basic conclusion.

• The equipment has an indirect effect on the concrete quality and durability. Without going
into specific details it is obvious that the equipment has to be fit for the purpose, the nozzle
must be clean and of good design, accelerator dosage should be automatically controlled to
targeted value in relation to the concrete output, and the concrete pump should ideally have
no pulsation (the same applies to the accelerator pump). Today, full automatic computer
controlled sprayed concrete application is available. Also the semi-automatic mode offers
major advantages since the operator does not influence or control nozzle distance or
application angle; the computer takes care of that. Well-compacted low rebound sprayed
concrete can be applied to targeted thickness within less than 10 mm deviation.

• Sprayed concrete, like any other concrete, requires measures to be taken to ensure proper
curing in order to reach the optimum quality and durability. In sprayed concrete works this is
even more important due to the limited thickness (mostly less than 250 mm, most often less
than 100mm in mining applications), the surface roughness causing increased evaporation,
heat generated by the accelerator, ventilation in tunnels and the relatively high paste content
in the concrete mix. A normal spray-on curing membrane can be used, but must be applied
within 10 minutes to have full effect and in about the double quantity per m2 compared to
use on poured concrete. If another layer of sprayed concrete must be placed later, the
membrane must be removed to avoid poor inter-layer bond strength. Water spraying is in
theory an alternative, but in practical life it is not a feasible solution.
• Alternatively, a curing admixture can be added at the batching plant. Such admixture will
provide similar positive influence on quality parameters as an optimally placed spray-on
membrane (placed within 10 minutes, in sufficient quantity and uniformly distributed),
without the quality assurance problems connected with sprayed membranes. Clearly, curing
added at the batching plant offers curing immediately after spraying, and throughout the
sprayed concrete section. Water submersion is still the best curing, but this is frequently not
practically feasible [5].

HOW TO EVALUATE DURABILITY

The basic problem

Sprayed concrete is executed with a number of different types of equipment (even if only
considering the wetmix method), a range of different admixtures, additives and possible
combinations, various types of accelerators and even cement types. Project quality control is
based on 7 and 28 days of age and only occasionally 90 days or more.

This is not providing adequate information in relation to design life requirements for tunnel
linings of 50 or 100 years, and varying but typically lesser life mining applications. The design
life time period may be 200 to 400 times longer than the concrete age at which most of the
quality data are derived.

It is not simplifying the situation that many of the admixtures and accelerators used in modern
sprayed concrete have been in extensive practical use for less than 10 years and the actual
behavior can only be anticipated for a time period of 50 to 100 years.

This basic problem is well reflected in the comment sometimes made that it is impossible to
know the long term effect of the admixture and accelerator ”cocktail” that is used in modern
wetmix sprayed concrete.

The philosophical approach

Current sprayed concrete usage produces a dilemma when considering two conflicting aspects:

• The necessary use of modern admixtures and accelerators produces known and well
documented positive effects both regarding the production process, economy and on quality
and durability parameters of the sprayed concrete.

• The fact that it is principally impossible to rule out completely the potentially negative and
unforeseen effects of the chemistry ”cocktail” on the long term durability of the sprayed
concrete.

Some of the known positive effects that can be achieved may be listed as follows:

• Water reducing admixtures can reduce the water content at a given workability by up to
40%. The w/c-ratio is probably the single most important quality and durability parameter in
all concrete and should be as low as possible. This will have a positive effect on all known
durability parameters.

• Hydration control admixture allows spraying at any time period after batching, without pre-
hydration of the cement and part loss of strength and reactivity with the accelerator.
• Alkali free accelerators can be used with dosage up to 10% and with very little or no
reduction of compressive strength compared to the same concrete without accelerator.
Traditional accelerator types are known to reduce the strength by as much as 30 to 50%.
Typically, the new accelerators will demonstrate further increase in strength after 28 days,
while high dosages of silicates and aluminates could even give decreasing strength.

• Curing admixture improves all durability parameters in addition to better bond to substrate
and inter-layer bond strength has been recorded to improve from 1.0 MPa (uncured) to 2.0
MPa [5]. Fiber reinforcement will also show improved failure energy due to better bond
between matrix and fibers.

• Silica fume is now well documented as an additive to improve sprayed concrete density,
strength, sulfate resistance and to reduce porosity. This and a low w/c-ratio have a strong
effect on reducing the development of carbonation.

It is not possible or useful to speculate about what could potentially happen during 50 or 100
years after sprayed concrete application. The philosophy to apply will be a conscious choice
between the known positive sides of using chemistry (including thereby the potential for
negative long-term effects) and not using any chemistry at all.

Before such a purist approach is taken (no admixtures or accelerators) one must also consider
the potential for long term problems caused by other components of the shotcrete. Admixtures
and accelerator would normally make up less than 2.5% by weight of the concrete. In
comparison, cement and pozzolans are about 25%. The regulations for manufacturing of a given
type of cement are quite open and a range of slags and waste materials are partly incinerated and
added to the cement. Admixtures on the other hand, are of known chemistry, and are produced
under tight control (mostly ISO-certified).

The natural practical conclusion is drawn every day by an increasing number of wetmix sprayed
concrete users. Every time sprayed concrete is used for final linings the only reasonable
conclusion has been drawn: The advantages clearly outweigh the risk potential in using chemical
admixtures and accelerators.

CONCLUSION

Sprayed concrete is in many ways like ordinary concrete, but there are also a number of special
aspects that must be understood and considered properly. For permanent structures produced by
sprayed concrete, the only way to ensure satisfactory performance and durability is through a
holistic approach to the whole process. It is important to consider all factors influencing quality
and durability from the decision on mix design, through the equipment choice and placement
technique to curing and periodic inspection and maintenance of the final structure.

Depending on the exposure situation for the structure there may be differences in priority for
different durability parameters.

Substantially improved wetmix sprayed concrete technology, also on the equipment side, has
demonstrated that high quality and durable sprayed concrete can be applied under well-
controlled conditions for a range of permanent rock support purposes. The advantages can be
substantial both in terms of cost and construction time, but to be successful over the operational
lifetime the quality control issues must be addressed.
REFERENCES

1. EFNARC, European Specification for Sprayed Concrete, Guidelines for specifiers and
contractors, G5.4 (1999).
2. SINTEF Memo, Project number 22M014,00, dated 1999-06-10.
3. SINTEF Report No 40181/9, dated 1999-04-23.
4. Morgan, D. R. et al, ”Comparative Evaluation fo System Ductility of Mesh and Fiber
Reinforced Shotcretes,” proccedings from Shotcrete for Underground Support VIII,
Brasil, 1999.
5. Leikauf, B. and Oppliger, M., ”Durability of Concrete. Quality improvement by New
Admixture Types.” CANMET/ACI conference on Superplasticizers and Other Chemical
Admixtures in Concrete,” 1996.
6. ITA WG12 Shotcrete, Guidelines on evaluation of durability of shotcrete structures.
7. Garshol K, 1999, ”Durability of Wet Mixed Sprayed Concrete” in Third International
Symposium on Sprayed Concrete, Gol, Norwegian Concrete Association, pp 259 -271