ICCTP 2009: Critical Issues in Transportation Systems Planning, Development, and Management ©2009 ASCE 2278

Study on Experiment of Concrete Mixed with II Degree Flyash under the

Corrosion of Freeze Thawing
Lihua Lu1,2, Sili Chen2, Xiating Feng1, and Haixia Sun2
1,2
Associate Professor; Ph.D. candidate of Northeastern University, Shenyang,; School of
Architecture and Civil Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, 110178, China;
email: llh_wxy@yahoo.com.cn, PH (138) 98845691
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2
Professor, Ph. D, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Shenyang University of
Technology, 110178; PH (131) 09862737; email: 362902422@qq.com,
1
Professor, Ph.D., College of Resources and Civil Engineering, Northeastern University,
110001; PH (138) 08671436; email: xtfeng@whrsm.ac.cn;
2
Associate Professor, Ph.D. candidate; School of Architecture and Civil Engineering,
Shenyang University of Technology, 110178; PH (024)25496533; email: sunhx99@126.com

ABSTRACT
As an industrial waste, fly ash has been widely used in bulk and low strength
concrete. Bridges have to endure numerous freeze-thaw cycles and the erosion of air
pollution when exposed to air. Therefore, the durability investigation of fly ash
concrete bridge in the extremely cold area is necessary. In this paper, the concrete
(designated as C50 fly ash concrete) was prepared by mixing II degree fly ash with
water, cement, and water reducing agent. The water-cement ratio was selected by
contrast analyses of several samples. The strength of C50 fly ash concrete was tested
after 150 freeze-thaw cycles and corrosion in Na2SO4 and HCl solutions of different
concentrations, respectively. The strength declination was achieved, which is similar
to the ordinary concrete. As the erosion liquid concentration increased, its influence
on strength of concrete also increased. The conclusions of this paper provide
important reference data for the design and application of fly ash concrete in cold
regions.

INTRODUCTION
In the extremely cold regions, bridges exposed to air are frequently subjected to
acid rain, corrosive gas or liquid, and the impact of freeze-thaw cycles. These adverse
environments severely affect the durability of the bridges; therefore a lot of bridges in
the far north of China have to be reinforced before they meet the designed life span.
（Pu 1994) In the extremely cold areas, the complete or partial loss of bearing
capacity of the concrete under the impact of corrosive freeze-thaw cycle is one of the
main factors that shortens the life of bridges. Therefore, to improve the durability of
concrete in cold areas is one main method to improve the durability of concrete
bridges in the extremely cold areas.（Tang 2007) Although the research on enhancing
the quality of the concrete throughⅠdegree fly ash has a wide range of applications,

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 ICCTP 2009: Critical Issues in Transportation Systems Planning, Development, and Management ©2009 ASCE 2279

Ⅰ degree fly ash accounts for only a small part of the ash in the plants. The higher
prices also hindered its effective utilization. In contrast, II degree fly ash, with a
larger output, can be mixed into the concrete to produce high quality concrete.
Therefore, it is an effective way for the cement concrete industry and the environment
to achieve sustainable development.（Wu 2004)
In this paper, II degree fly ash mixed with super-plasticizer was used to prepare
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the fly ash concrete. Meanwhile, the rule of strength variation of different-volume fly
ash concrete was also explored using repeated freeze-thaw circles under the corrosion
of Na2SO4 and HCl solutions. These results will provide an important reference for
the durability design and application of fly ash concrete in cold regions.

MATERIALS PREPARATION AND TEST METHODS

Materials Preparation. Materials were prepared following the steps below:
(1) Cement: ordinary Portland cement 52.5 made in Benxi, Liaoning;
(2) Fly Ash: II degree fly ash, made by Shenhai Thermoelectricity Plant in Shenyang
Liaoning, particle fineness modulus 17.5;
(3) Aggregate: a) fine aggregate: sand, well graded; b) coarse aggregate: limestone
gravel, graded good (maximum diameter 25mm);
(4) Water: general water, pH value of 7.2;
(5) Admixture: super-plasticizer made in Shenyang;
Ratio and samples. Newly mixed concrete with II degree fly ash at the contents of
10%, 18% and 25% and 1% super-plasticizer were used to produce 100 × 100 ×
100mm cubic specimens using the standard test casting. In the standard conservation
room, the specimens was conserved for one day, demodulused, numbered, and then
continued to be conserved in conservation-boxes. After 28 days, they were placed in
the indoor environment at 20-25 oC. The strength values after 7d, 14d, 28d, 60d, 90d
and 120d were measured using 6 individual specimens as shown in Table 1. The
representative value of the strength was obtained by removing the maximum and the
minimum values and averaging the strength value of the four specimens.
30 groups of allocated proportion and strength tests were carried out according
to “A Practical Handbook for the Concrete Mix” and “Concrete Standards and
Engineering Applications”（Li 2007, Leng and Zhang 2005). 7 representative groups
of the allocated proportion data were listed in Table 2 with the unit as kg m-3.

Concrete freeze-thaw cycle test. In order to stimulate the real building corrosive
conditions in nature, the strength variation of concretes with water-cement ratio of
0.38, sand rate of 29%, and content of II degree fly ash at 0%, 10%, 18%, 25% were

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 ICCTP 2009: Critical Issues in Transportation Systems Planning, Development, and Management ©2009 ASCE 2280

subjected to freeze-thaw cycle tests. In detail, the concrete samples were frozen first
and then treated by Na2SO4 or HCl solutions. The two-step procedure was repeated
150 times. The concentrations of the Na2SO4 solution were 0.05, 0.1, and 0.5 molL-1,
respectively. The pH value of the HCl solutions was 3, 4, and 5, respectively. Figure 1
shows the strength variation curves of the concretes after 150 freeze-thaw cycles
using Na2SO4 (left) and HCl (right) as the corrosion solutions.
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Table 1. Average compressive strength of concrete

Age Period 0% 10% 18% 25%
3d 35.78 32.20 29.58 22.27
7d 42.17 40.70 37.72 30.76
14 d 51.64 49.68 45.53 37.45
28 d 55.36 54.42 52.48 49.20
60 d 59.28 59.82 61.82 55.50
90 d 61.52 62.76 62.40 61.92
120 d 63.69 66.18 66.68 67.20
Table 2. Experimental allocated proportion and actual compressive strength

Number Cement Fly ash Sand Stone Water water reducer

1 462.5 154.2 334.8 1209.3 166.5 4.625
2 397.1 132.9 468.6 1115.7 166.5 3.971
3 365.1 121.7 361.7 1306.6 166.5 3.651
4 347.1 115.6 366.7 1324.7 166.5 3.471
5 462.5 154.2 258.7 1286.8 166.5 4.625
6 478.4 159.4 255.3 1297.0 166.5 4.784
7 365.1 121.7 460.3 1206.1 166.5 3.651

TEST RESULT AND ANALYSIS

Affect of ash fly quantity on concrete strength. All experimental results showed
that under standard conservation conditions, the compressive strength of the concrete
mixed with 25% fly ash increased slowly and doesn’t meet the desired standard of the
concrete C50. After 90 days, the compressive strength of concrete mixed with 10%,
18% and 25% II degree fly ash became equal to that of concrete C50 as shown in
table 1. This means that the compressive strength of the fly ash concrete increased
continually from the 28th to the 120th day; whereas the strength of the control non-fly
ash concrete increased relative slowly. After 120 days, the strength of the fly ash
concrete was close to or higher than that of the ordinary concrete, suggesting that the
dense surface of the II degree fly ash particles slowed down the early development of

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 ICCTP 2009: Critical Issues in Transportation Systems Planning, Development, and Management ©2009 ASCE 2281

the strength. At the early stages, the internal energy of fly ash was not released; and
the strength of the concrete was dominated by the hydrates in the cement. Therefore
the reaction rate was relatively slow which resulted in lower strength in the early
stages. SiO2 and Al2O3 from fly ash and cement can hydrate Ca(OH)2; then Ca(OH)2
covers the surface of fly ash and generates calcium silicate and calcium acuminate.
Due to the hydrolyzed layer between Ca(OH)2 thin film and fly ash surface, Ca2+
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gives a reaction with living tissue of fly ash and product gathers in layers. If the
hydrolyzed layers aren’t filled with products, the strength doesn’t increase more. With
the products filling in the hydrolyzed layers, fly ash and products form firm
connection and lead to increased concrete strength, impermeability and abrasion
resistance. This is the main reason for the lower early strength and the high mature
strength（Hansson and Strunge 1985）.

Affect of freeze-thaw cycle on concrete strength. Figures 1 and 2 show that the
compressive strength of II degree fly ash concrete and C50 concrete both decreased
obviously after the freeze-thaw cycle test using Na2SO4 corrosion.（Liu and Ning
2005). With the increase of the Na2SO4 concentration, the fly ash II concrete strength
decreased. In addition, the strength of the II degree fly ash concrete decreased more
obviously than that of the ordinary concrete after treated with the same Na2SO4
solution; and the strength decreased more obviously with the increasing of the II
degree fly ash content. The reason for this is that the effect of fly ash quantity on
liquor concentration is insensitive and that the acid fastness fly ash is better than
common concrete. The appropriate amount of fly ash makes the inside of concrete
hydrate continually; and the products fill in the interval of concrete. The concrete
become gas-tight and dense; consequently, the strength of concrete continues to grow.
The change strengthens the chemical resistance, infiltration and frost resistance and
improves the durability of concrete.

60

55 55
Strength(MPa)
Strength(MPa)

50 Fly ash quantity0%

50
45 Fly ash
quantity10% 45 pH=3
40
Fly ash
quantity18% 40 pH=4
35
Fly ash
35
pH=5
30 quantity25%
0.05 0.15 0.25 0.35 0.45 0.55 0 10 20 30
Na2so4 concentration of solution(mol/L) Fly ash quantity（%）

Figure 1. Strength variation curves of fly ash concrete taking Na2SO4 (left) and HCl
(right) as the corrosion solution after 300 freeze-thaw cycles

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Figure 2. The destruction process of concrete containing 18% quantity fly ash after
150 freeze-thaw cycles

CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, II degree fly ash was used instead of cement to produce the fly ash
concrete. The reasonable usage of fly ash in concrete will save large amount of
cement therefore lower the construction cost. Besides, the successful usage of the fly
ash will provide valuable data for the production of other kinds of high quality
concrete to satisfy the social and engineering requirements.
Four conclusions are drawn as follows based on the experimental study:
(1) The compressive strength of II degree fly ash concrete increased relatively
slowly in its earlier period of conservation, and its strength did not meet the standard
of C50 after 28 days. However, with extension of conservation time from the 28th
day to the 120th day, its strength increased continually due to the interaction between
the active components in the concrete. Finally the strength meets the standard of C50
after 120 days. This result suggests that the concrete contains reasonable amounts of
fly ash II and super plasticizer can satisfy the strength standard of C50.
(2) The freeze-thaw cycle experiment showed that both SO42- and H+ ions had
negative impact on the strength of the II degree fly ash concrete. Although the
strength of both the ordinary and the fly ash II concrete decreased with the increasing
of the ion concentration, , the decrease extent of the II degree fly ash was lower,
suggesting the action of II degree fly ash in improving the concrete strength and
corrosive abilities.
(3) Based on strength change from freeze-thawing tests of fly ash concrete at
different fly ash quantities, once the II degree fly ash concrete became corroded and
frozen, its strength could not match the strength standard of the ordinary concrete,
suggesting that the II degree fly ash concrete be unsuitable for winter use. However,
in conditions of non-freezing, the II degree fly ash can be used as an ingredient for
high strength concrete with prolonged service life.

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 ICCTP 2009: Critical Issues in Transportation Systems Planning, Development, and Management ©2009 ASCE 2283

REFERENCES
Hansson, C. M. Strunge, H. Markussen, J. B. and Forlund, T. (1985). ”The Effect of
Cement Type on the Diffusion of chloride.” Nordic Concrete Research, 470-80.
Leng, F., and Zhang, R. (2005). Standard Specification for Concrete and Application,
Beijing, China Building Materials Industry Press
Liu, Y., and Ning, B. (2005). Corrosion environment mechanism arcims of concrete.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by University of Newcastle on 12/22/16. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Coal Mine Security, 36(4), 37-38

Li, Y. (2007). “Test about the better quality High grade concrete mix with fly ash.”
Railway Investigation and Surveying.
Pu, X. xincheng. (1994). “High strength concrete and base slag concrete.” Concrete.
(3), 9-18
Tang, J. (2007). Study on the application of fly ash concrete ratio.
Wang, S., Zhang, J., and Tang, H. (2007). “Study on High Performance concrete ratio
design and its Property test.” Fujian Building Materials, v(03).
Wu, J., (2004). Study on High strength and property and more impurities concrete.
Congqing University.

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