Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag as concrete ingredient
Description
Blast furnace slag is a by product from the manufacture of iron
in a blast furnace. The liquid iron blast furnace is lighter in
weight than the main product which is iron in a molten state.
The blast furnace will naturally separate from the iron where it
is collected and cooled with large amount of cold water. This
quenching process results in the transformation of liquid into
small sized particles having amorphous particles’ structure.
Following an efficient drying process, the particles are ground
to the desired fineness and the material gain a cementitious
property.
Mode of Action
The glassy GGBS particles react with the calcium hydroxide,
produced from the hydration of Portland cement, and the
product of this reaction is calcium silicate hydrates similar to
those produced by the hydration of Portland cement alone. The
presence of water is essential for the reaction to take place.
This is what is referred to as pozzolanic reaction in the concrete
literature.
Two major improvements in relation to concrete quality result
from the use of GGBS as cement replacement:
1. The pozzolanic reaction consumes most of the calcium
hydroxide produced during Portland cement hydration
and at high GGBS replacement all calcium hydroxide
is consumed. The impact of this phenomenon is that
the quality of hardened cementitious matrix is
enhanced.
2. The pozzolanic reaction is a latent reaction and unlike
Portland cement immediate reaction with water, GGBS
starts to react upon release of calcium hydroxide. The
implication of the delay in GGBS reactivity is that the
amount of heat released from the hydration process is
reduced and the timing of heat release is delayed.
This is very important for mass concrete and high
strength concrete where the use of GGBS reduces the
possibility of thermal cracking in hardened concrete.
Improvement of fresh concrete properties
The impacts of GGBS addition on the behavior of fresh
concrete are as follows:
• Increased cohesion
• Reduced internal and external bleeding
• Reduced risk of segregation
• Reduced washout for under water concrete
• Enables the production of self compacting concrete
http:// www.readymixbeton.com
Improvement of hardened concrete properties:
The impacts GGBS addition on hardened concrete
performance are as follows:
• Increased tensile and flexure strength
• Enables production of high performance concrete
• Enhanced resistance to chloride attack, sulphate
attack, Acid attack and various other external chemical
attacks
• Enhanced resistance to internal chemical attacks such
as Alkali silica reaction and alkali carbonate reaction
• Improved impermeability to liquids, gases and ions
• Improved bonding between concrete and steel
reinforcement
• Reduced risk of cracking due to thermal stresses
Typical Dosage
The optimum dosage of GGBS to meet specific
requirements should be determined by trial mixes using the
specific materials under field conditions. However, a dosage
between 50% to 90% by weigh of cementitious materials
would lead to significant improvement in concrete
performance.
Lower dosages are sometime used when GGBS is used in
combination with microsilica and Portland cement to
produce very high strength concrete. The dual benefit of
using GGBS and microsilica simultaneously results in
significant further enhancement in concrete performance in
relation to durability of reinforced concrete.
Standards Compliance.
GGBS is composed of the same mineral oxides that
constitute Portland cement; however, the oxides exist in
different proportions.
Standards governing the chemical composition and physical
properties of GGBS exist such as:
• BS 6699
• ASTM C989
Other standard governing the properties of factory’s pre-
blended Portland cement and slag in various proportions
also exists such as:
• BS 146
• BS 4246
• ASTM C 595
EN ISO 9001:2000