Types of Pozzolana

Pozzolanic materials are siliceous and aluminous materials, possessing little or no

cementitious value by themselves, but in finely divided form and in the presence
of moisture react chemically with calcium hydroxide liberated on hydration of
cement at ordinary temperature to form compounds, possessing cementitious
properties.
The Silicious or aluminious compounds in a finely divided form react with
calcium hydroxide to form highly stable, cementitious substances of complex
composition involving calcium, silica and water. Generally amorphous silicate
reacts much more rapidly than the crystalline form. The calcium hydroxide a
water soluble material is converted into insoluble cementitious material by the
reaction of pozzolanic materials.
Initially the pozzolanic reaction is slow and thus the production of heat of
hydration and development of strength is also slow. The reaction involves the
consumption of Ca(OH)2 and thus there is no production of Ca(OH)2. The
reduction of Ca(OH)2 increases the durability of cement paste by making the
cement paste dense and impervious.
Natural Pozzolanic Materials:
Under this group following materials can be grouped:
1. Calcined diatomaceous earths

2. Volcanic ash, tuffs and pumicites

Opaline cherts

4. Clay and shales

Natural pozzolans need further grinding and calcining to activate them. Nowadays
they have lost their popularity due to the availability of more active artificial
pozzolans.

Artificial Pozzolanas:
Silica fume - It is an artificial pozzolanic material. It is produced by the reduction
of high quality quartz with coal in an electric arc furnance in the manufacture of
silicon or ferro silicon alloy. In the process silica fume rises as oxidised vapour. It
cools, condenses and collected in cloth bags. The silica fume so collected is
further processed to remove impurities and to control particle size.
The condensed silica fume is essentially silicon dioxide (SiO2) more than 90% in
non-crystalline form. Its shape is spherical and extremely fine in size less than 1
micron. Its average diameter is about 0.1 micron. It is about 100 times smaller
than average cement particles. The specific surface area of silica fume is about
200000 cm2/gram as against 2300 to 3000 cm2/gram that of cement.
The use of silica fume along with super plasticizers has been found very effective
in the high performance of concrete. About twenty five years ago perhaps no one
would have imagined that the production of concrete of 1200 kg/cm2 compressive
strength could be achieved, which is possible now with the use of silica fume with
super Plasticizers.
As a matter of fact silica fume by itself does not contribute to the strength
dramatically. It contributes to the strength property as a very fine pozzolanic
material and creating a dense packing pore filler of cement paste. Really speaking
the high strength of the high performance concrete containing silica fume is
attributed to a larger extent to the reduction in water content which is possible in
the presence of high dose of super plasticizers and dense packing of cement paste.

Pozzolanic Action:
Silica fume or micro silica is much more reactive than fly ash or any other natural
pozzolana. The reactivity of a pozzolana can be quantified by measuring the
amount of calcium hydroxide in the cement paste at different times. Most of the
researchers agree that the C-S-H formed by the reaction between the silica fume
and Ca(OH)2 appears dense and amorphous. The 15% silica fume has been found
to reduce the quantity of Ca(OH)2 of samples of cement from 24% to 12% in 90
days and from 25% to 11% in 180 days.
Influence of Silica Fume on Fresh Concrete:
The demand of water in concrete increases in proportion to the amount of silica
fume added to it. The increases in water demand of concrete having silica fume
will be about 1% for every 1% cement substituted. It has been observed that 20
mm maximum sized aggregate concrete having 10% silica fume will need an
increased water content of about 20 litres/m3. Thus steps should be taken to avoid
this increase in water by adjusting the grading and using some plasticizers.
Influence on Hardened Concrete:
Silica fume has the following effects on the hardened concrete.

(a) With the use of silica fume, concrete of 60 to 80 MPa strength can be obtained
easily.
(b) The modulus of elasticity of silica fume concrete is less than that of ordinary
concrete without silica fume.

(c) It increases the durability of concrete, but its frost resistance has been found
less.

(d) It has been found effective in reducing the alkali-aggregate reaction, but some
researchers are of the view that addition of silica fume even in small quantities
actually increases the expansion in concrete.

2. Fly ash - It is a finely divided residue from the combustion of powdered coal. It
is a waste product from coal fired power stations and Railway locomotive etc. It is
the most common artificial pozzolana material. The fly ash particles are spherical
and of the same fineness as that of cement. Thus silica is always readily available
for reaction.

The pozzolanic activity of fly ash is good but it is essential that it has constant
carbon content and constant fineness. The use of fly ash in concrete as an
admixture not only extends the technical advantage to the properties of concrete,
but it also contributes to the environmental pollution control.

Effect of Fly ash on Fresh Concrete:

The use of right quantity of fly ash is found in the reduction of water content
required for the production of desired slump. With the reduction of water content
in concrete, bleeding and drying shrinkage is also reduced. As fly ash is not highly
reactive, the heat of hydration can also be reduced by the replacement of a part of
cement with fly ash. 30% replacement of cement by fly ash has been found to
reduce the rise of temperature by about 6°C

Effect of Fly Ash on Hardened Concrete:

Fly ash is an industrial waste, but the use of good quality fly ash in concrete has
shown following effects on the concrete properties.

They are:
1. Fly ash being a pozzolanic material, its reaction takes place slowly. The initial
strength of fly ash concrete is less than that of concrete without fly ash sufficiently
but the strength at the later age is much greater than that of concrete without fly
ash.
2. Fly ash also develops dense texture of concrete, resulting in the decrease of
permeability of concrete.

3. As pozzolanic reaction can take place only in the presence of water, thus fly ash
concrete needs long curing period for the development of strength. Thus it should
be cured for longer period.

4. The use of good quality fly ash reduces the heat of hydration.

5. It also increases the durability of concrete.

3. Blast furnace slag - Performance of Blast Furnace Slag in Concrete:

i. Fresh Concrete:
The replacement of cement with ground granulated blast furnance slag has been
found to reduce the amount of water in the fresh concrete to obtain the same
slump. The reduction in water content will be more with the increase of slag
content and fineness of the slag. This is due to the different configurations and
shape of slag and cements particles. Further the water added for mixing is not
immediately lost due to the slight lower surface hydration of slag than cement.
The reduction of water with the amount of slag and its fineness.

Reduction in bleeding has not been found significant with slag having fineness of
4000 cm2/gram. However, significant beneficial effect has been observed with
fineness of 6000 cm2/gram and above of the slag.Fig. 6.14 shows the relation
between fineness of Blast furnace slag and unit water content.

ii. Hardened Concrete:

Experiments carried out on the use of slag have shown that the use of slag in
concrete enhances the intrinsic properties of fresh as well as of hardened concrete.

Following advantage has been noted:

1. Reduction in the evaluation of heat of hydration.

2. Refinement of pore structures.

3. Increased resistance to the chemical attack.

4. Reduction in the permeability of concrete.