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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Concrete has been the most common building material for many years. It is expected to remain so in the coming decades. Concrete is widely used in domestic, rural, commercial, recreational and educational construction Communities around the world rely on concrete as a safe, strong and simple building material. It is used in all types of construction; from domestic work to multi-storey office blocks and high rise structures.

The field of civil engineering and construction has seen tremendous advancements in recent decades. Today engineers are more interested in the mega structures with complex geometry and least economy. It has therefore become very important to study the properties of concrete and to enhance its desired properties so that it can effectively fulfill the requirements of modern construction.

In order to meet these demands the use of various reactive pozzolans as supplementary cementitious materials is fast growing in the development of more durable and high performance concrete. Pozzolonic materials like fly ash, blast furnace slag, rice husk ash, metakaolin and silica fumes etc are widely being used for the construction of high rise buildings. Cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The volcanic ash and pulverized brick additives which were added to the burnt lime to obtain a hydraulic binder were later referred to as cement, cymatium, cadent and cement. Cement is made by heating limestone with small quantities of other materials (such as clay) to 1450C in a kiln, in a process known as calcinations. The resulting hard substance, called

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'clinker', is then ground with a small amount of gypsum into a powder to make 'Ordinary Portland Cement', the most commonly used type of cement (often referred to as OPC). Cement sets when mixed with water by way of a complex series of hydration chemical reactions still only partly understood. The different constituents slowly hydrate and crystallise while the interlocking of their crystals gives to cement its strength. Carbon dioxide is slowly absorbed to convert the Ca(OH) 2 into insoluble calcium carbonate. After the initial setting, immersion in warm water will speed up setting. In Portland cement, gypsum is added as a compound preventing cement flash setting. Metakaolin is a supplementary cement material which is largely used as a replacer of the cement all over the world. Manufacturing of the metakaolin is now also done in the industry and it proved to be more economical as compare to the production of the cement. Metakaolin make the concrete structures more economical as well as increase the compressive strength of the concrete. Kaolin clay is a natural source for development of metakaolin and it is done by burning kaolin clay at temperatures of 700, 800 and 900 degree Celsius for 6, 8 and 10 hours duration. Strength activity Index of metakaolin is determined with 20% replacement of cement by metakaolin. Kaolin clay is frequently used in ceramic industry to manufacture pottery. The potential of kaolin clay conversion to metakaolin has been explored for use as supplementary cementing materials. The structural formula of kaolinite is Al2Si2 O5(OH)4. Metakaolin state occurs after calcinations of Kaolin clay. Silva and Glasser, (1992) found that metakaolin was a nearly anhydrous solid obtained by heating kaolin in a temperature range of 450-800C. In Pakistan kaolin is available up to large extent which is used as basic component of metakaolin. So metakaolin can play an important role in the development of economical concrete structures in our country.

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Metakaolin particles are finer than cement so they have more surface area and high reactivity. With increase in the % content of metakaolin in the concrete there will be a decrease in the workability of concrete and slump value. Like other pozzolans, metakaolin is more resistive towards the environment so it increases the durability and age of the concrete. Addition of metakaolin results in increase in flexural strength, Reduction in the permeability of the concrete including the chemical permeability of the concrete reduced potential for efflorescence, which occurs when calcium is transported by water to the surface where it combines with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to make calcium carbonate, which precipitates on the surface as a white residue. Reduced shrinkage, due to "particle packing" making concrete denser. With increase in the % metakaolin there will be increase in chemical resistance of the concrete. Hence the use of metakaolin concrete in every aspect is helpful to us. Silica Fumes is a byproduct of producing silicon metal or ferrosilicon alloys. Silica fume consists primarily of amorphous (non-crystalline) silicon dioxide (SiO2). The raw materials are quartz, coal, and woodchips. The smoke that results from furnace operation is collected and sold as silica fume. The most important use of this material is as a mineral admixture in concrete. Silica fume is often used as a supplementary cementitious. It makes concrete more durable, stronger and less permeable. It does increase the cost significantly as most ready mix concrete suppliers do not have the means to easily despense it. Because of its chemical and physical properties, it is a very reactive pozzolan. Concrete containing silica fume can have very high strength and can be very durable. Silica fume is available from suppliers of concrete admixtures and, when specified, is simply added during concrete production. Placing, finishing, and curing silica-fume concrete require special attention on the part of the concrete contractor. The individual particles are extremely small, approximately 1/100th the size of an average cement particle. Because of its fine particles, large surface area, and the high SiO 2 content,

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silica fume is a very reactive pozzolan when used in concrete. The quality of silica fume is specified by ASTM C 1240 and AASHTO M 307. Normal aggregate in concrete has sharp edges. This makes it harder for the cement to flow in the spaces in between the aggregate, it also makes it harder to pump. Leaving some spaces makes the concrete more permeable. Silica fume fills in those spaces because it has small particles and flows more easily, reducing the permeability. Silica-fume concrete should be transported, placed, finished, and cured following the good concreting practices outlined by the American Concrete Institute. Flatwork containing silica fume concrete generally requires less finishing effort than conventional concrete. To gain the most benefits from using silica fume, the concrete must be cured effectively.

1.2 OBJECTIVE
Over decades, attempts have been made to obtain concrete with certain desired characteristics such as high compressive strength, high workability, and high performance and durability parameters to meet the requirement of complexity of modern structures. In the modern world several material are being used as an additive or as a replacement of cement in the concrete to improve its properties, metakaolin and silica fumes are one the materials that are being used as a replacer of cement in the concrete. The goal of our project is to study the impact of blended cements on compressive strength of concrete. Main objectives of project are: To study the behavior of concrete when blended cements are used i.e. cement is replaced by metakaolin and silica fumes in various proportions. To study the variation in the compressive strength of normal concrete and the concrete with metakaolin and silica fume.

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1.3 SCOPE
In the development of strength estimation model of concrete using metakaolin and silica fume various parameters involve have certain limitations.
1

W/B RATIO SLUMP

0.46-0.50 75-100 mm VARIABLE DOSE 0-5% 0-15% 7,14,28 DAYS

PLASTICIZER
2 3

SF/B RATIO MK/B RATIO

TIME PERIOD
1water to binder ratio 2silica fume to binder ratio 3metakaoline to binder ratio