Cement and Concrete Research 31 (2001) 1291 – 1300

Comparison of the strength and durability performance of normal- and

high-strength pozzolanic concretes at elevated temperatures
Chi-Sun Poon*, Salman Azhar, Mike Anson, Yuk-Lung Wong
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Research Center for Advanced Technology in Structural Engineering,
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, China
Received 7 August 2000; accepted 18 June 2001

Abstract

The strength and durability performance of normal- and high-strength pozzolanic concretes incorporating silica fume, fly ash, and blast
furnace slag was compared at elevated temperatures up to 800
C. The strength properties were determined using an unstressed residual
compressive strength test, while durability was investigated by rapid chloride diffusion test, mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), and crack
pattern observations. It was found that pozzolanic concretes containing fly ash and blast furnace slag give the best performance particularly at
temperatures below 600
C as compared to the pure cement concretes. Explosive spalling occurred in most high-strength concretes (HSCs)
containing silica fume. A distributed network of fine cracks was observed in all fly ash and blast furnace slag concretes, but no spalling or
splitting occurred. The high-strength pozzolanic concretes showed a severe loss in permeability-related durability than the compressive
strength loss. Thirty percent replacement of cement by fly ash in HSC and 40% replacement of cement by blast furnace slag in normal-
strength concrete (NSC) was found to be optimal to retain maximum strength and durability after high temperatures. D 2001 Elsevier Science
Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: High temperature; Pozzolan; Compressive strength; Permeability; Microstructure

1. Introduction addition of fibers, heating rate and maximum temperature

level, methods of testing, etc. [3]. There is very little
Pozzolanic concretes are used extensively throughout the research work available on the comparative performance
world; the oil, gas, nuclear, and power industries are among of different pozzolanic concretes at elevated temperatures.
the major users. The applications of such concretes are Moreover, these studies considered only the residual
increasing day by day due to their superior structural strength properties and no attention was given on the
performance, environmental friendliness, and energy-con- durability loss, which can reduce the remaining service life
serving implications [1]. Apart from the usual risk of fire, of the structure very rapidly. In this research, a comprehen-
these concretes are exposed to high temperatures and sive experimental work has been done to consider the
pressures for considerable periods of time in the above- effects of pozzolan type and content on the fire performance
mentioned industries. Although concrete is generally of NSCs and HSCs at macro- and microlevels.
believed to be an excellent fireproofing material, many The following sections present a brief review of the
recent studies have shown extensive damage or even cata- previous research conducted on the fire performance of
strophic failure at high temperatures, particularly in high- pozzolanic concretes.
strength concrete (HSC) [2]. During the last decade, there
has been extensive research on the fire performance of 1.1. Fire performance of silica fume concrete
normal-strength concrete (NSC) and HSC; however, most
studies emphasized on aspects like types of aggregate, An earlier research by Hertz [4] indicated that silica fume
concrete is highly prone to spalling and cracking at elevated
temperatures. He prepared a special 170-MPa concrete
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +852-2766-6024; fax: +852-2334-6389. containing 14 – 20% silica fume. Five of the fifteen
E-mail address: [email protected] (C.-S. Poon). 100
200-mm cylinders exploded when heated to 650
C.

0008-8846/01/$ – see front matter D 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 0 8 - 8 8 4 6 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 5 8 0 - 4
1292 C.-S. Poon et al. / Cement and Concrete Research 31 (2001) 1291–1300

Table 1 temperature of 600
C at a heating rate of 2
C/min. Concrete

Chemical composition and physical properties of binders
without silica fume showed slightly better performance in
OPC CSF PFA GGBS terms of lower strength loss and reduced spalling. Felicetti
Chemical composition (%) and Gambarova [9], who prepared concretes with 6.7% and
Silicon dioxide (SiO2) 19.61 90.26 56.79 38.14 9.7% silica fume, flint aggregates, and Type V Portland
Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) 7.33 0.63 28.21 6.53
cement, also obtained the similar results.
Ferric oxide (Fe2O3) 3.32 0.33 5.31 0.40
Calcium oxide (CaO) 63.15 3.18 < 3.00 35.77 In short, it can be concluded that the addition of silica
Magnesium oxide (MgO) 2.54 0.33 5.21 13.65 fume highly densifies the pore structure of concrete, which
Sodium oxide (Na2O) – – – 0.36 results in explosive spalling due to the buildup of pore
Potassium oxide (K2O) – – – 0.40 pressure by water vapors. Since the evaporation of physi-
Sulphur trioxide (SO3) 2.13 0.4 0.68 –
cally absorbed water starts at 80
C, which induces thermal
Loss on ignition 2.97 4.84 3.90 0.76
cracks, such concretes show inferior performance as com-
Physical properties pared to pure OPC concretes at elevated temperatures.
Specific gravity 3.16 2.22 2.31 2.52
Specific surface (cm2/g) 3519 – 4120 4700 1.2. Fire performance of fly ash concrete

The research on performance of pulverized fly ash (PFA)

The test results indicated that on average, the residual concretes at elevated temperatures dates back to 1969 [10];
compressive strength of silica fume concrete increased with however, due to limited applications of PFA concrete before
temperature up to 350
C and then decreased sharply. In a the last decade, only few studies were carried out. Nasser
later study, Hertz [5] prepared another series of specimens and Marzouk [11] conducted a series of research on 25-MPa
with granite aggregate and silica fume contents of 0%, 5%, mass concrete containing 25% lignite fly ash by weight. The
10%, and 15% of cement by weight, and a moisture content specimens were exposed to high temperatures of 21 – 232
C
in equilibrium with air conditions. None of these specimens for periods of over 6 months. They found an increase in
exploded when heated at rates of 1
C/min and 5
C/min to strength of concrete in the temperature range of 121 – 149
C
600
C. He concluded that concretes densified by means of that was as high as 152% of the original strength. However,
silica fume at high moisture contents are more likely to the strength of PFA concrete was reduced to about 27% of
explode and suggested an upper limit of 10% by weight of the original value when the exposure temperature was raised
cement on silica fume to avoid spalling. The same conclu- to 232
C. They suggested that the increase in strength for
sions were also verified by Sanjayan and Stocks [6] after the concrete containing fly ash is due to the formation of
conducting a fire test on a monolithic beam-slab (T-beam) tobermorite (a product of lime and PFA at high pressure and
specimen containing 8% silica fume. temperature), which was reported to be two to three times
Sarshar and Khoury [7] found that replacement of ordin- stronger than the CSH gel. A similar increase in strength
ary Portland cement (OPC) by 10% silica fume did not offer was reported by Diederichs et al. [12] between 200
C and
any additional benefits at elevated temperatures. The resi- 250
C in a 90-MPa concrete incorporating Class F fly ash.
dual strength of the concretes containing silica fume However, the residual strength was below the original value
appeared to be worse than the concretes containing 100% at all temperatures.
OPC. Hammer [8] prepared five-series of specimens contain- Sarshar and Khoury [7] tested OPC –PFA paste contain-
ing 0 –5% silica fume with normal-weight crushed gravel or ing 30% PFA by weight under a series of temperatures till
lightweight aggregates and subjected them to a maximum 650
C. The relative residual compressive strength was 88%

Table 2
Mix proportions of HSC mixtures
28 days
Batched quantities (kg/m3) compressive
Mix SF (%) FA (%) GGBS (%) W/B Water Cement Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate SPa strength (MPa)
HS-CCb – – – 0.30 150 500 758 927 0.5 85.9
HS-SF5 5 – – 0.30 150 475 710 1066 0.6 96.5
HS-SF10 10 – – 0.30 150 450 620 1151 0.8 108.3
HS-FA20 – 20 – 0.30 150 400 618 1147 0.8 82.7
HS-FA30 – 30 – 0.30 150 350 615 1143 0.7 80.2
HS-FA40 – 40 – 0.30 150 300 613 1139 0.7 76.7
HS-SF + FA 10 20 – 0.30 150 350 615 1142 0.8 105.3
HS-BS30 – – 30 0.30 150 350 616 1145 0.7 83.9
HS-BS40 – – 40 0.30 150 300 615 1142 0.7 80.9
a
SP content in percentage by weight of binder.
b
Control concrete.
 C.-S. Poon et al. / Cement and Concrete Research 31 (2001) 1291–1300 1293

Table 3
Mix proportions of NSC mixtures
Batched quantities (kg/m3) 28 days
Fine Coarse compressive
Mix SF (%) FA (%) GGBS (%) W/B Water Cement aggregate aggregate SPa strength (MPa)
b
NS-CC – – – 0.50 195 390 768 917 – 35.8
NS-FA30 – 30 – 0.50 195 273 626 1133 – 39.3
NS-FA40 – 40 – 0.50 195 234 625 1129 – 36.9
NS-BS30 – – 30 0.50 195 273 626 1135 – 46.4
NS-BS40 – – 40 0.50 195 234 625 1132 – 39.8
a
SP content in percentage by weight of binder.
b
Control concrete.

at 450
C and 73% at 600
C, which was almost double than Conclusively, it was found that the PFA improved the
the residual strength shown by pure OPC pastes. performance of concrete at elevated temperatures as com-
Ghosh and Nasser [13] conducted research to investi- pared to silica fume or pure OPC concretes. However, this
gate the effects of high temperature and pressure on the improvement was more significant at temperatures below
strength and elasticity of HSC incorporating silica fume 600
C. Moreover, it was discovered that the PFA also
and high-calcium lignite fly ash together. The fly ash reduces the surface cracking of concrete both at elevated
content was 20% or 60% of the weight of binder, while temperatures and after postcooling in air or water [15].
silica fume was added in each mix with a constant dosage
of 10% by weight of the total binder. The exposure 1.3. Fire performance of blast furnace slag concrete
temperature was varied from 21
C to 232
C, while pres-
sure was varied from 5.2 to 13.8 MPa. A gradual dete- An earlier work on the performance of slag cement at
rioration of strength and static modulus of elasticity was elevated temperatures was done by Grainger [16]. He
observed with a rise in temperature at all pressures. The tested four cement pastes containing 0%, 50%, 70%, and
20% PFA replacement showed more loss; however, in any 90% replacement of slag by weight with OPC. The
case, the residual compressive strength was more than 60% maximum tested temperature was 500
C with an interval
of the original strength. of 100
C. All slag – cement paste specimens experienced
In a recent research, Wong et al. [14] studied the effects an increase in strength between 100
C and 250
C. The
of PFA replacement level, water/binder ratio (W/B), and 70% slag replacement showed the best results with a
curing conditions on the residual properties of concrete at residual compressive strength of 190% of the original
elevated temperatures. An increase in strength was observed strength at 110
C. Moreover, the residual strength of this
at 250
C. All PFA concrete specimens showed better paste was higher at all temperatures as compared to the
performance till 650
C than pure OPC concrete specimens; original strength. The other two slag – cement paste speci-
however, after that, there was no significant difference in the mens also showed better residual strengths as compared to
residual strength of all specimens. It was found that a high the pure cement paste specimen.
dosage of PFA enhanced the residual properties of concrete Diederichs et al. [12] prepared three HSCs mixes incor-
at elevated temperatures. The results were also verified by porating condensed silica fume (CSF), PFA, and granulated
porosity analysis done by mercury intrusion porosimetry blast furnace slag (GGBS) independently. The mixes were
(MIP) technique. subjected to a maximum temperature of 900
C. The GGBS

Table 4
Unstressed residual compressive strength of HSCs
Compressive strength (MPa)
Mix 20
C 200
C 400
C 600
C 800
C
HS-CC 91.3 88.0 (96%) 81.5 (89%) 53.0 (58%) 21.9 (24%)
HS-SF5 106.1 105.5 (99%) 98.7 (93%) 55.2 (52%) 22.3 (21%)
HS-SF10 119.9 117.7 (98%) 104.3 (87%) 52.8 (44%) 19.2 (16%)
HS-FA20 96.6 110.2 (114%) 92.9 (96%) 59.8 (62%) 27.0 (28%)
HS-FA30 102.8 124.6 (121%) 100.7 (98%) 68.9 (67%) 32.9 (32%)
HS-FA40 107.7 131.5 (122%) 112.2 (104%) 61.4 (57%) 32.3 (30%)
HS-SF + FA 123.9 135.3 (109%) 116.5 (94%) 63.2 (51%) 23.5 (19%)
HS-BS30 111.9 126.7 (113%) 108.5 (97%) 59.3 (53%) 30.2 (27%)
HS-BS40 115.5 133.3 (115%) 114.9 (100%) 70.5 (61%) 33.6 (29%)
The values in brackets indicate the relative increase or decrease in residual compressive strength as compared to the original strength before heating.
1294 C.-S. Poon et al. / Cement and Concrete Research 31 (2001) 1291–1300

Table 5
Unstressed residual compressive strength of NSCs
Compressive strength (MPa)
Mix 20
C 200
C 400
C 600
C 800
C
NS-CC 38.2 35.5 (93%) 28.3 (74%) 11.5 (30%) 3.8 (10%)
NS-FA30 49.1 50.1 (102%) 42.2 (86%) 18.2 (37%) 7.9 (16%)
NS-FA40 55.6 58.9 (106%) 46.7 (84%) 25.0 (45%) 10.0 (18%)
NS-BS30 61.7 60.5 (98%) 52.5 (85%) 31.5 (51%) 12.9 (21%)
NS-BS40 66.8 61.5 (92%) 54.1 (81%) 36.1 (54%) 13.4 (20%)
The values in brackets indicate the relative increase or decrease in residual
compressive strength as compared to the original strength before heating.

Fig. 2. Residual compressive strength of NSCs.

concrete showed the best performance followed by PFA and heating rate, and strength levels were different in different
CSF concretes. studies, which makes it difficult to generalize the results
Sarshar and Khoury [7] prepared cement paste and for a given condition. Moreover, these analyses were
concrete specimens incorporating 65% slag by weight of limited to residual mechanical properties only, and no
cement and firebrick aggregates. The results were compared durability studies were conducted. To compare the strength
with pure OPC cement paste/concrete and 30% PFA cement and durability performance of different pozzolanic con-
paste. The maximum temperature was 700
C, while the cretes at elevated temperatures, it is necessary to prepare
residual properties were measured at every 100
C interval. and test them under the same set of material and environ-
They found that the slag –cement paste and concrete gave mental conditions. In this study, an attempt is made to
the best results among all the specimens tested. The residual achieve this objective by preparing nine HSC and five
compressive strengths of slag concrete were 102% and 80% NSC mixes incorporating CSF, PFA, and ground GGBS,
of the initial cold strength at 450
C and 600
C. which were then subjected to heating levels of 200
C,
Additionally, Sullivan and Sharshar [17] studied the 400
C, 600
C, and 800
C. In addition to measuring
properties of silica fume and blast furnace slag concretes residual compressive strength, durability analysis was also
prepared with two ‘‘thermally stable’’ aggregates (viz., carried out using rapid chloride diffusion test, MIP, and
Lytag and crushed firebrick). The results indicated that crack pattern observations.
concretes with the lightweight aggregate (i.e., Lytag) had
lower residual strength at temperature above 150
C than the
corresponding concrete prepared with firebrick aggregate. 3. Experimental details
The use of firebrick with blast furnace slag in concrete also
resulted in superior elevated temperature performance. 3.1. Materials

3.1.1. Binders
2. Research objectives A locally manufactured OPC complying with ASTM
Type I, a low-calcium fly ash equivalent to ASTM Class
The preceding review reveals that most of the studies F, CSF, and GGBS were utilized as binders. All the binders
used only one or maximum two pozzolans at different are commercially available in Hong Kong. The chemical
dosage levels in concrete to evaluate its fire performance. composition and physical properties of these materials are
The types of aggregate, curing and testing conditions, shown in Table 1.

Fig. 1. Residual compressive strength of HSCs. Fig. 3. Relative residual compressive strength of HSCs.
 C.-S. Poon et al. / Cement and Concrete Research 31 (2001) 1291–1300 1295

Table 7
Chloride resistance of normal-strength pozzolanic concretes
Total charge passed (C)
Mix 20
C 600
C 800
C
NS-CC 2941 21,792 35,724
NS-FA30 1826 11,724 24,240
NS-FA40 1454 8550 20,666
NS-BS30 1389 7917 15,836
NS-BS40 1181 6306 15,368

the average climatic conditions in Hong Kong. The speci-

Fig. 4. Relative residual compressive strength of NSCs. mens were kept there for 1 month until heating.

3.4. Heating and cooling regimes

3.1.2. Aggregates
The fine and coarse aggregates were local natural river At an age of 60 days, the specimens were heated in an
sand and crushed granite with maximum nominal sizes of 10 electric furnace up to 200
C, 400
C, 600
C, and 800
C.
and 20 mm, which were mixed in a ratio of 1:2. Each temperature was maintained for 1 h to achieve the
thermal steady state [19]. The heating rate was set at
3.1.3. Superplasticizer 2.5
C/min based on the experience of our previous
A sulphonated, naphthalene –formaldehyde condensate research [20]. The specimens were allowed to cool natu-
was used as a superplasticizer (SP) in HSC mixes. This SP rally to room temperature.
was a dark brown liquid containing 38.6% solids.
3.5. Specimen dimensions and testing details
3.2. Mix proportions
1. Unstressed residual compressive strength test was
The mix proportions of nine HSC and five NSC mixes performed on 100-mm concrete cubes according to BS
are shown in Tables 2 and 3. All pozzolans were introduced 1881: Part 120:1983. Three specimens were tested at each
as cement replacement materials and their proportions were stage and average values are reported.
decided on the basis of previous research [18] to achieve the 2. Rapid chloride diffusion test was conducted on
optimum strength and durability. One control mix incorpor- 100
50-mm concrete slices to determine permeability
ating pure OPC was also prepared for each type of concrete and resistance to chloride ion penetration.
for comparison purposes. All the mixtures were produced at 3. The porosity and pore size distribution was measured
a slump of over 200 mm and no air entraining admixture using MIP, which has a measuring pressure ranging from
was used. 0.01 to 207 MPa. The contact angle selected was 140
, so
the measurable pore size range was from 0.007 to 144 mm.
3.3. Curing conditions The samples in the form of pellets of about 5 mm in size,
consisted of hardened cement paste, were collected from the
The specimens were demoulded 24 h after the casting crushed concrete cubes and immediately soaked in acetone
and placed in a water tank at 20
C. After 28 days of water to stop the further hydration. The samples were dried in an
curing, they were transferred to an environmental chamber oven at 60
C for 48 h before testing.
maintained at 20
C and 75% relative humidity, which are

Table 6
Chloride resistance of high-strength pozzolanic concretes
Total charge passed (C)
Mix 20
C 600
C 800
C
HS-CC 941 12,534 23,396
HS-SF5 610 8619 18,390
HS-SF10 285 10,080 25,170
HS-FA20 533 4947 9405
HS-FA30 449 5373 9049
HS-FA40 369 5739 11,625
HS-SF + FA 122 8928 23,951
HS-BS30 334 6772 10,673
HS-BS40 245 7575 11,044 Fig. 5. Resistance of HSC against chloride ion penetration.
1296 C.-S. Poon et al. / Cement and Concrete Research 31 (2001) 1291–1300

CSF concretes. The strength gain was probably due to the

formation of tobermorite, which was formed by the reaction
between unhydrated PFA or GGBS particles and lime at
high temperatures [11]. However, this increase in strength
was more pronounced in HSC as compared to NSC. The
possible reason is the greater percentage of unhydrated PFA
or GGBS particles in HSC due to its dense structure. No
visible cracking or spalling was observed in this tempera-
ture range.
From 200
C to 400
C, most HSCs maintained their
original strength, while a significant decrease was observed
Fig. 6. Resistance of NSC against chloride ion penetration. in NSCs, which was 19 –26% of the original strength. This
reduction is due to the pore structure coarsening, which was
4. Crack widths in heated concrete cubes were measured found to be more in NSC [20]. Again, the pozzolanic
using a digital microscope that can measure the surface concretes performed better and showed higher residual
crack width up to an accuracy of 1 mm. strength. Hairline cracks were observed in CSF concretes,
while no spalling occurred in any specimen.
A severe loss in strength was observed in the 400 – 600
C
4. Test results and discussion temperature range. The average loss was 44% in HSC and
60% in NSC. The CSF concretes experienced extensive
4.1. Residual compressive strength cracking and spalling and their residual compressive
strength was less than the pure OPC concrete. This was
There are three test methods available for finding the probably due to the very dense structure of CSF concrete,
residual compressive strength of concrete at elevated tem- which results in a buildup of vapor pressure formed by the
peratures: stressed test, unstressed test, and unstressed evaporation of physical and chemically bound water. The
residual strength test. The first two types of test are suitable PFA and GGBS concretes performed better and showed no
for accessing the strength of concrete during high tempera- spalling or cracking except hairline cracks. The maximum
tures, while the later is excellent for finding the residual strength was retained by the HSC containing 30% PFA
properties after the high temperature. It was found that the replacement, which was 67% of the original value. The
last method gives the lowest strength and is therefore more better performance of PFA and GGBS concretes in this
suitable for getting the limiting values and hence selected temperature range is due to the reduced amount of
for this research [2]. The residual compressive strength test Ca(OH)2, which otherwise results in strength loss and
results are shown in Tables 4 and 5 and Figs. 1 –4. disintegration [20].
The test results indicate that each temperature range At 800
C, all the concretes showed severe deterioration
showed a distinct pattern of strength loss or gain. From due to the decomposition of CSH gel [21]. The average
20
C to 200
C, the PFA and GGBS concretes showed residual strength was 26% for HSC and 17% for NSC.
increases in strength with a greater increase in PFA con- In each temperature range, HSC maintained a higher
cretes. The maximum strength gain was shown by the HSC percentage value of residual compressive strength than
containing 40% PFA, which was 122% of the original NSC. The reason is the coarsening of the pore structure
strength. A slight strength loss was observed in OPC and and increase in pore diameter, which was found to be more

Table 8
Porosity and average pore diameter of high-strength pozzolanic concretes
Exposure temperatures
20
C 600
C 800
C
Porosity Average pore Porosity Average pore Porosity Average pore
Mix (%, v/v) diameter (mm) (%, v/v) diameter (mm) (%, v/v) diameter (mm)
HS-CC 9.52 0.0329 18.32 0.0632 29.13 0.1102
HS-SF5 7.68 0.0294 13.71 0.0526 22.21 0.0938
HS-SF10 5.73 0.0273 9.87 0.0470 32.71 0.1559
HS-FA20 7.73 0.0316 12.77 0.0521 23.31 0.0945
HS-FA30 6.69 0.0309 11.28 0.0522 21.96 0.0921
HS-FA40 6.23 0.0302 10.63 0.0516 22.46 0.0870
HS-SF + FA 5.49 0.0247 8.91 0.0400 30.01 0.1351
HS-BS30 6.29 0.0306 12.71 0.0630 23.01 0.0947
HS-BS40 6.02 0.0299 11.21 0.0562 24.42 0.0899
 C.-S. Poon et al. / Cement and Concrete Research 31 (2001) 1291–1300 1297

Table 9
Porosity and average pore diameter of normal-strength pozzolanic concretes
Exposure temperatures
20
C 600
C 800
C
Porosity Average pore Porosity Average pore Porosity Average pore
Mix (%, v/v) diameter (mm) (%, v/v) diameter (mm) (%, v/v) diameter (mm)
NS-CC 14.82 0.0412 26.56 0.0935 42.12 0.1747
NS-FA30 12.17 0.0379 20.29 0.0760 31.09 0.1458
NS-FA40 11.71 0.0358 18.78 0.0688 29.98 0.1281
NS-BS30 11.46 0.0369 19.39 0.0734 28.89 0.1355
NS-BS40 11.08 0.0347 17.87 0.0671 27.79 0.1260

in NSC at elevated temperatures than in the HSC [19]. Due note that this test was performed only on specimens sub-
to this effect, NSC showed a gradual decrease in strength, jected to 600
C and 800
C as more damage occurred at
while sharp decrease was observed in HSC between 400
C those temperatures. Long testing time was another reason to
and 800
C. This topic will be further discussed in the limit the extent of this analysis. Only those specimens that
following sections. did not show very extensive cracking were selected, as this
The beneficial effect of pozzolans was more pronounced test is insensitive to cracked specimens.
at temperatures below 600
C for both types of concrete. In A close examination of these results indicate a clear
HSC, PFA concretes gave the best performance followed by relationship between the residual compressive strength and
GGBS, OPC, and CSF concretes, while in NSC, this concrete permeability, as more permeable specimens
sequence was GGBS, PFA, and OPC. The optimum repla- showed more pronounced loss of compressive strength.
cement levels were 30% PFA for HSC and 40% GGBS for In HSC, all specimens showed a very low permeability
NSC. Spalling was observed in 28% of CSF concrete before subjecting to elevated temperatures. However, as
specimens and 5% of OPC concrete specimens, while the temperature was increased, a severe loss in imperme-
PFA and GGBS concretes only showed visible network of ability was observed. In percentage of original value, this
fine surface cracks. loss ranges from 500% to 2000% and far more than the
loss in compressive strength. The ASTM specifies the
4.2. Resistance against chloride ion penetration concrete as highly permeable if the charge that passes
through it is more than 4000
C. Since all the specimens
This test determines the electrical conductance of con- showed higher values than 4000
C after fire, such con-
crete to provide a rapid indication of its resistance to the cretes can be considered as nondurable depending upon the
penetration of chloride ions. The chloride ion resistance of situation, even if they retain a higher proportion of their
concrete gives an indirect measure of its permeability and compressive strength. The NSCs also showed the imper-
internal pore structure, as more current passes through a meability loss; however, this loss was smaller than the loss
more permeable concrete. The details of this test can be seen in HSCs.
in ASTM C1202-94 and its results can be used to assess the A comparison among different concretes showed better
durability of concrete. performance of pozzolanic concretes at elevated tempera-
The results of rapid chloride diffusion test are summar- tures even in the case of CSF. In HSC, the lowest
ized in Tables 6 and 7 and Figs. 5 and 6. It is important to impermeability loss was shown by PFA concretes, while

Fig. 7. Residual porosity of HSCs. Fig. 8. Porosity of NSCs.

1298 C.-S. Poon et al. / Cement and Concrete Research 31 (2001) 1291–1300

Table 10
Calculated values of worsening indices d1 and d2
Exposure temperature
600
C 800
C
Mix d1 d2 d1 d2
HSCs
HS-CC 0.419 0.620 0.760 0.829
HS-SF5 0.480 0.660 0.790 0.887
HS-SF10 0.560 0.681 0.840 0.913
HS-FA20 0.381 0.605 0.720 0.748
HS-FA30 0.330 0.543 0.680 0.753
HS-FA40 0.430 0.586 0.700 0.764
Fig. 9. Average pore diameter in HSCs.
HS-SF + FA 0.490 0.716 0.810 0.947
HS-BS30 0.470 0.595 0.730 0.792
HS-BS40 0.390 0.587 0.709 0.787
for NSC, GGBS concretes gave the minimum values.
This is consistent with the residual compressive strength NSCs
test results. NS-CC 0.699 0.558 0.901 0.731
NS-FA30 0.629 0.500 0.839 0.666
4.3. Porosity and pore size distribution measurements NS-FA40 0.550 0.524 0.820 0.693
NS-BS30 0.489 0.541 0.791 0.651
NS-BS40 0.460 0.520 0.799 0.633
The porosity and pore size distribution were measured
using MIP. The test was conducted on specimens subjected
to temperatures of 600
C and 800
C due to the reasons GGBS in concrete is fast due to its high fineness as
mentioned earlier. The results are reported in Tables 8 and 9, compared to PFA, and results in a dense structure with
and plotted in Figs. 7 –10. higher compressive strength at early ages. With the increase
The MIP test results clearly indicate an increase in in temperature, this dense structure suffered more loss
porosity and average pore diameter with the increase in particularly in terms of durability due to the internal
temperature. This effect can be pronounced as coarsening cracking produced by evaporable water and expanded
of the pore structure [20,22] and was responsible for the siliceous aggregates.
strength and impermeability loss. In both HSC and NSC,
a significant decrease in porosity and average pore dia- 4.4. Integrative analysis of compressive strength
meter was observed by the addition of pozzolans as and durability
compared to the pure OPC concretes even at elevated
temperatures. An exception is the mixes with 10% CSF, To compare the performance of different pozzolanic
which suffered severe internal cracking due to the very concretes integratively, two worsening indices, d1 and d2,
dense internal structure. as defined by Chan et al. [20], are used. The index d1 is the
Among HSCs, PFA concretes had the lowest porosity worsening index of mechanical strength and d2 is the
and average pore diameter at all test temperatures. These
values were higher in GGBS concretes having the same mix Table 11
proportions. This explains why the HS-GGSB concretes Surface crack widths in selected concrete specimens
showed less relative residual compressive strength at 600
C Crack widths (mm)
and 800
C, although their overall residual strengths were
600
C 800
C
higher than the PFA concretes. The hydration reaction of
Mix Min Max Min Max
HSCs
HS-CC 0.32 1.26 0.75 1.84
HS-SF10 0.71 1.74 1.30 2.89
HS-FA20 0.15 0.98 0.48 1.32
HS-FA30 0.19 1.09 0.52 1.44
HS-FA40 0.21 1.16 0.52 1.49
HS-BS30 0.21 1.19 0.56 1.46
HS-BS40 0.23 1.24 0.59 1.52

NSCs
NS-CC 0.28 0.94 0.59 1.44
NS-FA30 0.16 0.95 0.48 0.98
NS-FA40 0.17 1.06 0.52 1.10
NS-BS30 0.16 0.75 0.38 0.82
NS-BS40 0.15 0.90 0.44 0.88
Fig. 10. Average pore diameter in NSCs.
 C.-S. Poon et al. / Cement and Concrete Research 31 (2001) 1291–1300 1299

ability should be made. This is because the loss in

durability can result in deterioration of concrete and
rusting of rebars, which may reduce the overall life of
the structure.

4.5. Crack width and pattern analysis

Each pozzolanic concrete showed a distinct pattern of

surface cracks regardless of the strength of concrete. The
surface cracks started to appear around 300
C and continued
to grow till the final rise in temperature. Immediately after
cooling, the crack widths were measured using a Nikon
digital microscope that can measure the surface crack widths
Fig. 11. Cracks observation and measurement apparatus. up to 1 mm. The crack widths are reported in Table 11. The
test arrangement is shown in Fig. 11, while Fig. 12 shows
worsening index of the permeability-related durability. the typical crack patterns observed in different HSCs. Since
These indices are defined below in Eqs. (1) and (2): almost the same patterns were observed in NSCs, they are
mean residual compressive strength not presented here.
d1 ¼ 1 (1) The pure OPC concrete specimens showed one or two
mean original compressive strength
major cracks usually in the middle of the specimen, but
cumulative volume of pores larger than 1:3 m before fire
no splitting occurred even at 800
C. In most CSF con-
d2 ¼ 1 : crete specimens, usually a single major crack was
cumulative volume of pores larger than 1:3 m after fire
observed, which often resulted in splitting at 800
C.
(2) The PFA and GGBS concretes showed a network of
The indices can have values ranging from 0 (no worsening) minor cracks, but no major crack was observed that
to 1 ( full worsening). The calculated values of d1 and d2 are would cause disintegration.
given in Table 10. As far as the crack widths after fire are concerned,
The results clearly support the findings pointed in the they were well above the maximum crack widths spe-
earlier sections as: cified by the ACI (0.10 mm for wet conditions and
0.41 mm for dry conditions). It was also observed that
1. As compared to NSC, HSC suffered a smaller although the surface cracking started around 300
C, the
worsening of its mechanical strength but a greater internal cracks commenced after 600
C. As the tempera-
worsening of the permeability-related durability. ture of the internal concrete during a short heating period
2. The CSF concrete showed greater deterioration of is usually lower than the surface temperature, the internal
strength and impermeability than all other concretes concrete can be considered as durable. This is particularly
due to its very dense microstructure. advantageous for PFA or GGBS concretes, which showed
3. In HSC, 30% PFA replacement, while in NSC, 40% a network of fine cracks that can be refilled by postfire
GGBS replacement gives the best strength and curing [23].
durability performance at elevated temperatures.

These results also show a severe loss of durability as 5. Conclusions

compared to the compressive strength, and indicate that
even after the fire, if concrete retains a high proportion of 1. The pozzolanic concretes showed better performance
its original compressive strength, an examination of dur- at elevated temperatures than the pure OPC concretes

Fig. 12. Typical crack patterns observed in HSC at 800
C.

1300 C.-S. Poon et al. / Cement and Concrete Research 31 (2001) 1291–1300

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Acknowledgments
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