Chapter 2.

Using Silica
Fume in Concrete
 Enhancing Mechanical Properties
 Improving Durability
 Enhancing Constructability
 Producing High-Performance Concrete
Bridges
 Silica Fume is Not a
Cement Replacement
Material!
Enhancing Mechanical
Properties

Chapter
Outline
Enhancing Mechanical Properties

Increased Concrete
Strength

High-rise columns
Precast bridge beams
Silica-Fume Concrete: Typical Strengths
10 15%
Compressive Strength, ksi

10%
8
5%

6
0%

4 Control mixture
cement: 658 lb/yd3
2
w/c: 0.41
air: 5%
0
0 3 7 28 60
Age, days
 Silica-Fume Concrete: Typical Strengths

70
15%
Compressive Strength, MPa

60
10%

5%
50

40
0%

30
Control mixture
20 cement: 390 kg/m3
10 w/c: 0.41
air: 5%
0
0 3 7 28 60
Age, days SI
 High-Strength Silica-Fume Concrete
25,000
Compressive Strength, psi

20,000

15,000

cement: 950 lb/yd3

10,000
silica fume: 150 lb/yd3
w/cm: 0.220
5,000
air: 1.1%

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Age, days
 High-Strength Silica-Fume Concrete
160

140
Compressive Strength, MPa

120

100

80

cement: 564 kg/m3

60
silica fume: 89 kg/m3
40
w/cm: 0.220
20 air: 1.1%
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Age, days SI
Why Use High-Strength Concrete?
Column design load = 10,000 kips

Concrete Column Reinforcing Comments

Strength, size, required
psi inches

6,000 45 x 45 44 No. 11 Base case

7,500 45 x 45 20 No. 9 Save steel
12,000 45 x 30 20 No. 8 Save space
Save steel
12,000 36 x 36 16 No. 8 Save space
Save steel
Why Use High-Strength Concrete?
Column design load = 50 MN

Concrete Column size, Reinforcing Comments

Strength, meters required
MPa

40 1.2 x 1.2 56 No. 36 Base case

55 1.2 x 1.2 24 No. 29 Save steel
85 1.2 x 0.75 24 No. 22 Save space
Save steel
85 0.95 x 0.95 24 No. 22 Save space
Save steel
SI
Enhancing Mechanical Properties

Increased Modulus of
Elasticity

High-rise columns
Key Bank Tower
Cleveland, Ohio

High-strength (12,000
psi), high-modulus (6.8
million psi) concrete
columns were specified
at the corners of this
structure to stiffen
against wind sway.
Key Bank Tower
Cleveland, Ohio

High-strength (83 MPa),

high-modulus (47 GPa)
concrete columns were
specified at the corners
of this structure to stiffen
against wind sway.

SI
Improving Durability

Chapter
Outline
Improving Durability

Decreased Permeability
for Corrosion-Resisting
Concrete
Parking structures
Bridge decks
Marine structures
 Silica-Fume Concrete:
Corrosion Protection
5-10% silica fume added by mass of cement
Mixture may include fly ash or slag
w/cm < 0.40: use HRWRA
Total cementitious materials < 700 lb/yd3
Permeability estimated using ASTM C 1202
 Silica-Fume Concrete:
Corrosion Protection
5-10% silica fume added by mass of cement
Mixture may include fly ash or slag
w/cm < 0.40: use HRWRA
Total cementitious materials < 415 kg/m3
Permeability estimated using ASTM C 1202

SI
 Silica-Fume Concrete: Typical Values

Silica fume RCP Compressive

Strength
(by mass of cement)
0% > 3,000 coulombs = 5,000 psi

7-10% < 1,000 coulombs > 7,000 psi

>10% < 500 coulombs > 9,000 psi

Don’t fall into strength trap!

 Silica-Fume Concrete: Typical Values

Silica fume RCP Compressive Strength

(by mass of cement)

0% > 3,000 coulombs = 35 MPa

7-10% < 1,000 coulombs > 50 MPa

>10% < 500 coulombs > 65 MPa

Don’t fall into strength trap!

SI
 What About Simply Reducing
w/cm to Achieve Durability?
“The results clearly indicate that silica
fume was effective in reducing the [Rapid
Chloride Permeability Test] values
regardless of the curing regimes applied.
Moreover, silica fume enhanced chloride
resistance more than reducing w/cm.
This effect was confirmed by the diffusion
tests.”
-- Hooton et al. 1997
w/cm reduction versus adding
silica fume
w/cm % sf RCP Diffusivity
(coulombs) (m2/s E-12)
0.45 0 3527 10.5
0.45 7 719 1.9
0.40 0 3062 9.4
0.40 7 442 1.8
0.35 0 2530 5.9
0.35 7 295 1.9
 w/cm reduction versus adding
silica fume
100
Percent of w/cm = 0.45, 0% SF

90
w/cm 0.45, 0% SF
80
70 w/cm 0.40, 0% SF
60 w/cm 0.35, 0% SF
50 w/cm 0.45, 7% SF
40 w/cm 0.40, 7% SF
30 w/cm 0.35, 7% SF
20
w/cm 0.35, 12% SF
10
0
RCPT 120-Day
Diffusivity
Capitol South Parking Structure
Columbus, OH
5,000 parking spaces
Bridge Deck Overlay
Ohio DOT
Improving Durability

Increased Abrasion
Resistance
 Kinzua Dam
Western Pennsylvania
 Abrasion-erosion
damage to the stilling
basin of Kinzua Dam
Improving Durability

Improved Chemical
Resistance
Silica-Fume Concrete: Chemical
Resistance
Days to 25% Mass Loss
200
160
120 LMC
SFMC
80 LWC

40
0
1% HCl 1% Lactic Acid 5% (NH4)2SO4
5% Acetic Acid 1% H2SO4
Silica-Fume Concrete: Chemical
Resistance
Cycles to 25% Mass Loss
60
50
0% sf
40 7.5% sf
12.5 %sf
30 15% sf
20 25% sf
30% sf
10
0
1% 5% 5% 5%
H2SO4 Acetic Formic H2SO4
 Enhancing
Constructability

Chapter
Outline
Enhancing Constructability

Improve Shotcrete
Silica-fume shotcrete
 Benefits of Silica
Fume in Shotcrete
 Reduction of rebound loss up to 50%
 Increased one-pass thickness up to
12 in. (300 mm)
 Higher bond strength
 Improved cohesion to resist washout
in tidal rehabilitation of piles and
seawalls
Enhancing Constructability

Increase Early Strength

Control Temperature
Nuclear Waste
Storage Facility
Hanford, WA
 These massive
walls include
portland cement, fly
ash, and silica fume
to reduce heat and
to provide early
strength for form
removal.
Enhancing Constructability

Fast-Track Finishing
 Producing High-
Performance Concrete
Bridges

Chapter
Outline
 Why Use High-
Performance Concrete
in Bridges?
High strength -- girders and beams
High durability -- decks, sidewalks,
parapets, piles, piers, pier caps,
and splash zones
 Why High-Strength
HPC?
 Longer spans
 Increased beam spacings
 Shallower sections for same span
 “The use of high-strength concrete in
the fabrication and construction of
pretensioned concrete girder bridges
can result in lighter bridge designs, with
corresponding economic advantages,
by allowing longer span lengths and
increased girder spacings for standard
shapes.”

-- B. W. Russell
PCI Journal
Ohio HPC Bridge
New Hampshire HPC Bridge
Colorado HPC Bridge
For High-Strength Bridges,
You Must Consider:

 Design issues:
Larger diameter strand
Take advantage of strength
of high-durability concretes
For High-Strength Bridges,
You Must Consider:

 Concrete materials and proportioning

issues:
Random approach to trial mixtures
may not be best approach
Conduct full-scale testing of
selected mixture
For High-Strength Bridges,
You Must Consider:

 Construction issues:
Bed capacities
Curing temperatures
Transportation and erection
limitations
Why High-Durability
HPC?

 Reduced maintenance costs

 Longer life
 “Life-cycle costing”
 “The results of this study indicate that
there are no fundamental reasons why
use of silica fume concrete in bridge
deck applications should not continue
to grow as ‘high-performance
concretes’ become an increasingly
important part of bridge construction.”

-- Whiting and Detwiler

NCHRP Report 410
One approach to improving the
durability of concrete bridge
decks exposed to chlorides in
service is to reduce the rate at
which chlorides can enter the
concrete.
 Silica-Fume Concrete:
Long-Term Performance

Illinois State Route 4, bridge over I-55

Constructed 1973
October, 1986: southbound lane repaired
with dense concrete, w/cm = 0.32
March, 1987: northbound lane repaired with
silica-fume concrete, w/cm = 0.31, sf = 11%
Illinois State Route 4, Bridge over I-55
Silica-fume Dense concrete
concrete
Depth 10 mm 25 mm 10 mm 25 mm
(0.4 in.) (1.0 in.) (0.4 in.) (1.0 in.)

0.152 0.042 0.253 0.084

0.074 0.014 0.263 0.061
0.087 0.014 0.077 0.021
0.066 0.018 0.370 0.114

Percent chloride by mass of concrete

What About Cracking
of HPC Silica-Fume
Concrete Bridge
Decks?
 NCHRP Project 18-3

 Silica-fume concretes tend to crack

only when they are insufficiently
moist-cured.
 If silica-fume concrete mixtures are
given 7 days of continuous moist
curing, there is then no association
between silica fume content and
cracking.
New York State DOT Review
 Since April, 1996, NYSDOT has used HPC
concrete in its bridge decks to reduce
cracking and permeability.
 Class HP concrete:
Portland cement 500 lb/yd3
Fly ash 135 lb/yd3
Silica fume 40 lb/yd3
w/cm 0.40
New York State DOT Review
 Since April, 1996, NYSDOT has used HPC
concrete in its bridge decks to reduce
cracking and permeability.
 Class HP concrete:
Portland cement 300 kg/m3
Fly ash 80 kg/m3
Silica fume 25 kg/m3
W/CM 0.40

SI
New York State DOT Review

 84 HPC bridge decks were inspected

-- 49% showed no cracking

 “Results indicated that Class HP decks

performed better than previously
specified concrete in resisting both
longitudinal and transverse cracking.”
 Interstate 15
rebuilding
project in Salt
Lake City
144 bridges, all
with silica-fume
concrete decks!
 Need more
information on
HPC for
Bridges?
 PCA’s new
HPC Bridge Booklet
 Can HPC Reduce the
Life-Cycle Cost of a
Bridge?

 High-strength HPC -- Possibly

 High-durability HPC -- Probably
End of Chapter 2

Main
Outline