(HSC General Note)

HSC can be defined as; “All concretes with a compressive cylinder

strength above the present existing limits in national codes, i.e.
about 60 MPa, and up to 130 MPa, the practical upper limit for
concretes with ordinary aggregates

In standards;
• HSC: fc 35 > MPa (fc < 50 MPa)
• NSC: fc > 16 MPa (fc < 30 MPa
(fc : Equivalent cube compressive strength)

(Materials used and their properties)

1-Cement:
• Strength development and strength potential in HSC depend on the
choice of cement.
• The clinker composition and the fineness are factors that influence
both early and final strength.
• The clinker minerals C3S, C2S and C3A have the greatest influence on
the strength development in cement paste.
• C3S contributes both to a rapid early age strength development and a
high final strength.
• C2S hydrates somewhat slower but can contribute significantly to the
final strength.
• C3A has particular influence on the early strength.
Note:
(C3S): Tricalcium silicate
(C2S): Belite
(C3A): Tricalcium aluminate

General mixing points :

• a high Specific Surface leads to a rapid reaction.

• A high degree of fineness, however, may reduce the strength

development after 28 days of curing.

• If a high early strength is not necessary, a reduction in C3A content

and higher content of C3S and particularly C2S will result in a higher
final strength.
• Heat Generation: C2S < C3S < C3A
. A high content of Alkalies will result in an increased early strength and
reduced final strength potential.
2- Slag and Fly‐Ash
Fly ash: is used as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in the
production of Portland cement concrete

Benefit of the Flay Ash:

Benefits to Fresh Concrete:
1- Improved workability.
2- Decreased water demand
3- Reduced heat of hydration

Benefits to Hardened Concrete.:

1- Increased ultimate strength.
2- Reduced permeability.
3- Improved durability

Note:
Permeability of Concrete: the ability of a given concrete to permit
liquids or gases to pass through
Durability: the ability of concrete to resist weathering action, chemical
attack, abrasion, and other conditions of service
Slag: An industrial by-product of an iron blast furnace.

• If fly ash or slag is ground into the cement, the influence on strength
is limited. The early age strength may, however, be reduced.
• This can be compensated by finer grinding of the cement and
improved curing conditions.

• When adding fly ash during concrete production, the workability is

normally improved .
3- Silica Fume: (SF)

• SF is a by‐product of the melting process used to produce

silicon metal and ferrosilicon alloys.

• The main characteristics of SF are its high content of

amorphous SiO2 ranging from 85 to 98 %, mean particle size of
0.1‐0.2 micron and its spherical shape.

• SF acts as a filler and as a pozzolan.

• The use of SF as a replacement of a part of the cement gives a

considerable strength gain.

• SF is 2‐4 times more efficient than P.C. as far as Longterm

strength is concerned for concrete of normal strength.

• For most binder combinations, the use of SF is the only way of

producing concrete of normal workability with a strength level
exceeding 80 MPa.
 Admixtures:(Chemical Admixtures)

1. Water Reducers:
• Generally, the main components of water reducers or retarders
are water soluble organic compounds which can be divided into 4
groups;

• Salts of lignosulfonic acid

• Hydroxy‐carbolic acids
• Carbohydrates
• Other compounds, either organic or inorganic.

• Lignosulfonate based compounds are the most used water

reducing admixtures.

• Water‐reducing admixtures and retarding admixtures are often

treated as one category because the main component used for
retarders are also present in water‐reducing and retarding
admixtures.
2. Superplasticizers:(high‐range water reducers)

Divided into 4 main groups;

• Sulfonated melamine formaldehyde condensate (SMF)
• Sulfonated naphthalene formaldehyde condensate (SNF)
• Modified lignosulfonates
• Others include sulfonic esters, carbohydrate esters.

• SMF and SNF based admixtures are more commonly used, so

most of the information available refers to these compounds.

• They work by helping to disperse particles of cement when mixing

water is added, which causes the cement paste to behave more like a
fluid.
Sulfonated naphthalene formaldehyde condensate (SNF): is a
condensed polymer product. It is mainly used as a powerful water
reducing agent in concrete and known as superplasticizer. It produces
concrete with exceptionally workable characteristic referred to as high
slump. It helps to keep the minimum water to cement ratio without
compromising the degree of workability. It is also a very good
dispersing agent.

Sulfonated melamine formaldehyde condensate (SMF): is an aqueous

Sulphonated Melamine based synthetic polymer, which in concrete
displays powerful dispersion effect on both cement and pozzolanas. It
forms a lubricating layer between the particles and thus lowers the
internal friction between the concrete components to yield better
consistency, easy flowability, greater workability, fast and higher
ultimate strength.
3. Air entraining Admixtures:
• recommended to enhance durability when concrete will be subjected
to freezing and thawing while wet.

• As compressive strength increases and water‐cement ratio decreases,

air‐void parameters improve, and entrained air percentages can be set
at the lower limits of the acceptable range.

• Entrained‐air has the effect of reducing strength, particularly in HS

mixtures, and for that reasons it has been used only where there is a
concern for durability.

4. Retarders:
• HSC mix designers incorporate high cement factors that are not
common to normal economical concrete.
• A retarder is beneficial in controlling early hydration. The addition of
water to re‐temper the mixture will result in marked strength
reduction.
• Further, structural design frequently requires heavy reinforcing steel
and complicated forming with attendant difficult placement of
concrete.
• A retarder can control the rate of hardening in the forms to eliminate
cold joints and provide more flexibility in placement schedules.
5. Normal Setting Water Reducers:
• They will provide strength increases without altering rates of
hardening.
• Selection should be based on strength performance.
• Increases in dosage above the normal amounts will generally increase
strengths but may extend setting times.

6. High Range Water Reducers: (HRWR):

They provide high‐strength performance, particularly at an early age
(24 hr).

7. Accelerators:
• not normally used in HSC unless early removal is critical.
• used to increase the rate of hardening will normally be
counterproductive in long‐term strength development.

8. Admixture Combination:
• Combination of HRWR with normal‐setting water reducers or
retarders have become common to achieve gain and control of setting
times and workability are possible with optimized combination.
 AGGREGATES
1-Fine Aggregate:
• The optimum gradation of fine aggregate for HSC is determined more
by its effect on water requirement than on physical packing.
• Sand with a FM of about 3 gave the best workability and compressive
strength.
2-Coarse Aggregate:
• For optimum compressive strength with high cement contents and
low w/c ratio, the max. size of coarse aggregate should be kept to a
minimum, at 13 mm, or 10 mm.
• Max sizes of 19 mm and 25 mm also have been used successfully.
• Smaller sizes of aggregates are considered to produce higher concrete
strength because of less severe concentration of stress around the
particles, which are caused by differences between the elastic moduli
of the paste and the aggregate.

Note:

Fineness modulus of sand:

• 1. Fine sand: pass 1.5875mm sieve

• 2. Medium sand: pass 3.175mm sieve
• 3. Coarse sand: pass 7.62 sieve

Gravel classification

• Fine gravel: 4mm – 8mm

• Medium gravel: 8mm – 16mm
 • Coarse gravel: 16mm – 64mm

3-Lightweight Aggregate (LWA):

• To reduce the density of the concrete, the natural aggregate may be

entirely or partly replaced by a light, industrially produced material.

• In HSC (LWA), this material is mainly sintered, expanded clay, shale, fly
ash or palletized foamed slag.

• The most important attributes of LWA are their high porosities and
their bonding capabilities with cement paste. The former are
responsible not only for absorption of water, but also for reduction in
particle strength and particle modulus of elasticity.

• These are inter‐related but the latter probably has the more
important consequences for LWA suitable for HSC.

• Even with total porosities of 40% to 45%, which are much weaker than
ND aggregates, concrete strengths of 65 to 75 MPa can be obtained.

If LWA is dry:

• If dry LWA is used in producing concrete, then not only will free water
(and hence workability) diminish rapidly during the first four minutes,
but other liquids added such as air‐entraining agents and
superplasticizers, will also be absorbed.
• This can cause very variable behavior.

• The best procedure is adding enough water to counteract the initial

absorption to the dry aggregate in the mixer to allow a short mixing

time, or say one minute, before adding the remaining ingredients.