THE ABRASION EROSION RESISTANCE OF CONCRETE CONTAINING BLAST FURNACE SLAG C.H. Wu, T. Yen, Y.W. Liu, T.H.

Hsu A hydraulic concrete structure should have abrasion erosion resistance. The abrasion erosion resistance of concrete surface will govern the durability of hydraulic structures. In this study a new developed flow abrasion test apparatus was adopted for test to simulate the abrasion erosion of concrete that takes place in the field. The blast furnace slag was added to partially replace the cement in concrete to improve the abrasion erosion resistance. Five water to binder ratios (w/b) and four slag contents were selected for the test. Test results show that adding slag in concrete can obviously enhance its abrasion resistance. Concrete made with a w/b ratio of 0.35, when the slag content is 45% will have the best abrasion erosion resistance. Introduction During the past few years, abrasion erosion damages are important problems for hydraulic concrete structures. When concrete is used in hydraulic structures, likes bridge piers, spillway or drainage conduits, the most significant problem is erosion attacking over its surface layer. This is caused by friction and impact of silt, sand, rocks, and other debris on concrete surface during operation of hydraulic structures. These abrasion erosion results will make surface fractures, concrete peelings, and steel bars exposure and corrosion. Finally, the constructions will fall in and can not be used again [1, 2, 3]. To replace partially the cement in concrete by adding the blast furnace slag is called slag concrete. The blast furnace slag takes part in the concrete has a better workability with slump without water reducing agents, a higher strength at old age and low heat of water hydration. Slag concrete has better durability, because it has small total pore volume, proper distribution of pore diameters, dense and good bond of interface between cement and aggregate. Therefore, slag concrete has strong protection of reinforcement with excellent corrosion resistance, especially for abrasion erosion resistance [4, 5]. The following is main substance in this study: 1. the abrasion erosion resistance of concrete surface for the same water to binder ratio and the different blast furnace slag content 2. the abrasion erosion resistance of concrete surface for the different water to binder ratio and the same blast furnace slag content 3. to analysis the relationship between the mechanical properties of concrete and the abrasion erosive volume of concrete Experiments Materials The materials used included: water, Type I Portland cement, blast furnace slag, coarse aggregare with a maximum size of 3/4", fine aggregate with a fineness modulus of 2.82, and superplasticizer which meets the requirements of ASTM G-Type. Variables The considered variables in serial tests are shown in the following: Water/binder ratio: w/(c+p)=0.42, 0.38, 0.35, 0.31 and 0.28 Sand ratio: s/(s+g):38% Age: t=28,56 and 91days Where c is the weight of cement, s is the weight of sand, g is the weigtht of aggregate and p is
1

the weight of pozzolanic material (weight of blast furnace slag). The mix proportions are shown in Table 1. Specimens and Test Methods The size of cylinder specimen for compression and split tests is r 10 X 20 cm. They are tested according to ASTM C109 and D2290 specifications. 6 square slabs, 200 X 200 X 50 mm were casted for the abrasion erosion test. It was taken for total 3 hours every test to calculate the abrasion volume. All tests were measured with the concrete samples after 28,56 and 91days. The test method was specially designed to evaluate the abrasion erosion resistance of concrete surface subjected to impact of waterborne sand. A designed fabricated 10 X 200 mm rectangular nozzle large enough to cover the maximum aggregate size was used in the shotcrete tests as shown in Fig. 1. The test water was made by mixing quartz tic river sand of not coarser than 5 mm to formulate a slurry mixture. During the tests, the nozzle was held at a 45 degree angle with respect to the test slab to optimize the impact and shear forces. An abrasion erosion chamber measured 2500 X 1800 X 1500 mm capable of accommodating 4 individual pumps that can simultaneously shoot out 4 separate water flows of different sand mixtures at different velocities onto the test slab was positioned above the water level. Results and Discussions Influence of Concrete Strength on Abrasion Erosion Resistance Fig. 2 and 3 illustrates the relationships of abrasion erosion volume with compressive strength and splitting strength, respectively for 3 hours water jet tests. In general, the abrasion rate decrease when the concrete strength increase. In another word, the abrasion resistance with respect to the increase of concrete strength. The computed square correlations of coefficients (R2) for compressive and splitting strength are over 0.9, respectively as show in the figures. Thus, it is the effective way to slow down such abrasion erosion by strengthening the mechanical properties of concrete including compressive and splitting strength. Influence of Water to Binder Ratios on Abrasion Erosion Resistance The abrasion erosion resistance of concrete mixtures was determined at the ages of 28, 56 and 91 days. It was measured in term of abrasion erosion volume. The variation of specimen surface during FATP tests was shown in Fig. 4. It was observed that abrasion erosion volume increased with increase in abrasion erosion time for all concrete mixtures at the age of 56 days. The effects of water-binder ratio on abrasion erosion volume resistance of concrete can be seen from Fig. 5 where average abrasion erosion volume of concrete mixtures are plotted against test time. A reduction in water-binder ratio from 0.42 to 0.28 resulted in approximately 22 and 15 cm3 improvement in abrasion erosion resistance at 3 hours for the age of 28, 56 and 91 days, respectively. Furthermore, the volume of abrasion erosion loss in the first 30 min. was generally greater than the remaining test period, because the surface mortar layer is easier to erosive, and the rate of abrasion erosion loss decreases as the mortar layer is worn away and the aggregate is exposed. This behavior was more apparent in concrete with high water-binder ratio. Effects of Slag Content on Abrasion Erosion Resistance Fig. 6 shows that concrete made with a water-binder ratio of 0.35, the variation of abrasion erosion volume versus percentage of cement replacement with blast furnace slag at 3 hours of abrasion erosion time. It is evident from Fig. 6 that, at the ages of 28 and 56 days, abrasion
2

erosion resistance of concrete having cement replacement up to 45% was comparable to the control concrete (non-slag), but beyond 45% cement replacement, concrete containing slag exhibited lower resistance to abrasion relative to control concrete. However, at the ages of 91, with the increase in percentage of slag, abrasion volume decreased. This result indicated that the abrasion erosion reaistance of concrete increased with the increase in slag content at later age. Conclusions In this study, concrete with different water to binder ratios (w/b) and slag contents was investigated to analyze the influence of the abrasion erosion resistance of concrete surface. Based on the results, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1. It is the effective way to slow down such abrasion erosion by strengthening the mechanical properties of concrete including compressive and splitting strength. 2. An increase in slag content produced a denser and stronger concrete surface, thus resulting in a higher resistance to wear for slag concrete at later age. 3. Concrete made with a water to binder ratio of 0.35, the abrasion erosion rate was the minimum for the concrete with 45% slag content, namely, such a concrete has the best abrasion erosion resistance. 4. A reduction in water-binder ratio from 0.42 to 0.28 resulted in approximately 22 to 15 cm3 at all ages improvement in abrasion resistance of slag concrete at 3 hours time. Acknowledgement This research is supported by Taiwan Power Company. References 1. Yu-Wen Liu, Abrasion-Erosion Resistance of High Performance Concrete Used As Overlay Material of Hydraulac Structures, 2005,1 2. ACI Committee 210, Erosion of Concrete in Hydraulic structure (ACI 210R-03), ACI Manual Concrete Practice, Part 1, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hill, MI, 2003. 3. James R. Graham Chairman, Erosion of Concrete in Hydraulic structure, Reported by ACI Committee 210, ACI manual Practice, Part 1, 1998. 4. Chen Jian-xiong, Chen Han-bin, Xiao Pei, and Zhang Lan-fang, A Study on Complex Alkali-Slag Environmental Concrete. 5. P. Laplante, P. C. Aitcin, and D. Vexina, Abrasion Resistance of Concrete, Journal of Material in Civil Engineering, Vol.3, No.1, February 1991. 6. Guide to Durable Concerete, Reported by ACI Committee 201, ACI Manual of Concrete Practice, Part 1, 1988. 7. David Plum, Fang Xufei, A rock and a hard place, International Water Power & construction,July 1996,pp.30-33. 8. Liu, T. C., Abrasion Resistance Of Concrete, ACI Journal, 78(5), p.p 341-350, 1981 9. Metha, P.K., Concrete Structure, Properties and Materials, Matriaux, Prentice-Hall, 1986. 10. ACI Committee 363, State-of-Art Report on High Strength Concrete, ACI Journal, Proceedings, p.p 364-411, 1984. 11. Liu, T. C., Abrasion Resistance Of Concrete, ACI Journal, 78(5), pp341-350, 1981.

Authors Chung-Hao Wu, Ph.D.student of National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan. Tel: 886-4-22840437-304 E-mail: hubert.woo@yahoo.com.tw Tsong Yen, Professor of National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan. Yu-Wen Liu, Associate Professor of Department of Civil Engineering, National Chiayi University, Chiayi, Taiwan. Tsao-Hua Hsu, Doctor candidate of Department of Civil Engineering, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan. Table 1. Concrete mix proportions (kg/m3) water cement slag sand aggregate 170 170 170 170 170 170 170 170 229 253 500 400 275 125 320 344 188 207 0 100 225 375 254 281 664 651 658 656 637 648 620 608 1124 1099 1114 1111 1079 1097 1049 1029

sample 42-45 38-45 35-00 35-20 35-45 35-75 31-45 28-45

SP 2.92 3.22 3.50 3.50 3.50 3.50 4.02 4.38

Fig. 1 Schematic arrangement of waterborne sand abrasion erosion test

4

Fig. 2 Relation of abrasion volume and compressive strength

Fig. 3 Relation of abrasion volume and splitting strength

Fig. 4 Abrasion volume vs. test time (the age of 56 days)

Fig. 5 Relation of abrasion volume and water to binder ratio

Fig. 6 Relation of abrasion volume and slag content

5