Engineered fly ash-based

blended cement for durable

concrete: A review

S.A. Khadilkar and V

.R. Kulkar
ni
V.R.
Kulkarni

In recent years, the use of blended cements, particularly the fly

ash-based variety, has shown a sharp increase. The paper
presents a broad overview of the use of blended cements in
India, highlighting the historical significance, recent changes
in specifications and production. The authors argue that the
use of fly ash-based cement is beneficial in view of the ecological
and energy saving benefits on the one hand and the
improvements in a variety of properties of concrete, mainly
durability, on the other.
The cement industry in India has contributed immensely to
the infrastructure development of the country. The
production of cement has increased from around 20 million
tonnes in 1978-79 to more than 100 million tonnes during
1999-2000 a five-fold increase in the production of cement!
India is currently the second largest cement producer in the
world, next only to China. During the last two decades, the
Indian cement industry has made great strides in adopting/
absorbing modern technology in various spheres of cement
production. Today, cement is available in ample quantity and
the quality too has improved vastly. This is indeed a laudable
achievement. However, the per capita cement consumption
in the country is amongst the lowest in the world. Currently,
it stands at around 99 kg, which is much below the world
average of about 250 kg. The nation has to go a long way to
catch up with the rest of the world.
Basically, two types of cement are used in the country
the ordinary portland cement (OPC) and the blended cements,
mainly portland pozzolana cement (PPC) and portland slag
cement. A small percent of other varieties such as sulphate
resisting cement (SRC), low alkali cement, etc are also
produced and used for specific projects.
Chatterjee had presented a broad overview of production,
use, and different properties of blended cement mortars and

April 2003 * The Indian Concrete Journal

concretes, covering development till the year 20001. However,

in the last three years, certain interesting developments have
occurred in this field. While there has been a sudden sharp
increase in the use of these cements in the country, certain
changes were made in the specifications of blended cements,
raising the minimum levels of both the flyash and the ground
granulated blast-furnace slag to be added in the cements. In
addition, a few more laboratory studies involving the use of
concretes made with blended cement were also available.
This paper presents an overview of all the recent
developments in this field.

Blended cements
Historical developments
The term blended cement is defined as a hydraulic binder
composed of Portland cement and one or more inorganic
materials that take part in the hydration reactions. It is
generally understood that the term blending bestows a
product with some superior property over the original
constituents. Similar is the case with blended cements which
denote those Portland cements which have been blended
with some mineral addition in fairly large proportion. Blended
cement is a hydraulic cementitious product, characteristically
similar to the portland cement, but from many considerations,
a vastly improved product.
The concept of blending natural siliceous materials in
lime mortar and concrete is age-old, and can be traced to the
ancient history. Romans and Greeks have utilised this concept
to construct monumental structures. They found that finelyground volcanic ashes, when mixed with lime and water,
result in giving stable and durable structures. Even after two
millennia, a number of ancient structures, including the
Pantheon and the Colosseum, stand testimony to the ancient
wisdom of the Romans and the Greeks.

1009

As far as the Indian subcontinent is concerned, it is

believed that the use of such materials goes back to the age
of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. The Portland cement concrete
cult began in India in the early part of the twentieth century,
and there was close adoption of the technological practices of
the west. However, the local materials had to be adapted to
the local market conditions. In the west, the emphasis had
always remained on the mechanisation and automation in
construction due to the high labour costs. In view of this the
ready-mixed concrete industries took roots in these countries
and this lead to the practice of blending different ingredients
of concrete separately into the mix. In India, an
overwhelmingly large proportion of concrete has been, and
is still being, produced by adopting labour-intensive
techniques. This led to a preferred development of blended
cements over the alternative practice of using cement
substitute materials in ready-mixed concrete, which was
limited to large mass-concreting project sites only. Bhakra
Dam, Rana Pratap Sagar Dam, Koyna Dam are some of the
projects completed in the fifties and sixties, exemplifying the
use of calcined clay pozzolana more popularly known as
Surkhi - as mineral admixture in mass concreting.
India can be regarded as one of the pioneers in the
manufacture of blended cements. Portland slag cement (PSC)
was introduced in the country in the sixties. The credit for the
establishment of the first slag granulation plant in the
premises of Tata Iron and Steel Company Ltd. and production
of slag cement totally based on in-house development goes
1
to the Associated Cement Cos Ltd (ACC) . The introduction
of portland pozzolana cement (PPC) which followed shortly
was prompted by the market push created by the gap in
demand and supply. It is interesting to note that the
introduction of PPC, then, was done with the use of calcined
clay pozzolana in the absence of suitable industrial wastes
like fly ash. With the increasing generation of fly ash from
the coal-fired thermal power stations, the interest slowly
shifted from calcined clay pozzolana to fly ash as a cement
substitute material in the manufacture of PPC.
In India, an overwhelmingly large proportion of concrete
has been, and is still being, produced by adopting labourintensive techniques. This led to a preferred manufacture of
blended cements over the alternative practice of using cement
substitute materials in ready-mixed concrete, which has got
limited to large mass-concreting project sites only.
The following varieties of blended cements are currently
popular in the country:
Portland pozzolana cement (PPC)
Portland cement clinker + fly ash + gypsum (IS
1489 Part I)
Portland blast-furnace slag cement (PSC)
Portland cement clinker + slag + gypsum (IS 455 )

Recent changes in specifications

The efforts made in standardisation of blended cements in
India are summarised in a recent paper1. As is well known,

1010

the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has published separate

specifications for the two main types of blended cements:
IS 455 for PSC and IS 1489 for PPC. The IS 455 was first
adopted in 1953 and was revised in 1962 2, Recently, an
amendment was issued to this code in May 2000, raising both
the minimum and maximum slag content in the cement from
25-65 percent to 35-70 percent.
The standard for PPC, IS 1489, was initially adopted in
1962 and revised first in 1967. This code was split into two,
Part I (fly ash based) and Part II ( calcined clay or calcined clay
3
plus fly ash based) in 1991 . Recently, in July 2000, the
following amendment was made to this code:
This amendment permits addition of fly ash up to 35
percent by mass of cement and the minimum shall be
not less than 15 percent. This would mean that for any
Portland cement to qualify as PPC in accordance with
IS 1489(Part I) the fly ash constituent shall not be less
than 15 percent. The lower limit has been raised from
10 percent to 15 percent. The upper limit has also been
raised from 25 to 35 percent.
4
In the year 2000, BIS revised the IS 456 the code for plain
and reinforced concrete, incorporating a number of changes
dealing with the provisions on durability of concrete. The
code specified the use of ten different types of cements,
including the blended cements PPC and PSC. For the first
time, the code also allowed the use of a variety of
supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash,
ground granulated blast furnace slag, condensed silica fume,
high reactivity metakaolin, rice husk ash. However, it was
mentioned that these materials can be used, provided a
thorough mixing of the ingredients is ensured during the
production of concrete. The ready-mixed concrete facilities,
where such thorough mixing of the ingredients is possible,
are limited only to certain urban centres and most of the
concrete produced in the country even today is site-mixed,
with a large componenet of labour involved in the process.
Further, the availability of good quality SCMs, barring a few
exceptions, is still a problem.

Production of blended cements : Recent

changes
Chatterjee had reviewed the cement production statistics
1
between 1985-86 to 1999-2000 . He observed that the share
the blended cements to the total cements produced remained
stagnant between 28-29 percent during the major part of
1990s. While the production of PSC increased from 4.36 to
9.31 million tonnes between 1985-86 to 1999-2000, the
percentage share of PSC in the total cement produced varied
in a range between 7.45 to 13.6 percent. On the other hand,
the production of PPC, which grew steadily since its inception
in 1967 to the late seventies, suddently got a boost in the
early eighties due to the acute shortage of cement. However,
the lack of availability of pozzolanic materials (processed
metakaolinitic clay) led to certain indiscriminate use of
improperly-calcined aluminosilicate materials on some
occasions, resulting in some lapses of quality, especially in
respect of cement supplied by mini cement plants. Due to

The Indian Concrete Journal * April 2003

this, PPC did not measure up to the expectations of

consumers, some of whom formed a negative perception on
PPC and were reluctant to use it in structural concrete. This
resulted in a setback to PPC production.
In the meantime, with the increasing generation of fly
ash from the coal-fired thermal power stations, the interest
slowly shifted from calcined clay pozzolana to fly ash as a
cement substitute material. The production of PPC which
dropped to a value of 8.79 million tonnes in 1988-89 later
increased steadily and stood at 21.17 million tonnes in 19992000, which was 22.6 percent of the total cement produced in
the country.
Many cement producers have adopted a number of
technological innovations to enhance the performance
characteristics of PPC. It is noteworthy that cement
manufacturers exercise considerable control in selecting
appropriate source and quality the fly ash. This has resulted
in its increased market acceptability in recent years.
During the last two years, the production of blended
cements has suddenly shown a sharp increase5. This is shown
in Table 1.
Table 1: Variety-wise cement production in 2000-02
Year
2000-01
2001-02

OPC

PPC

PBFS

Others

Total
93.61

56.06

24.50

10.34

0.71

(62.02)

(26.17)

(11.05 )

(0.76)

57.68

32.29

11.89

0.74

(56.32)

(31.53)

(11.61)

(0.74)

102.4

It can be seen from Table 1 that the share of blended

cements (PPC+PBFS) in the total cement production, which
remained around 28-29 percent in the 1990s, suddenly
jumped to around 43 percent in the year 2002. This has
happened mainly because of the sudden increase in the share
of PPC (31.53 percent) at the expense of OPC. This trend is
most likely to get strengthened in the near future.

Fly ash
In India, fly ash is available in abundance. It is estimated that
nearly 80-90 million tonnes of fly ash is annually produced
from around 75 major coal-based thermal power stations.
Out of this only a small fraction is today fruitfully utilised.
The availability of the ground granulated blast furnace slag
in the country is limited and most of it is currently utilised by
the cement manufacturers in the production of PSC. Besides
this, condensed silica fume has recently been used but its use
has remained limited to high performance concretes.
Amongst the remaining two SCMs, high reactive metakaolin
is just being made available commercially, while rice husk
ash is yet to be commercialised. Thus, there is a considerable
scope to further increase the use of fly ash in construction,
including the enhancement of the share of fly ash-based
PPC. It may therefore be worthwhile here to have a look at
some of the salient aspects of fly ash as a material.
Fly ash is a solid fine-grained material resulting from the
combustion of pulverised coal in power stations. It is a waste
product of a power plant and the ash is collected in mechanical

April 2003 * The Indian Concrete Journal

and electrostatic separators/bag filters. The chemical and

physical compositions of Indian fly ashes vary from plant to
plant on account of the use of coal from different sources,
different process technologies and varying operating
conditions in plants.
Of the total flyash generated, only the volume collected
in dry form is more suitable for addition in cement and
concrete. Although large quantity of fly ash is today available,
all the ashes cannot be suitable for use in concrete. The carbon
content, fineness, gradation, lime reactivity etc. of fly ashes
are important properties which have considerable bearing
on the properties of concrete, both in its fresh and hardened
states. Recently, some agencies in India have started offering
the processed fly ash.
It is observed that most of the fly ashes in India, barring
a few exceptions, fall into the low-calcium category. IS 3812 :
1981 specifies fly ash for use as pozzolona and admixture6.
There are two grades of fly ash, namely Grade I and II,
specified in this code. Grade I fly ashes are derived from
bituminous coal while Grade II from lignite coal. It is specified
that the fractions SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 should be greater than
70 percent for Grade I and 50 percent for Grade II ashes.
The fly ash available from the coal-fired thermal plants in
the country are fairly uniform in their chemico-mineralogical
characteristics. The typical characteristics of some of the Indian
fly ashes are given in Table 2 7 . It can be seen that the
mineralogical compositions of the Indian fly ashes vary in
the following range.
mullite : 15 - 30 percent
quartz : 15-45 percent
amorphous glassy alumino silicate phase : around
25 - 35 percent
magnetite : 1-5 percent
hematite : 1-5 percent
fineness (in terms of 45 residue) : 10-50 percent.
Some of the international specifications specify a minimum
of around 35 percent residue on 45 sieve. This parameter is
particularly relevant for use of fly ash to be blended
separately in concrete. However, it is not so relevant in the
manufacture of fly ash-based cement as the coarser fly ash
particles get ground finely in the intergrinding process with
cement clinker.

Why fly ash-based blended cement?

The use of blended cements is associated with a number of
advantages, which could be divided into the following two
main categories: ecological and energy saving benefits and
improvements in properties of concrete.

Ecological and energy-saving benefits

Today, there has been a growing awareness amongst
peoples of different nations that one can no longer afford to
ignore the environmental degradation problems on the one

1011

 paradigm shift from reductionist to holistic approach

in concrete technology.

hand and the unrestricted use of natural resources on the

other. Sustainable development has thus become a key
issue. The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro defined
sustainable development as an economic activity that is in
harmony with the earths ecosystem.

Another expert, Dr V.M. Malhotra, in a recent paper states

that concrete can be made greener by utilising flyash and
other supplementary cementitious materials in the
manufacture of concrete, with a view to reduce the emission
of greenhouse gases, thus contributing to the sustainable
development of the construction industry9.

Worldover, the concrete construction industry has been

in the forefront in meeting all the infrastructural needs of the
modern society. Since concrete has been the mainstay of
construction, it is no wonder that the industry has been the
largest consumer of natural resources like water, sand, gravel,
crushed aggregate and limestone. Currently, the net cement
production in the world is around 1.6 billion tonnes and this
3
gets converted into roughly 6-7 million m of concrete per
8
annum . With the dawning of the era of sustainable
development, the concrete industry needs to initiate strict
measures towards protecting the environment, while
simultaneously meeting the growing infrastructural needs
of increasing industrialisation and urbanisation. How can
these apparently differing needs be fulfilled? In a recent paper,
a renowned concrete technologist, Prof P.K. Mehta, has tried
8
to answer this question . He argues that the essential elements
of the foundation upon which the structure of an
environmental-friendly concrete construction can be built are:

Moreover, environmental issues associated with CO 2

emissions demand that supplementary cementitious
materials in general, and fly ash in particular, be used in
increasing quantities to replace portland cement in concrete.

Improvements in concrete properties

With the use of fly ash-based blended cements a number of
properties of concrete, both in the fresh and hardened states,
can be improved. The improvement can be categorised in
the following three main areas:
(i) Benefits due to continued hydration of cementpozzolana mixture, leading to:
increased long-term strength

conservation of concrete making materials;

reduced heat of hydration

enhancement of durability of concrete structures; and

improved resistance to chemical attack.

Table 2: Physico-chemical characteristics of fly ash of different thermal plants/ESP fields 7

Characteristics

10

11

12

Specific gravity

2.35

2.31

2.39

2.32

2.52

2.17

2.17

2.30

2.38

2.15

2.28

2.43

3400

5475

6670

5620

4200

4130

3340

3500

3250

3305

3825

3850

88

87

81

84

78

80

83

71

68

77

75

81

45

89

44

43

27

40

53

61

29

61

60

54

Blaines specific surface, cm /g

Cement replacement test, percent
Lime reactivity, kg/ cm

Chemical composition
SiO2

55.5

55.9

55.8

57.0

50.1

60.7

59.8

56.4

54.1

54.7

56.0

53.0

Al 2O3

28.9

32.3

33.0

31.9

25.8

29.0

26.4

25.2

21.9

31.1

30.8

26.0

Fe2O3

4.1

5.5

4.3

4.2

9.7

4.3

7.0

6.4

6.2

3.6

4.0

5.2

CaO

1.8

1.7

1.9

2.0

3.7

1.2

1.7

1.9

1.9

0.6

0.6

0.8

MgO

0.6

1.1

1.0

1.0

0.8

0.9

1.1

1.1

1.1

0.2

0.2

0.2

LOI

5.5

0.4

0.8

0.7

7.8

0.7

0.9

5.4

11.7

6.9

5.7

12.2

SO3

0.1

0.1

0.3

0.3

1.0

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.2

0.2

0.2

Na 2O

0.01

0.07

0.11

0.12

0.29

0.08

0.07

0.09

0.09

0.15

0.11

0.08

K 2O

1.55

0.72

0.96

0.94

0.84

1.00

1.22

1.87

1.70

1.40

1.21

1.16

Characteristics

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

Specific gravity

2.16

2.55

2.23

2.34

1.95

2.32

2.35

3.04

2.63

2.28

2.27

2.8
7300

Blaines specific surface, cm /g

4530

3325

3765

3500

3655

3225

3085

3670

3910

3675

5460

Cement replacement test, percent

95

83

80

79

76

80

81

82

93

80

73

Lime reactivity, kg/ cm2

53

57

53

52

20

25

24

54

57

60

49

44

Chemical composition
SiO2

59.7

58.0

58.1

61.1

60.0

59.8

59.1

55.4

62.0

60.8

65.4

Al 2O3

25.5

28.2

23.6

22.3

21.9

29.1

30.4

28.8

26.8

21.0

19.5

Fe2O3

3.7

4.4

5.1

6.1

8.8

4.3

4.1

3.2

6.1

6.8

4.1

CaO

1.0

3.4

3.4

0.8

0.9

0.7

0.6

1.0

1.2

3.2

0.6

MgO

0.7

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

0.8

1.5

0.1

LOI

5.9

3.3

5.9

5.5

6.5

1.7

1.1

7.2

0.8

4.2

4.2
0.3

SO3

0.1

0.1

1.0

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.2

0.1

Na 2O

0.13

0.05

0.18

0.12

0.11

0.06

0.05

0.07

0.07

K 2O

1.65

0.77

0.74

1.05

1.00

1.32

1.25

0.90

0.64

1012

The Indian Concrete Journal * April 2003

(ii) Benefits due to reduced water

demand, resulting in :
reduced bleeding
reduction in shrinkage and
creep
lower permeability.
(iii) Benefits due to improved
cohesion of paste matrix,
leading to :
less segregation
less difficulties in concrete
placement.

Fig 1 Water requirement of fly ashbased cement and OPC for equal
workability in concrete 10

In the ensuing discussions, the

improvements in a variety of properties of concrete on
account of the use of fly ash-based cement are highlighted,
based on the available literature and also on the laboratory
work conducted in leading laboratories in India, including
that of the authors.

Workability
The small and relatively spherical fly ash particles in blended
cement act as solid particulate plasticiser and hence influence
the rheological properties of the cement pastes, causing a
reduction in the water requirement. Thus, there is an
improvement in the workability when compared with that
of an equivalent paste of OPC. This improved workability, in
turn, allows a reduction in the amount of water used in the
concrete when fly ash-based cement is used, Fig 1. As
compared to the OPC concrete the reduction of water
requirement is 7.59.4 percent10. Thus, at lower water content
the concrete made using fly ash-based cement would show
higher compressive strength characteristics. The use of fly
ash-based cement also shows reduced segregation and
bleeding. This can be attributed to the more cohesive concrete
mix obtained with fly ash-based cement.

Heat of hydration
The hydration chemistry of the cementitious minerals is based
on a reaction between acidic and basic constituents, which
manifests their courses of dissociation and/or associations to
formulate into mineralogical phases, which render strength,
hardness and impermeability to the matrix.

OPC hydration
The tri-calcium silicate (C3S) and di-calcium silicate (C2S) get
hydrated to form a family of calcium-silicate hydrates, which
are structurally similar but have different CaO/SiO2 ratios
and varied content of chemically-combined water. Complete
reaction of hydration of the phases to produce the ultimate
reaction product can be shown as follows:
2C3S + 6H

C3S2H3 + 3CH

2C2S + 4H

C3S2H3 + CH

Although both calcium silicate phases produce similar end

products of hydration, the reasons for early distress in high-

April 2003 * The Indian Concrete Journal

Fig 2 Temperature rise in OPC and fly

ash-based cement concrete 10

grade OPC can be reflected by stoichiometric considerations

discussed below.
The free lime left as surplus after the hydration of C3S and
C2S are reported to be 39 and 18 percent, respectively. This
means that C3S hydration produces more than double free
lime than that produced on C2S hydration. The high-grade
OPC usually has higher fineness, and the higher fineness
accelerates these hydration reactions, liberating higher heat
of hydration. The typical values of the heat of hydration of a
high-grade OPC usually fall in the following range:
60 75 cal/g at 3 days
70 85 cal/g at 28 days
These values are dependent upon the phase composition
of the clinker and the fineness of the OPC. The higher heat of
hydration obviously results in increased temperature of the
concrete.
Fig 2 presents a comparative picture of the temperature
10
rise in OPC and fly ash-based cement concretes . In view of
the steep temperature rise, the high-grade OPC concrete is
more prone to shrinkage and thermal cracking. Such cracking
may create pathways for aggressive ions of chlorides,
sulphates and carbon-dioxide to penetrate into concrete. The
high levels of free hydrated lime available in OPC concretes
combine with such permeating ions, causing structural
instability.

Hydration of fly ash-based cement

On the other hand, in the fly ash-based cement, the reactive
components of the fly ash reacts with free calcium hydroxide
liberated in the hydration of the OPC at normal temperature
ranges. The slow pozzolanic reaction can be illustrated as :
Reactive components of fly ash + CH + H

CSH

A comparison of the free calcium hydroxide contents of

the hydrated OPC and fly ash based composite cement at
10
different ages of hydration is illustrated in Fig 3 . The
reduction in the free calcium hydroxide at different ages being
due to the pozzolanic reaction indicated above.
Fly ash-based composite cement contains the heat of
hydration, thus abating thermal and shrinkage cracking and

1013

hence is more suitable for mass concreting. Typically, the

following heat of hydration values are obtained for the fly
ash-based cement, Fig 410.

Table 3: Some physical characteristics of hydrated cement paste/

concrete of OPC and fly ash based blended cement 11
Cement
type

50 55 cal /g at 3 days
65 68 cal / g at 28 days.
This low heat of hydration of these cements can be used
to good advantage during hot-weather concreting.
Incorporation of fly ash reduces the temperature rise in
concrete almost in direct proportion to the amount of OPC
replaced, partially by delaying heat evolution and partially
by reducing the total heat evolved. However, the fly ash
absorption levels in cement needs to be optimised to balance
the compressive strength and heat of hydration requirements
at different ages.

Improvement in durability
One of the most important benefits of using fly ash-based
cement is the improvement in the long-term durability of
concrete structures resulting mainly from the lower
permeability of concrete and improved microstructure of
concrete.

Pozzolanic action
In hardened concrete, calcium hydroxide (CH) is weaker than
calcium silicate hydrates (CSH), and the presence of CH is
known to be contributing to many durability problems.
Pozzolanas, which are siliceous or siliceous and aluminous
materials possess little or no cementitious value but will, in
finely-divided form and in the presence of moisture,
chemically react with calcium hydroxide at ordinary
temperatures to form compounds possessing cementitious
properties. This secondary pozzolanic reaction increases the
amount of C-S-H at the expense of CH. Also, C-S-H formed
is denser. The presence of CH can also cause many other
problems and these are mitigated in concrete containing
pozzolanic materials.

Pore size refinement

The addition of pozzolanic action, the use of fly ash also results
in the pore refinement phenomenon, in that, the pore size
distribution in concrete shifts from coarser to finer pores.

Coefficient of
Average pore
permeability,
radius, A o
-11
10 cm/s
(age: 180 days ) (age: 90 days)

Chloride
Electrical
diffusivity,
resistivity
-9
10 cm/s
k ohm-cm
(age: 90 days) (age: 120 days )

OPC

8.70

240

24.5

13.14

FAC

1.77

166

4.1

29.08

*30 percent fly ash-based blended cement

microstructure of the cement paste matrix of the latter.

Improvement to Interfacial zone

It is also reported that use of SCMs like fly ash results in an
improvement to the interfacial zone, which is defined as the
contact zone between an insert (aggregates, reinforcement,
fibres, etc) and the cement paste having a thickness varying
from 25 to 100 micron. This zone is supposed to the weakest
link between the cement paste and the inserts because it is
less compact, has higher proportion of CH and microcracks,
and is more porous than hydrated cement paste. It is reported
that the use of supplementary cementitious materials like fly
ash, GGBS, silica fume, etc. reinforces the weakest link by
making the interface denser and its thickness tends to reduce.
Further, these materials reportedly reduce the quantity and
crystal orientation of CH and slow down transport of
aggressive agents.

Improvement in concrete microstructure

The photomicrographs of M 20 concrete with fly ash based
PPC and OPC are shown in Fig 510. On comparison of both
the concretes, the notable feature observed is a dense
o
orientation of portlandite (calcium hydroxide crystals) at 90
to the aggregate surface in concrete made with OPC,
Fig 5 (a). Such type of preferential orientation is almost missing
in the fly ash based PPC concrete, Fig 5 (b). A dark channel,
Fig 5 (a), is observed at the inter phase between aggregate
and the bulk hydrated cement paste. This is the weak link in
the OPC concrete. However, in the blended cement concrete
of the same age, the channel width is much reduced and
there is a lot of development of C-S-H gel over the aggregate
surface. The bulk hydrated cement paste is also relatively

Tests carried out on low lime fly

ash-based cements ( with ~ 30 percent
fly ash) indicate that although the total
porosity is more in the hydrated
blended cement at 90 days as
compared to the that in OPC, the
pores in the former are finer than
those in OPC. The average pore radius
of the fly ash-based blended cement
o
was observed to be 166 A as against
o
11
240 A in the OPC , Table 3.
The observed difference in the
physical characteristics of the OPC and
fly ash-based cements / concrete is
due to the compact, dense

1014

Fig 3 Free calcium hydroxide content Fig 4 Heat of hydration of OPC and fly
of cement pastes at different ages of ash-based cement at different ages of
hydration 10
hydration 10

The Indian Concrete Journal * April 2003

the leaching resistance are highlighted below.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Fig 5 (a) SEM photomicrograph of OPC concrete M 20

(28 days) (b) SEM photomicrograph of fly ash based PPC
concrete M20 (28 days) (c) Orientation of CH crystals around
one aggregate, porous nature of CPM in OPC concrete
(90 days) (d) Networking of relatively longer, fibrous type
hydrated phases in the CPM in fly ash-based cement
concrete (90 days)10

denser as compared to OPC concrete and the denseness

improves with the age of hydration, Fig 5 (d).

Reduction in permebility of concrete

Permeability of concrete is known to be a crux of its durability.
The results of a few tests carried out in a a reputed laboratory
in India involving grades of concrete (15, 30 and 45 MPa) and
two types of cement (OPC and fly ash-based blended cement)
are presented in Figs 6, 7 and 812. It can be seen from Figs 6
and 7 that the coefficient of permeability and chloride
diffusivity values of concrete using fly ash-based cement are
lower than from those of OPC for all three grades of concrete.
Similarly, the resistivity of PPC concrete is higher than that of
OPC, Fig 8.

Resistance to chemical attack

Leaching
As compared to OPC, hydrated pastes of the fly ash-based
cement show decreased leachability. The main reasons behind

At the same age of hydration, the hydrated cement

paste in the fly ash-based cement paste shows lower
levels of free calcium hydroxide than that in OPC paste.
This is because a part of the liberated free calcium
hydroxide reacts with the reactive silica of the fly ash.
Thus, the available free calcium hydroxide is
comparatively lower. Fig 2 illustrates the free calcium
hydroxide present in hydrated OPC and fly ash-based
9
cement pastes at different ages of hydration .
The hydrated products formed from the secondary
hydration reactions fill the pores in the hydrated
matrix, thus reducing the permeability and interconnected porosity of the concrete made with fly ashbased cement. This minimises the permeation of water
and thereby lowers the transport of the calcium ions
in the hydrated concrete mass.

Corrosion resistance
A plethora of literature is available on the phenomenon of
premature deterioration due to corrosion of
13,14,15
. It is well known that if the concrete cover
reinforcement
over the reinforcement is sufficiently thick and impermeable
it provides adequate resistance to corrosion. The protective
effect of concrete is both physical and chemical and functions
in three ways :
(i) it provides alkalinity in the vicinity of the steel.
(ii) it provides physical and chemical barrier to the ingress
of moisture, oxygen, carbon dioxide , chlorides and
other aggressive chemicals
(iii) it provides electrical resistivity around the steel.
The corrosion process of the reinforced steel can be
described in a simplified way by an equivalent electrical circuit
11
and the corrosion current (Icorr) can be expressed as
lcorr =

Uc Ua
Ra + Rc + RL

where,
Icorr = corrosion current ,

Fig 6 Reduction in coefficient of

Fig 7 Reduction in chloride diffusivity
permeability for OPC and fly ash-based with fly ash-based cement 12
cement concretes 12

April 2003 * The Indian Concrete Journal

Fig 8 Improvement in resistivity with

fly ash-based cement 12

1015

Table 4: Corrosion causing reactions in concrete 16

Agents

Reactions
++

Anode : 2 Fe( s ) 2 Fe + 4e

Oxygen

Resultant effect

Corrosion of steel .
Formation of
2 Fe ++ + 4OH 2 Fe(OH ) 2 protective
passive film of

Cathode: H: 2O + O2 + 4e 4OH
nano-meter
thickness of iron
hydroxide / oxides

Chloride

(2 Fe ++ + 2Cl ) + 2 H 2O 2 Fe(OH ) 2
+ 2 H + + 2Cl
In presence of oxygen at anode

6( Fe ++ + 2Cl ) + O2 + 6 H 2O 2 Fe3O4
+ 2 H + + 2Cl
The chloride acts as a catalyst
in the corrosion of steel
and generates again to
continue corrosion reaction
Attack on hydrated pastes
Ca (OH ) 2 + MgCl 2

Chloride ions
breakpassivating
film formed on the
steel
External penetration
causes differential
concentration and
sets up micro-cell.
Presence of microcells increases
ectrical
conductivity

CaCl 2 + Mg (OH ) 2
CaO. Al 2O2

CaCl 2 .10 H 2O

C-S-H + Mg

Ettringite (in presence

of CaSO 4)
C-M-S-H

Ca (OH ) 2 + H 2O + CO2 CaCO3 + H 2O

CO2

Reduces alkalinity of
pore increasing risk
of corrosion.
Releases more water

Uc = open circuit potential at cathode

Ua = open circuit potential at anode
Ra = anodic polarisation resistance,
Rc = cathodic polarisation resistance,
RL = electrolyte resistance of concrete.
The Icorr that is, the rate of corrosion (mm/year) would
show an increase if either or both Ra and RL decrease. The Ra
(anodic resistance ) is due to the passive film of iron hydroxide
/oxides during the process of corrosion and Ra decreases if
this passive film is broken. Presence of chlorides decreases
the Ra as it depassivates the steel, Table 4, and forms metallic
hydroxides/oxides depending on the pH and availability of
oxygen and water11. These products increase the pilling and
bedworth ratio (PBR ratio) and results in expansive pressure.
PBR ratio =

molecular weight of oxides/hydroxides

molecular weight of iron/density of iron

PBR ratio > 1.4 is sufficient to cause cracking and spalling.

The electrolytic resistance of concrete RL directly relates

1016

corrosion

Corrosion probability

> 20000

More negative
Negligible

10000 to 20000

Low

More positive

5000 to 10000

High

than - 220

Very high

Active

than - 270

- 220 to - 270

Passive
Active or passive

to the corrosion current. Table 5 gives general guidelines on

resistivity values and probable corrosion risk in concrete
16
structures. Studies carried out indicates that onset of
corrosion occurs when molar ratio [Cl -] / [OH-] crosses 0.6.
In order to have a qualitative information on the state of
corrosion, ASTM C 876 91 gives the half cell potentials for
saturated calomel electrode (SCE) under standard conditions,
Table 6. The values are however only a guideline, and the
potentials can vary in a wide range, depending on the
moisture of the concrete.
Corrosion of the reinforced concrete can occur under
following conditions:
(i) for anodic reaction, metallic iron need to be available
(presence of soluble chlorides facilitates the anodic
reaction)

Friedel salt
Friedel salt

Resistivity,
ohm-cm

<5000

Without oxygen at anode

Fe( s ) + 2Cl (2 Fe ++ + 2Cl ) + 2e

3CaO. Al 2 O3 + CaCl 2 + 4 H 2O

Table 5: Resistivity of Table 6: State of corrosion as per

concrete versus corrosion ASTM C - 876 - 91
probability
Potential mV SCE
State of

(ii) for cathodic reaction, oxygen and water must be

available
(iii) low electrical resistivity of concrete enhances the flow
of corrosion current
(iv) substantially increased permeability of concrete
through the increase in and interconnectivity of micro
cracks ( due to carbonation , chloride, sulphate attack
etc.).
The parameters of concrete which directly or indirectly
assist reinforcement corrosion are:
pore structure and permeability
chloride /oxygen diffusion coefficients
chloride binding capacity
electrical resistance parameters such as density and
resistivity of concrete.
Tests carried out on low lime fly ash-based blended
cements (with ~ 30 percent fly ash ) indicate that although the
total porosity is more in the hydrated blended cement at 90
days as compared to the that in OPC, the pores in the former
11
are finer than those in OPC . As already highlighted earlier
under the subheading pore size refinement, the average
pore radius of the fly ash-based blended cement was observed
to be 166 Ao as against 240 Ao in the OPC. A comparison of
coefficient of permeability of water and chloride diffusivity
in OPC and blended cements is also already given in Table 3.
The observed difference in the physical characteristics of
the plain and fly ash-based cement/concrete can be attributed

The Indian Concrete Journal * April 2003

Table 7: Unbound chlorides in pore solution in plain and fly

ash blended cements when treated with different levels of
chlorides 11
C3A in
cement
clinker

Fig 9 Chloride diffusion coefficient of different grade of

concrete at different fly ash incorporation levels 17

to the compact and dense microstructure of the cement paste

matrix in the latter. This is as a result of :
interlinked secondary hydration products of the
calcium hydroxide and the fly ash particles forming
the hydration products that fill the pores; the slower
hydration of the pozzolanic component continues in
the capillary pores formed by the clinker fraction
resulting into mass precipitating of the gel products
from the pozzolanic reactions into these pores and
consequently decreasing the permeability of the
concrete.
filling effect of the finer particles of the fly ash and unhydrated cement as micro-aggregates.
The concrete made with 35 percent fly ash containing
cements were observed to have two to five fold decreased
8
permeability compared to concrete made with OPC .
The decreased permeability of the concrete made with fly
ash-based cement as indicated above prevents leaching of
lime thereby maintaining the concrete to be less porous and
permeable to oxygen and chlorides. Thus the fly ash
component can be said to provide efficient protection of the
reinforcement from corrosion. The fly ash based cement/
concrete exhibit lower coefficients of chloride diffusion
compared to those with OPC, Fig 7. The chloride diffusion
coefficients of different grades of concrete at different levels
17
of fly ash incorporation are shown in Fig 9 . The

Fig 10 Corrosion initiation time of steel

in OPC and fly ash-based concrete18

April 2003 * The Indian Concrete Journal

Cement
type

Total chlorides
addition
percentage

Cl in
pore
percentage

Unbound chlorides
percentage of total
Cl-

2.43

OPC

0.6

74.4

50.7

2.43

FA-cement

0.6

44.1

33.9

2.43

OPC

1.2

94.1

61.8

2.43

FA-cement

1.2

64.4

49.3

14.0

OPC

0.61

8.1

11.6

14.0

FA-cement

0.6

11.7

8.3

14.0

OPC

1.2

38.4

24.4

14.0

FA-cement

1.2

33.5

23.3

imperviousness of the blended concrete prevents carbonation

thereby maintaining the alkalinity in the vicinity of the steel,
hence rendering it passive from corrosion.
It is well known that the presence of fly ash reduces the
free chlorides in the pore solution as the hydrated products
of fly ash tend to bind the free chlorides (Friedel salt
11
formation) . The binding of the free chlorides is however a
function of the C3A content of the cement clinker used for
blended cement. The presence of higher levels of Friedel salt
can be identified by DTA analysis. Table 7 illustrates the
unbound chlorides in pore solution in plain and fly ash-based
blended cement when treated with different levels of
11
chlorides .
11

It is also reported that the use of 30 percent fly ash

reduces the free OH ions in the pore solution from an average
value of 260 mM/l (pH=13.41) to 205 mM/l (pH=13.31) for
the low C3A cement and for the high C3A cement solution,
from an average value of 520 mM/l (pH=13.72) to 315 mM/
l (pH=13.5) at all the chloride levels. As a result, the Cl -/OHratio is also reduced.
The effect of pore refinement, reduced chloride/oxygen
diffusivity, reduced chloride mobility, is evident in the electrical
resistance and the level of corrosion. As expected, the
electrolytic resistance of concrete increases with time and fly
ash incorporation levels. This is reflected finally in the
corrosion initiation and corrosion rate observed in the
blended cement concrete. The work done in this regard in
18
the authors laboratory is represented in Figs 10 and 11 .

Fig 11 Corrosion rate of steel in

OPC and fly ash-based concrete18

Fig 12 Comparative elastic muduli of the

concretes 18

1017

The ettringite produced can also cause expansion and

cracking.
The sulphate ions causing the sulphate attack can be from
calcium, sodium, potassium or magnesium sulphate. The
magnesium sulphate has a more damaging effect because it
leads to decomposition of the C-S-H as well as calcium
hydroxide and hydrated calcium aluminate hydrates
eventually forming hydrated magnesium silicates which has
no cementing properties.

Fig 13 Modulus of rupture and split tensile strengths of

the concrete 18

During these studies, it was also observed that compared to

OPC concrete, fly ash-based concrete has higher elastic
modulus, and higher modulus of rupture and split tensile
18
strengths, Figs 12 and 13 .
Improved corrosion resistant properties with ground
(mechanically activated) fly ash has been reported by
Saraswathy et al indicating that the particle characteristics of
fly ash plays an important role in corrosion resistance19.

Resistance to sulphate attack

A critical analysis of the state-of-the-art on the problem of
20
sulphate attack on concrete is presented by Mehta . He has
suggested that the concrete damage due to chemical causes
results from the combined effects of several processes which
are frequently grouped under the term sulphate attack. In
a given situation, which one of these processes is the most
important depends on the composition and properties of
concrete and environmental conditions.
It is well known that during the hydration of tri-calcium
aluminate (C 3A) in portland cement, ettringite is formed
which is harmless as long as the concrete is in semi-plastic
state. The reaction is represented as:
C3A
+
3CSH2 + 26H C6AS3H32
(Calcium (Gypsum) (Water) (Ettringite)
aluminate)
Sulphate attack is observed when structures are exposed
to sulphatic environments such as sulphate bearing soils or
ground waters causing an increase in volume of cement paste
in concrete or mortar due to chemical reaction between
hydration products of cement and the solution containing
sulphate ions.
The reactions take place in either or both of the following
ways

Ca(OH ) 2 + Na2 SO4 .10H 2O CaSO4 .2 H 2O + 2 NaOH + 8H 2O

The formation of gypsum causes expansion and cracking
or softening of the concrete
4CaO. Al2O3 .19 H 2O + 3(CaSO4 .2 H 2O )
3CaO. Al2O3 .3CaSO4 .31H 2O + Ca (OH ) 2

1018

As mentioned earlier the sulphate attack involves the

calcium hydroxides and C3A and also depends on the effective
permeability of the concrete. Mehta suggests that the
incorporation of fly ash influences the sulphate resistance of
the concrete dominantly by refining capillary pore size
distribution rather than by modifying the chemical
21
composition . Mehta has also emphasised that the
permeability of concrete rather than cement chemistry
appears to be the most important factor in sulphate attack.
Experimental data indicates that fly ash-based concrete,
especially those made with low calcium, Class-F fly ash (similar
to GradeI as per IS 3812) are more resistant to sulphate
attack than the concrete made with high calcium Class-C fly
ash and that the sulphate resistance is also a function of the
fly ash incorporation levels. A relation evolved between the
CaO/SiO2 ratio of fly ash and sulphate resistance of the
concrete is shown in Fig 14.
22,23
work summarised the results on sulphate
Dunstans
attack of fly ash concrete. He proposed the use of resistance
factor R as:

R = (C-5)/F
where, C = CaO , F = Fe2O3 contents of the fly ash.
The selection of fly ashes (25 percent absorption level) in
terms of R limits for sulphate resistant concretes are reported
to be as follows :
R Limits

Sulphate resistance*

< 0.75

Greatly improved

0.75 - 1.5

Moderately improved

1.5 - 3.0

No significant change

> 3.0

Reduced

*Relative to ASTM Type II cement at c/c ratio of 0.45

These results indicate that the low lime class F fly ashes
are compositionally better suited for improved sulphate
resistance of the resultant concrete.
As a preventive measure for sulphate attack, it is essential
that the concrete has low permeability and is not prone to
cracking on account of shrinkage, thermal effects, corrosion,
etc20. Further, additional safeguards need to be provided by
the use of SCMs or fly ash-based blended cement. It should
be noted that merely by controlling the chemistry of cement
( such as low C3A content) it is not possible to provide longterm protection to permeable concrete subjected to moderate
to high sulphate attack.

The Indian Concrete Journal * April 2003

and volcanic or artificial glasses and the second with quartzbearing rocks. Amongst these two types, ASR is the most
widespread.
It is widely recognised that three conditions must be
present to initiate and sustain AAR in concrete. These are:
sufficient alkalis in concrete; aggregate containing an alkalireactive component; and high moisture level within the
concrete. The source of alkalis in concrete could be either
from the cement, from alkali-bearing aggregates used in the
concrete, or from external source, say for example, from use
of deicing salts. The moisture level needed for the reaction to
occur need to be very high, say of the order of over 80-85
percent relative humidity. High ambient temperature to
which concrete is subjected to during service is sometimes an
important causative factor. Some aggregates which are
normally relatively unreactive, reportedly showed
o
o
deleterious expansion at temperature of 35 - 40 C.
Alkalis in hardened concrete react with the reactive
aggregates forming high volume gel products. Although the
actual reactions are still to be understood completely the
common accepted formations are summarised below:
Fig 14 Sulphate resistance of concrete at different Rvalues of fly ash23

Resistance to alkali silica reaction (ASR)

Alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR) is one of the major
phenomena of deterioration affecting concrete structures in
different parts of the world. Already, quite a few structures
in a number of countries have been affected by AAR and
numerous concrete structures such as bridges, buildings,
dams, roads, etc in these countries may be at a risk of
deterioration caused by AAR.
AAR causes cracking and excessive disruptive
deformation in plain and reinforced concrete. It is a timedependant phenomenon and often occurs after several
decades of good performance. Fortunately, it is not as
widespread as other deterioration phenomena, like for
example, corrosion of reinforcement in concrete. However,
when it occurs, it is quite devastating. A plethora of literature
is currently available on the topic. Starting from the year
1974, as many as eleven international conferences have been
held on AAR in concrete. The proceedings volume of all these
conferences contain a wealth of information on the subject.
In addition, numerous papers in international journals
provide valuable information.
The deterioration due to AAR could be attributed to the
chemical reaction between alkali hydroxides in the concrete,
mainly derived from the cement and reactive components in
the aggregates used in the production of concrete. There
exists two known forms of AAR, namely, alkali-carbonate
reaction (ACR) and alkali-silica reaction (ASR). The former
mainly involves fine-grained argillaceous dolomitic limestone.
The latter may be sub-divided into two categories, depending
on the type of reactive silica involved; the first category,
involving poorly crystallined or metastable silica minerals,

April 2003 * The Indian Concrete Journal

Reactive silica
of aggregates

alkalis

alkali silicates

For dolomitic aggregates:

Reactive carbonate + alkalis Dedolomisation

Alkali carbonates + magnesiuim hydroxide

+ calcium carbonates

The volume expansion linked with the formation of alkali

silicate hydrate gels or the de-dolomatisation induces
expansion and severe deterioration of concrete.
The aggregates and their mineralogical constituent known
to react include the following:
silica materials - opal/ chalcedony, tridymite and
crystobalite
zeolites especially heulandite
glassy to cryptocrystalline rhyolites , dacites andesites
and their tuffs
certain phyllites.
The factors that effectively control the ASR reactions in a
blended cement concrete can be summarised as follows24,25
low c/s ratio in the C-S-H fixes the alkalis through
adsorption or solid solutions thereby decreasing the
alkali ion concentrations in the pore solution.
C-S-H formed in the secondary reaction of fly ash and
Ca(OH)2 fills up the pores in the hardened cement
paste matrix which suppresses the movement of in
pore solution.
Addition of fly ash turns the zeta potential on the
surface of the pores in hardened paste positively

1019

Fig 15 ASR expansion versus percent CaO contents of fly

ash27

charged there by suppressing the movement of the

alkali ions in the pore solution.
Composition of fly ash that is, CaO content and c/s
27
ratio of fly ash, Fig 15 .
Studies have indicated that use of fly ash in concrete show
24
reduced expansion compared to control concrete, Fig 16 .
Generally fly ashes with higher alkali or CaO contents are
less effective in controlling the expansion due to ASR and
consequently have to be used at higher replacement levels.
27
Fig 17 illustrates the relation between the minimum safe
replacement level and CaO+2Na2O/SiO2 ratio of fly ash. Use
of low lime Class F fly ash is compositionally more suited for
resistance of concrete to ASR reaction.
It may be noted here that minimum safe levels of fly ash
thus would vary depending on the nature and reactivity of
aggregates, available alkalis in concrete (from cement),
exposure conditions of the concrete and finally on the
composition of fly ash used.

Concluding remarks
The aspects discussed in the paper illustrate that the use of
low-lime fly ash in cement and concrete is beneficial in view
of the ecological and energy saving benefits on the one hand

Fig 17 Minimum replacement levels and CaO+2Na2O/SiO2

of fly ash27

and the improvements in a variety of properties of concrete,

on the other. The low lime Class-F fly ashes available in the
country are compositionally very much suited for use in
blended cement and concrete.
The factors that effectively help to improve the resistance
of the fly ash-based cement concrete to the deterioration
reactions can be summarised as follows:
(i) The interlinked C-S-H formed in the secondary
reaction of fly ash and Ca(OH)2 fills up the pores in
the hardened cement paste matrix and suppresses the
movement of the pore solution and consequently
decreases the permeability of the concrete.
(ii) This effect is further enhanced due to the filling effect
of the finer particles of the fly ash and unhydrated
cement as micro-aggregates.
(iii) Low c/s ratio in the C-S-H products fixes the chlorides
as well as alkalis through adsorption or solid solutions,
thereby decreasing their concentrations in pore
solution.
With a proper understanding of the pozzolanic activity of
the source of fly ash used, use of proper methods for reducing
its variability in chemico-mineralogical composition and
improving its particle characteristics in the cement, can help
to engineer the resultant blended cement for durable concrete.

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank the management of ACC
for permitting to use the laboratory investigation results
included in the paper. Particular thanks in this regard are due
to Mr Ashok K. Tiwari, Manager, Concrete Division, ACCRCD, Thane.
References
1. CHATTERJEE, A. K. Performance of blended cements An Indian perspective,
The Indian Concrete Journal, July 2000, Vol 74, No. 7, pp. 383-393.
2. ______Indian standard code for blast furnace slag based blended cement, IS 455
: 1989, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.

Fig 16 Expansion of concrete prisms made with reactive

aggregates and 25 percent cement replacement with low
lime fly ash24

1020

3. ______Indian standard code for flyash based blended cement, IS 1489 : 1991 Part
I, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
4. ______Indian standard code for plain and reinforced concrete,IS 456: 2000, Bureau
of Indian Standards, New Delhi.

The Indian Concrete Journal * April 2003

5. ______Cement Statistics 2002, Published by Cement Manufacturers'

Association, New Delhi, July 2002 p. 92.
6. ______Specification for fly ash for use as pozzolana and admixture IS 3812 : 1981,
(First revision), reaffirmed 1999, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
7. KHADILKAR, S.A., KARANDIKAR, M.V. and CURSETJEE, R.M. Future technological
options for increased fly ash utilisation - A review, Proceedings of 3rd
International conference on fly ash utilisation and disposal, New Delhi, February
2003, pp. 43-55
8. MEHTA, P. K., Concrete technology for sustainable development- An overview
of essential principles, International Symposium on Concrete Technology for
st
Sustainable Development in the 21 Century, February 1999, Hyderabad,
pp. 1-22.
9. MALHOTRA, V.M. Making concrete greener with fly ash, Concrete International,
Vol 21, No 5, May 1999, pp. 61-66.
10. KHADILKAR, S.A. and KARANDIKAR, M.V. Study of performance of OPC and blended
cement concrete, Internal report, Research & Consultancy Directorate,
Associated Cement Cos. Ltd, Thane.
11. HUSSAIN, S.E. and RASHEEDUZZAFAR, Corrosion resistance performance of fly
ash based blended cement concrete, ACI Materials Journal, 1994, No 3, pp. 264272.
12. ______Results of the work done in a reputed academic laboratory, Internal
report, The Associated Cement Cos Ltd, Mumbai.
13. ______Papers presented at the International symposium on corrosion of
reinforcement in concrete construction, Edited by Page, C.L. Bamforth, P.B. and
Figg, J.W. July 1996, p. 675.
14. ______Corrosion of steel in concrete, Digest 444, Concrete Society, February
2000.
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16. BAPAT,J.D. Performance of cement and concrete with mineral admixtures .
Advances in Cement Research, 2001, 13, No 4 , Oct , 139 155

Mr S.A. Khadilkar is a manager (research) in R&D

division of the Research & Consultancy Directorate
of The Associated Cement Companies Limited,
located at Thane, Maharashtra. He has vast experience
in cement raw mix optimisation for productivity and
quality enhancement, mineralogical and microstructural characterisation of materials. He has been
involved in research projects related to alternative process routes
of clinkerisation, reactive belite cements, hydration characteristics
of different types of cements and cementitious binders, studies
on improved properties of blended cements, fly ash characteristics
and studies related to enhanced pozzolanicity, use of processed
phosphogypsum, comparative assessment of pozzolanic reactivity
of cementitious materials, etc.
Mr Vijay R. Kulkarni began his career as an
Assistant Engineer in PWD, Maharashtra, where he
was involved in the planning, structural design,
estimation and standardisation of major bridges.
After a short stint in academics, he joined ACC in
1984. In ACC's Research & Consultancy Directorate
at Thane he was involved in consultancy work dealing
with non-destructive testing and repair and rehabilitation of
concrete structures. He was also associated with concrete R&D
work. Currently, Mr Kulkarni is involved in a 3-year R&D project
on high performance concrete, which is being carried out jointly
with Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. Mr Kulkarni is also a
technical journalist and is the Editor of The Indian Concrete Journal
(ICJ). He is also involved in the publication of a number of technical
books brought out by ACC. He authored a recent CMA publication:
Handbook of RMC. Mr Kulkarni is a member of ACI and ASCE
and is actively associated with many professional bodies in India.

17. ______Technical data sheet on pulverised fuel ash for concrete, United
Kingdom Quality Ash Association.
18. ______Results of the work done in ACC-RCD laboratory on the evaluation of
fly ash-based cement, Internal report, Research & Conslutancy Directorate,
The Associated Cement Cos. Ltd, Thane.
19. SARASWATHY,V. , MURALIDHARAN,S., THANGAVEL, K. and SRINIVASAN, S, Activated
fly ash cements . Tolerable limits of replacements for durable steel concrete.
Advances in Cement Research, January 2002, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp 9-16.
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April 2003 * The Indian Concrete Journal

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