ICCBT2008

Properties & Applications of CeraCem Ultra High Performance

Self Compacting Concrete

B. Abdelrazig*, Sika Regional Technology Support Centre Asia Pacific, Malaysia,

ABSTRACT

In the last few decades concrete has undergone major changes resulting in high workability
yet durable performance together with strengths exceeding 150MPa. The role of
supplementary hydraulic binders ,improved site practices but most importantly chemical
admixtures has maximized the design freedom and permitted such developments as Self
Compacting Concrete (SCC) ,Concrete Filled Steel Tube (CFT) construction method & ultra
high performance SCC. The new type of Polycarboxylate ether ( PCE) admixtures combine
strong water reduction with reduced set retardation and modification of the rheology of the
paste in a way that renders the concrete self compacting. Sika has developed a range of
products based on such a new technology, called CeraCem, in the frame of partnership with
the French company Eiffage. CeraCem Ultra high performance concrete offers solutions with
advantages such as speed of construction, improved aesthetics, superior durability, and
impermeability against corrosion, abrasion and impact which translates to reduced
maintenance and a longer life span for the structure .With this type of concrete it is possible
to reduce or eliminate passive reinforcement and the thickness of the concrete elements can
be reduced , which results in materials & cost savings. This paper whilst taking regard of new
developments, discusses some applications of Ultra High Strength SCC made using
Polycarboxylate based admixtures.

Keywords: CeraCem, polycarboxylate, ultra high performance concrete, SCC.

*Correspondence Author: Baha Abdelrazig, Sika Regional Technology, Support Centre Asia Pacific, Lot 689
Nilai Industrial Estate, 71800 Nilai, NSDK, Malaysia, E-mail: bdelrazig.baha@my.sika.com www.sika.com,

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Properties & Applications of CeraCem Ultra High Performance Self Compacting Concrete

1. INTRODUCTION

Ultra-high Performance Concrete (UHPC), which is often also referred to as Ultra High
Strength Concrete (UHSC), is characterized by a very dense structure and compressive
strengths topping 150 N/mm2. It contains about 600 to 900 kg/m3 cement and up to 250 kg/m3
highly reactive silica fume. Super-plasticizers based on polycarboxylate ether (PCE) allow to
use very low water/binder ratios of less than 0.25. The maximum aggregate grain size usually
ranges between 0.5 and 8 mm. The purposeful use of different silica sand fractions serves to
additionally increase packing density.

Deformation and fracture behavior , which is very brittle in comparison to ordinary concrete,
can be enhanced by using steel fibers, called Ultra High Strength Fiber Reinforced Concrete
(UHSFRC), which allow bending tensile strengths of up to 50 N/mm2 to be achieved.
Compressive strengths exceeding 800 N/mm2 were obtained by applying vacuum mixers and
heat treatment. Apart from high strength, very high durability is generally said to be one of
the distinctive features of reactive powder concrete. This is chiefly attributable to its low
proportion of capillary pores. [1]. UHPFRC can be produced from a concrete mix containing
no coarse aggregate (i.e. stones). A high cement content and a special reactive silica sand,
together with a very low water content and water-reducing and other admixtures, are used to
produce concrete with a very high compressive strength, up to 5-7 times as strong as normal
concrete. The addition of a large volume (2-4%) of short, fine steel fibres produces a concrete
which is easy to produce and use and which has a very high tensile strength and toughness.
This concrete can be made between 30-60 times as strong in tension as normal concrete and
has a very high ductility. [2] The materials are usually supplied in a three-component premix:
powders (Portland cement, silica fume, quartz flour, and fine silica sand) pre-blended in bulk-
bags; superplasticizers; and fibers. The ductile behavior of this material is a first for concrete,
with the capacity to deform and support flexural and tensile loads, even after initial cracking.
The use of this material for construction is simplified by the elimination of reinforcing steel
and the ability of the material to be virtually self placing or dry cast. Besides providing
architects and engineers with greater design flexibility, there is more usable space, since
smaller columns and beams can be used in high rise buildings and long span structural
designs. Advantages, therefore, include:
Tremendous compressive strengths of more than 150 MPa
High modulus of elasticity exceeding 40,000 MPa.
High flexural strengths give ductility & enhanced seismic resistance.
Greatly reduced permeability to moisture, chlorides and chemical attack.
Increased resistance to abrasion, erosion, corrosion.
High early strengths for fast-track construction projects and precast applications.
Recently, the Concrete Committee of Japan Society of Engineers has published the draft
report Recommendations for design and Construction of Ultra High Strength Fiber
Reinforced Concrete Structures The recommendations prescribe a procedure for examining
safety and serviceability performance in consideration of the resistance to tensile stress of
UHSFRC without applying any reinforcing bars. A standard lifespan of 100 years was
estimated under normal environmental conditions. In France the use of ultra high performance
materials is carried out under a specific standard which has been in force since 2002. This
was produced by the French Civil Engineering Association in conjunction with the French
Highways and Motorway Engineering Department. This standard covers concretes with
compressive strengths between 150 and 250 MPa to which fibres are added in sufficient

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 B. Abdelrazig

quantity to ensure ductility. Sika Japan in collaboration with a general contractor have been
developing Ultra High Strength SCC with strengths in excess of 150MPa using high loadings
of special binders, but normal high strength aggregates. Some results including mix designs &
the nature of the materials used have been published elsewhere [3, 4].

2. POLYCARBOXYLATE ETHER (PCE) BASED ADMIXTURES

A greater water reducing effect in concrete can be obtained by enhanced dispersibility and
stable dispersion of the cement particles. The retention of dispersion of inorganic micro
particles is due to electrical and steric repulsion of the adsorbed surfactant. Stable dispersion
due to electrical repulsion can be explained by the well known DLVO theory. The greater this
energy barrier the more stable the dispersion, which is found to correlate well with the value
of the zeta potential. The repulsion due to the steric effect can be explained by entropy effect
theory. The water reducing effect of cement composites such as concrete is obtained by
increasing the dispersion of the cement particles. Conventional water reducing agents are
roughly divided into two types, those which enlarge the zeta potential and increase the
repulsion and those which increase the force of repulsion by sterically expanding the
adsorption layer. Melamine & naphthalene sulphonate formaldehyde condensates based water
reducers are adsorbed in the shape of a rod in several layers, in which the cement particles are
dispersed due to the strong electrical repulsion of the negative ions of the sulfonate group.
The size of this repulsion can be estimated by measuring the zeta potential of the surface of
the cement particle. For polycarboxylate based water reducing agents, cement particles are
dispersed and water reducing effect is obtained by the electrical repulsion of the negative ions
of the carboxylic group and steric repulsion of the main and side chains [5].
The high specific surface of SCC mixes requires very powerful admixtures to achieve the
required workability in combination with cohesion and homogeneity. Special concrete
admixtures are necessary to produce SCC. They must be able to achieve:
Fluid concrete with controlled workability
Very high water reduction
Stable and cohesive concrete
The high requirements of SCC regarding workability, homogeneity and cohesion result in
great demands on the admixture. The new generation comb-type polycarboxylate polymers
are ideal for this purpose:
Powerful plasticizing.
Special formulations to keep concrete cohesive and homogeneous.
Controlled workability.
In recent years, PCE graft polymers have played an important role in the promotion of ultra
high strength concrete for super high-rise RC structure. Considering the very many properties
of such a polymer like molecular weight, backbone or side chains, ionic strength, chemical
composition or production conditions an extraordinary variety of special performing polymers
are feasible

2.1 CeraCem

A French & European patents were registered by Eiffage in the years 1998 & 1999,
respectively [6]. Since the year 2000, Sika has developed, in the framework of partnership
with Eiffage (a contracting and consulting French company) a range of products based on this

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Properties & Applications of CeraCem Ultra High Performance Self Compacting Concrete

new technology, similar raw materials & with very similar mechanical properties and
durability characteristics, commercially known as CERACEM. CeraCem is a result of an
optimization of the nature and proportions of the raw materials. It is both ultra high
performance fiber-reinforced concrete & self compacting. It does not require any heat
treatment to acquire its ultra high strength. CeraCem mainly consists of a premix,
superplasticiser and fibers proportioned in exact amounts, which only requires the addition of
a fixed amount of water & mixing to give the ultra high, self compacting performance. The
premix normally consists of cement, silica fume, aggregates (0-8 mm) & other minor
additives [6]. Three Different premixes have been developed, depending on application
requirement, for structural, aesthetic or grouting and anchoring. Typical composition of the
structural version (known as BFM-Millau) comprises of:
Premix: 2355 kg/m3
Superplasticiser (PCE): 44.6 kg/m3
Water: 195 kg/m3 (w/c = 0.22)
Metallic fibers: 195 kg/m3
The properties and applications reported in the following pages mainly draw data from
development work carried out at Sika France on CeraCem.

3. PROPERTIES

Table 1: Summary of Typical Properties of Ceracem BFM-Millau (steel fibres)

Property Measured value
Flow (up to 2 hours) 650 mm
Compressive Strength (100X100mm) 2 days 122 MPa
Compressive Strength (100X100mm) 28 days 199 MPa
3-point Flexural Strength (10x10x40cm) 28day 30 MPa
4-point Flexural strength (10x10x40cm) 28days 29 MPa
Tensile strength (10x74cm) 28 days 8 MPa
Modulus of Elasticity (11x22 cm) 28 days 71 GPa
Total Shrinkage (7x7x28 cm, dem. @1d) @1yr 725 microstrain
Total Shrinkage ( with added SRA) after 1 yr <500 microstrain
Restrained shrinkage (Ring test) No cracking observed

3.1 Flow Tests

Plasticity measurements were carried out in accordance with the European standard EN
12350-5, but without tapping (free flow). The results show self compacting behavior with
flow not decreasing to below the 650mm at any time during the first 2 hours. The air content
of the material is less than 3.5% & the green density is 2814 kg/m3.

3.2 Compressive strength Tests

Compressive strength measurements were done after 1, 2, 7 & 28 days. The 100x100mm
cubes were demoulded after 24hours and kept under water at 20C until they were crushed.
The compressive strength values after 2 days represent more than 60% of the 28 days values.

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 B. Abdelrazig

After 6 months, the compressive strength reached 227 MPa, an increase of 13.5% over that
after 28 days.

3.3 Flexural Tensile Strength Tests

Four -point flexural strength in addition to center-point flexural strength tests were carried
out. The centre point tests were done on notched samples (notch depth=0.5xfibre length) with
crack opening control (one extensometer bridging the crack); a rate of 0.025 mm/min was
used. The four point tests were carried out with deflection control (2 external extensometers
per sample). The rate used was 0.1mm/min. At least 12 prismatic samples were tested for
each type of test.

Figure 1: Three point flexural strength curve for CeraCem BFM Millau

Figure 2: Four point flexural strength Curve for CeraCem BFM Millau

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Properties & Applications of CeraCem Ultra High Performance Self Compacting Concrete

Figures 1 and 2 show the actual curves of the centre point and 4-point flexural tests. Clearly
the metallic fibers allow obtaining a ductile behavior under tension which makes the use of
passive reinforcement unnecessary.

3.4 Shrinkage

In binders with high cement content and low w/c ratio crack formation can be critical &
problematic. Several studies were done to evaluate the total free shrinkage, autogeneous
shrinkage & the desiccation shrinkage. For the evaluation of the total shrinkage the samples
were demoulded after 24 hours and then kept in a climatic chamber ( 50% RH & 20C). The
samples demoulded after 24 hours for the determination of autogeneous shrinkage were
wrapped in aluminium foil to avoid moisture loss. The total and autogeneous shrinkage were
carried out by linear measurements on prismatic samples (7x7x28 cm, 3 samples in each
case). The desiccation shrinkage has been calculated as the difference between the total & the
autogeneous shrinkage. The figure shown below (Figure 3) does emphasize the importance of
autogenous shrinkage in ultra high performance concrete as expected & in line with current
knowledge. However, with the inclusion of the right shrinkage reducing agent (SRA) the total
shrinkage was reduced to <500 microstrains from as early as 28 days & continued to be
effective even after 1 year. [7]. Restrained shrinkage tests were also carried out to evaluate
cracking risk. No cracking was observed & the cracking tendency of the material was
confirmed to be very low.

Figure 3: Total autogenous and desiccation shrinkages with time

3.4 Durability

Durability in this context refer to studies on water porosity, gas permeability (oxygen),
permeability to chlorides, Carbonation, freeze-thaw resistance and resistance to chemical
attack. The CeraCem (BFM Millaue) matrix is extremely dense and has 2.5% porosity after
90 days (3.6% after 28 days) which is the reason for a very low permeability, excellent

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 B. Abdelrazig

carbonation, good freeze-thaw & excellent chemical resistance in aggressive environments.

The results of these investigations are summarized in Table 2.

Table 2: Summary Results of Durability Tests

Test Result Standard/Procedure followed
Water porosity 3.6% & 2.5% AFPC-AFRM recommendations after 28
days & 90 days
Gas permeability ratio 10-18 m2 Sika Internal standard
(Oxygen)
Permeability to 3mm depth after 2 years Scandinavian NT Build 443
chlorides exposure,
(conc. 0.2-1.2% only)
Carbonation depth < 0.1mm/year Accelerated & natural carbonation to 2
years.
Freeze-thaw resistance Mass loss of 0.004kg/m2 Pr EN 12390-9
Resistance to Retained dimensional & Immersed in drinking & sea waters (NF
chemicals mass integrity. P18 837), Sod. sulfate (ASTM C1012),
No decrease in flexural/ Mag. sulfate (NF P18-837), ammonium
compressive resistance after nitrate (NF P18-011), sulfuric acid
2yrs. Only protruding parts (pH4.5) & Acetic acid (pH4.50)
of metallic fibers corroded. followed by dimensional, loss of mass,
flexural & compressive tests.
Fire Resistance 2 hours rating (with PP Iso 834
fibres)

4. APPLICATIONS

The French Company Eiffage began to develop this type of concrete in 1996 under the name
BSI. Before this cooperation commenced, several applications were carried out by this
contractor alone such as the renovation of cooling towers for nuclear power stations and the
building of two bridges. Overall, however, the following selection of projects representing
the diverse areas of applications indicated in the second column of Table 3 have since been
executed during the period 2003-2005 [8].

Table 3: Some Reference projects & their Application Areas[9]

Project/Client Application Year
1.Bridge 7 at Villepinte Decorative faade panels 2003
2. Underpass at St-L Precast cornices 2003
3. Toll barrier at Millau Slender prestressed shell structure 2003-2004
4. Aqueduct over the LGV Est Prestressed canal aqueduct 2004
5. Shell Petrochemicals plant Impermeable bulkheads 2004
6. Renovation of GECITER building. Slender, fire resistant columns 2004
7. Lecture theatre at Cachans College Acoustic panels 2004
8. Valabres viaduct Strengthening of a pier 2004
9. St-Julien canal, Mt Denis Anti-abrasion lining 2004
10. Marseille City Hall Planting containers 2005
11. Viaduct over the Cher Decorative facing panels 2005
Innovative structure with complex
12. Zonnestraal monument (NL) 2005
shapes & design

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Properties & Applications of CeraCem Ultra High Performance Self Compacting Concrete

4.1 Toll Gate with Slender Precast Panels

In 2003-2004, Eiffage carried out the construction of the toll gate for the Millau viaduct in
France with Ceracem BFM-MILLAU. The design and the structural calculations were done
by Eiffage [8].Typical physical properties of the product reported here are shown in Table 2.
The design of the structure is based on the technique of Match Cast segments. The 98 m
length of the roof is divided into 53 segments assembled longitudinally during the final phase
of construction with 28 prestressing cables. The height of the segments varies from 850 mm
in the centre to 200 m at the ends.

98.0 m
Figure 4: Segments varying in height from 850 at centre-200 mm at ends

The segments were installed progressively to form the overall arch design. They were joined
together with prestressing rods.

Figure 5: A segment being hoisted Figure 6: Segments progressively installed.

Figure 7: Final toll barrier began operating in 2004

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 B. Abdelrazig

4.2 Strengthening of a Pier

One of the piers of the viaduct is located in the bed of a mountain stream. It is subject to
abrasion and impact from rocks carried along with the current. A jacket had to be formed to
strengthen the base of the pier and the abutment where the steel reinforcement had become
exposed as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8: A jacket being formed

Figure 9 shows the pier of the Valabres viaduct before strengthening whereas Figures 10&11
present different stages of the repair. [8]

Figure 9: before Figure 10 During Figure 11: After

strengthening strengthening with CeraCem strengthening with CeraCem

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Properties & Applications of CeraCem Ultra High Performance Self Compacting Concrete

5. CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions may be drawn:

1. Ultra High Strength SCC is made possible by using Polycarboxylate based admixtures.
2. The excellent performance of Ceracem lead to its use in different applications such as
strengthening, making of slender elements without reinforcement, decorative panels and
innovative structures.

REFERENCES

[1]. German research Foundation, (DFG) 2006Sustainable building with ultra high
peformance concrete.
[2]. Perry,V.(2001)"Q&A:What Is Reactive Powder Concrete"HPC Bridge Views,No. 16.
[3]. KoshiroY.etal,(2004),Propertiesof Ultra high Streng. concr. with Zirconia contained
pozzolan premixed cementJPN Conc. Inst.,vol.26,No.1,213-218.(in Japanese).
[4]. Koshiro, Y. et al(2005), Properties of Ultra High Strength Concrete using pozzolan from
zirconia industry Architectural Institute Japan,A-1,387-388 (in Japanese)
[5]. Abdelrazig, B (2004) A Contribution towards the study on: Developing Applic. of SCC
to Enhance Quality, Cost Effectiveness, Buildability and to Reduce Noise in Public
Housing Construction by City Univ. of HK, Sika Internal Publications.
[6]. Maeder,U. Lallemant-Gamboa,I.Chaignon,J.Lombard, JP Ceracem, a new high
performance concrete :Characterisations and applications Ultra High Performance
Concrete, Schmidt et al (Eds), No. 3. pp 59-66.
[7]. DeVriendt, Philippe, Innoconcrete final Report, January 2007
[8]. Concrete References & Case Studies, Sika ICC Intranet.

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