Effect of Paste-to-Voids Volume Ratio on the Performance of Concrete Mixtures

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the minimum paste volume required with an appropriate water-tocementitious ratio (w/cm) to achieve required workability, strength, and durability requirements of concrete mixtures for pavements. In this experimental program, 64 concrete mixtures with varying w/cm, cementitious content, and binder type were prepared and tested. The fine aggregateto-total aggregate ratio was held constant for all the mixtures. Fresh and hardened concrete properties of the mixtures were determined at various ages. Test results have shown that approximately 1.5 times more paste by volume is required than voids between the aggregates to achieve a minimum performance in concrete for pavements. For a given w/ cm, strength is independent of cementitious content after a critical value is provided. When w/cm is constant, increasing paste content increased chloride penetrability and air permeability. Keywordsconcrete, mix design, mix optimization, mix proportioning, paste-to-voids volume ratio, pavements, durability, compressive strength, permeability, fly ash, slag Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Yurdakul, E., Taylor, P. C., . 1943-5533.0000728, Vol. 25, No. 12, pp. 1840-1851. Disciplines Civil and Environmental Engineering | Construction Engineering and Management Comments This is a manuscript of an article from Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering"Effect of Paste-to-Voids Volume Ratio on the Performance of Concrete Mixtures," ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT. MT1559 Effect of paste-to-voids volume ratio on the performance of concrete mixtures ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to investigate the minimum paste volume required with an appropriate water-to-cementitious ratio (w/cm) to achieve required workability, strength and durability requirements of concrete mixtures for pavements. In this experimental program, 64 concrete mixtures with varying w/cm, cementitious content and binder type were prepared and tested. The fine aggregate-to-total aggregate ratio was held constant for all the mixtures. Fresh and hardened concrete properties of the mixtures were determined at various ages.Test results have shown that approximately 1.5 times more paste by volume is required than voids between the aggregates to achieve a minimum performance in concrete for pavements. For a given w/cm, strength is independent of cementitious content after a critical value is provided. When w/cm is constant, increasing paste content increased chloride penetrability and air permeability.

Design and performance of ternary blend high-volume fly ash concretes of moderate slump

“…Measured compressive strengths were fairly independent of aggregate volume fraction for the 70% and 72.5% volume fractions investigated in this study. This agrees with the recent observation of Yurdakul et al [18] that ''strength is independent of cementitious (paste) content after a critical value is provided.'' For the Type I OPC concrete, 75% aggregates did not provide this critical volume of paste, producing a significant decrease in measured compressive strengths.…”

Effects of aggregate packing optimization and cement paste volume on the properties of natural and recycled aggregate concrete

“…In addition to the packing density and the V v , cement paste volume (CPV) also plays an important role in affecting the properties of concrete. Yurdakul, Taylor, Ceylan, and Bektas 17 pointed out that there exists an optimum CPV/Vv ratio that can maximize the compressive strength of concrete. When the CPV/Vv is lower than the optimum ratio, both the compressive strength and the workability of concrete increase as the CPV/V v increases.…”

Drying Shrinkage and Cracking Tendency of Concrete Pavement Mixtures with Variable Packing Densities of Aggregates and Paste Contents

“…To meet this objective, concrete mixtures used in the study described in the current paper were designed using the concepts of the "air-free" paste-aggregate void saturation ratio (k") and the packing density of aggregates (ϕ). Similar concepts have been used in the other studies [4,8].…”

“…In addition to lowering the cost, the main role of aggregate in concrete is to restrain the shrinkage of the cement paste and thus to reduce the likelihood of cracking. The primary type of shrinkage encountered in elements with high surface-to-volume ratios, such as concrete pavements, is the drying shrinkage, the result of moisture loss from the exposed surface [1][2][3][4][5]. Assuming that the pavement is constructed from concrete utilizing good quality, dimensionally stable aggregate, the extent of drying shrinkage will be primarily controlled by the amount of cement paste.…”