The criteria and practices necessary to ensure that expansion
occurs at the time and in the amount required are given in
ACI 223. Low curing temperatures can reduce expansion.
Special cleaning of transit mixer drums may be required to
prevent contamination.
Provisions should be made to allow for initial expansion of
the material to provide positive strain on the internal steel
restraint. Consequently, shrinkage-compensating concrete is
not effective in bonded overlays on portland-cement
concrete because the substrate provides too much external
restraint. The potential for the forces created during the
expansion process could push out walls or fail the forms
along the perimeter of the pours.
c) Applications—Shrinkage-compensating concrete
minimizes cracking caused by drying shrinkage in concrete
slabs, pavements, bridge decks, and structures. Additionally,
shrinkage-compensating can reduce warping tendencies where
concrete is exposed to single face drying and carbonation
shrinkage.
d) Standards—ASTM C 845 provides standards for
expansive hydraulic cement and limits, including strength,
setting time, and expansion of the cement. Mortar and
concrete expansions are usually determined in accordance
with ASTM C 806 and C 878, respectively. Adequacy of
concrete should be checked and used as outlined in ACI 223.
3.2.14 Silica-fume concrete—Silica fume, a by-product in
the manufacture of silicon and ferrosilicon alloys, is an
efficient pozzolanic material. Adding silica fume and a
HRWRA to a concrete mixture significantly increases
compressive strength, decreases permeability, and thus
improves durability (ACI 234R). Silica fume is normally
added to concrete in quantities of 5 to 15% by mass of
cement. Compressive strengths of 85 to 105 MPa (12,000 to
15,000 psi) can be attained with silica-fume concrete.
a) Advantages—The initial commercial interest in silica
fume was for increased chemical resistance of concrete;
however, it is being added to concrete today to increase density
and strength, and, in some cases, as a cement replacement or
property-enhancing material to improve quality and performance
in a wide range of applications.
Silica-fume concrete requires no significant changes from the
normal transporting, placing, and consolidating practices
associated with conventional concrete, except HRWRAs are
required. Further, any retempering of silica fume modified
concrete should be done with a HRWRA rather than with water.
b) Limitations—Typically, as silica-fume dosage increases,
the concrete becomes more cohesive, is more susceptible to
plastic shrinkage cracking, and adds significant cost to the
repair material. Placing and finishing crews, however, have
been able to overcome these differences without any
significant difficulties (Holland 1987). Silica-fume concrete
has little or no bleed water, which makes it difficult to
provide a steel trowel finish.
The minimum curing temperature should be 4 °C (40 °F).
Also, wet curing should start immediately for a recommended
minimum of 7 days.
c) Applications—The first major applications of
silica-fume concrete in the United States were for repair of