Assessment of Alkali–Silica Reaction Development in Portland-Limestone Mortar and Concrete with Different Limestone Replacement Ratios and Fineness †
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Background
2.1. Alkali–Silica Reaction
2.2. The Effect of Limestone Addition on ASR
2.2.1. Filler Effect
2.2.2. Nucleation Effect
2.2.3. Dilution Effect
2.2.4. Chemical Effect
3. Scope of Work
4. Experimental Program
4.1. Raw Materials
4.2. Test Methods
4.2.1. Accelerated Mortar Bar Test
4.2.2. Concrete Prism Test
4.2.3. Compression Test
5. Results
5.1. ASR Kinetics in AMBT and CPT
5.2. Compressive Strength
6. Discussion
6.1. Influence of Limestone Contents
6.2. Influence of Limestone Fineness
7. Conclusions
- Comparative results of AMBT and CPT indicate that PLCs limit ASR-induced expansion from 0.755% and 0.82%, reported in the literature with OPC, to below 0.55% and 0.59% in this study, utilizing identical ultra-highly reactive Texas sand. Although still beyond the limitations specified in ASTM C1778 [39], the reduced expansion highlights the impact on the test outcome and thus the potential impact of PLC in evaluating reactive aggregates [48]. Nevertheless, longer tests (i.e., real-site monitoring) will be required to verify if the reduced expansion is really a mitigation or just a delay.
- Statistical analysis of both the AMBT and CPT results concludes that increasing limestone content from 15% to 25% in PLC does not significantly influence ASR expansion, regardless of the fineness. However, microscopic analysis (i.e., damage rating index [36]) is required in the future for microstructural validation.
- With the sole addition of interground limestone, the fineness of PLC significantly influences the ASR-induced expansion within one year of testing through the refinement of pore structure (i.e., filler effect), which is more pronounced than the modifications to hydration kinetics and pore solution compositions (i.e., nucleation and chemical effects). Significantly, PLCs of higher fineness (Source A) obtain lower ultimate expansion, indicating that the defects of high LFs content (i.e., dilution effect) on ASR development can be partially compensated by higher fineness of PLC. Nevertheless, this interpretation is based substantially on expansion kinetics and compressive strength and requires further microstructural investigation (e.g., SEM) for validation.
- The expedited initiation and propagation of ASR during the initial three days of AMBT may be attributed to the nucleation effect. However, it may also be ascribed to the increased porosity resulting from a rising amount of LFs. Additional research is required to elucidate the primary issue, such as the mercury intrusion porosity test.
- The results of the compression test demonstrate different significance compared to the AMBT and CPT results, which reveal that compressive strength is not a proper indicator of transportation properties (e.g., permeability, sorptivity, etc.). Further measurements still need to be made to confirm the conclusions.
- Without any improvement in the mix-design, increasing the LFs content from 15% to 25% results in a significant reduction in compressive strength, which indicates that advanced mix-design techniques are required to facilitate the use of PLC25 in real structures.
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Components | A-15% | A-20% | A-25% | B-15% | B-20% | B-25% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CaO | 60.47 | 59.25 | 59.26 | 62.19 | 60.83 | 60.87 |
SiO2 | 19.64 | 19.24 | 18.49 | 18.71 | 17.71 | 17.20 |
Al2O3 | 4.82 | 4.85 | 4.55 | 4.51 | 4.27 | 4.09 |
Fe2O3 | 2.20 | 2.15 | 2.06 | 2.78 | 2.60 | 2.55 |
MgO | 2.29 | 2.25 | 2.20 | 2.19 | 2.11 | 2.05 |
K2O | 1.09 | 1.04 | 0.98 | 1.04 | 0.96 | 1.00 |
Na2O | 0.27 | 0.24 | 0.29 | 0.29 | 0.26 | 0.23 |
TiO2 | 0.26 | 0.24 | 0.26 | 0.19 | 0.19 | 0.17 |
P2O5 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.12 |
MnO | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.06 |
Na2Oeq | 0.98 | 0.92 | 0.93 | 0.97 | 0.90 | 0.89 |
LOI | 6.91 | 8.61 | 10.45 | 6.23 | 9.217 | 10.05 |
CaCO3 | 15.67 | 20.76 | 27.26 | 13.34 | 21.39 | 22.47 |
Materials | BET—Specific Surface Area (m2/g) | Blaine Fineness (m2/g) | Specific Gravity |
---|---|---|---|
A—15% | 2.854 | 0.588 | 3.06 |
A—20% | 2.754 | 0.627 | 3.06 |
A—25% | 3.355 | 0.671 | 3.00 |
B—15% | 1.236 | 0.454 | 3.09 |
B—20% | 1.620 | 0.525 | 3.03 |
B—25% | 1.884 | 0.596 | 3.03 |
Materials | Specific Gravity | Absorption (%) | AMBT Expansion with OPC (%) [30] |
---|---|---|---|
Limestone | 2.79 | 0.42 | 0.02 |
Texas Sand | 2.60 | 0.82 | 0.81 |
Sieve Size | Mass, % | |
---|---|---|
Passing | Retained on | |
4.75 mm | 2.36 | 10 |
2.36 mm | 1.18 | 25 |
1.18 mm | 600 μm | 25 |
600 μm | 300 μm | 25 |
300 μm | 150 μm | 15 |
Families | Cement (kg/m3) | Sand (kg/m3) | Coarse (kg/m3) | Water (kg/m3) | NaOH (kg/m3) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
PLC15-A | 420.00 | 755.63 | 1136.61 | 199.50 | 1.45 |
PLC20-A | 420.00 | 755.63 | 1136.61 | 199.50 | 1.79 |
PLC25-A | 420.00 | 755.63 | 1136.61 | 199.50 | 1.74 |
PLC15-B | 420.00 | 755.63 | 1136.61 | 199.50 | 1.51 |
PLC20-B | 420.00 | 755.63 | 1136.61 | 199.50 | 1.92 |
PLC25-B | 420.00 | 755.63 | 1136.61 | 199.50 | 1.98 |
Families | Cement (kg/m3) | Sand (kg/m3) | Coarse (kg/m3) | Water (kg/m3) | NaOH (kg/m3) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
PLC15-A | 455.60 | 713.60 | 1071.7 | 204.2 | 0 |
PLC20-A | 455.60 | 713.60 | 1071.7 | 204.2 | 0 |
PLC25-A | 455.60 | 713.60 | 1071.7 | 204.2 | 0 |
PLC15-B | 455.60 | 713.60 | 1071.7 | 204.2 | 0 |
PLC20-B | 455.60 | 713.60 | 1071.7 | 204.2 | 0 |
PLC25-B | 455.60 | 713.60 | 1071.7 | 204.2 | 0 |
Tests | Pvalue (Between Source) | p < α | Pvalue (Between LFs Contents) | p < α |
---|---|---|---|---|
16-Day AMBT Expansion | 0.008 | ✓ | 0.143 | × |
1-Year CPT Expansion | <0.001 | ✓ | 0.057 | × |
28-Day Compressive Strength | <0.001 | ✓ | <0.001 | × |
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Xia, Z.; Bergmann, A.; Sanchez, L. Assessment of Alkali–Silica Reaction Development in Portland-Limestone Mortar and Concrete with Different Limestone Replacement Ratios and Fineness. Buildings 2025, 15, 1850. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15111850
Xia Z, Bergmann A, Sanchez L. Assessment of Alkali–Silica Reaction Development in Portland-Limestone Mortar and Concrete with Different Limestone Replacement Ratios and Fineness. Buildings. 2025; 15(11):1850. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15111850
Chicago/Turabian StyleXia, Zichun, Ana Bergmann, and Leandro Sanchez. 2025. "Assessment of Alkali–Silica Reaction Development in Portland-Limestone Mortar and Concrete with Different Limestone Replacement Ratios and Fineness" Buildings 15, no. 11: 1850. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15111850
APA StyleXia, Z., Bergmann, A., & Sanchez, L. (2025). Assessment of Alkali–Silica Reaction Development in Portland-Limestone Mortar and Concrete with Different Limestone Replacement Ratios and Fineness. Buildings, 15(11), 1850. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15111850