Tuesday, 9 January 2018

Air bubbles voids and Effects in Concrete






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 Why is there air in concrete? 

 Small, well-dispersed air voids in concrete can improve workability, reduce bleeding and segregation, and improve resistance to freezing and thawing. 



Air is always present in concrete mixes. It is intentionally or unintentionally trapped in fresh concrete as a result of mixing and placing. About the only way to avoid trapping some air would be to mix, transport, and place concrete in a vacuum side, just like the addition of sand makes the total aggregate gradation finer. These chemical admixtures stabilize and retain more of the smaller bubbles trapped during mixing and agitating. These finer bubbles become the more desirable part of the air void system. The coarser bubbles randomly trapped during mixing and placing is generally present with or without an air-entraining admixture.


Air bubbles and air voids: 

Because air and water do not mix, air trapped in fresh concrete normally is in the form of gas bubbles surrounded by a thin liquid film and suspended in the mix w a t e r. These bubbles vary in size and shape from microscopic, hollow spheres the size of cement grains to large, irregularly shaped gas pockets the size of coarse aggregate particles or larger. All these bubbles can move in fresh concrete. They can change size and shape, expand or contract, merge or rupture, or be removed from fresh concrete through vibration. Once concrete hardens, however, the air bubbles are fixed in place. The hollow space formed by the last position and shape of a bubble is an air void. T h e whole collection of these hollow spaces in a sample of hardened concrete is the air void system.

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Effects of air voids:

When the air voids in hardened concrete are mostly in the form of large voids and pockets, the effects are generally detrimental. Failure to remove larger voids results in porous, poorly consolidated concrete in the forms and around re-bars and other inserts, with honeycombing and reduced in-place strength. Fresh concrete should be consolidated during placement to remove as many of the larger voids as possible. Consolidation will be discussed in Part 2 of this series. When an air- entraining admixture is used, concrete needs to be handled so as to preserve as many of the smaller voids as possible. Workability improves when an air- entraining admixture is used to increase the number of small voids. Small, well-dispersed bubbles act as air cushions between aggregate particles, reducing friction and interlocking. This benefit often allows a reduced water content for concretes with an air-entraining admixture. As a large number of microscopic bubbles work themselves in between cement grains and fine aggregate particles, bleeding and segregation are reduced. Increased cohesion caused by the air-entraining admixture helps the mix resist segregation, but can sometimes make its ticky. Further, when the void size gradation shifts toward finer sizes, there is less reduction in compressive strength for a given total air content, and it is possible to offset strength reduction with a lower required water content.

Volume of air required:

An air void system having a total volume of about 18% to 20% of the cement paste volume can generally accommodate expanding ice and water. More air volume is required to accommodate ice expansion for porous and saturated concrete. Paste volume is difficult to measure, so it is more convenient to describe air content as a fraction of total concrete volume. Air contents of 18% to 20% of paste volume usually are 4% to 7% of concrete volume. However, since air protects only the paste, richer mixes with greater paste volumes need higher air contents to protect the paste. For the same reason, leaner mixes may need less air. Aggregate size, shape, and gradation also can affect required air volume because paste contents are different. For example, a topping mix with pea gravel usually will require more air to achieve frost resistance than a pavement mix with 11⁄2inch stone.

Void size and spacing:

Expansion pressure caused by freezing is reduced only if ice or water do not have to travel too far to the closest air void. Greater pressure is required to push ice or water long distances to a void space. If this pressure is too great, the cement paste will crack. This means that the cement paste will have a critical distance beyond which ice and water cannot flow without causing damage.

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