This is a paper regarding the triple blending or ternary blending which include GGBFS and PFA blended together with OPC.

1. Ternary/Triple Blending Concrete
(GGBFS + FA + OPC)
Hume Concrete Sdn. Bhd.

2. Introduction
• Ternary/Triple blending refers to blending of Ordinary
Portland Cement (OPC) with two supplementary
cementitious material (SCM).
• 3 common SCM used widely in the industries are Fly
Ash (FA), Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag
(GGBFS) and Silica Fume (SF)
• This presentation is focusing on the ternary blending of
OPC with GGBFS and FA
• It is not common to find research paper focusing on
ternary mixing of OPC, GGBFS and FA, however; a
successful attempt had been achieved to compare a
few research paper, in terms of performance for this
kind of concrete mixing.

3. Comparison Data

4. Source Mixture
Number
Concrete Grade OPC (%) GGBFS (%) FA (%) Slump (mm) W/CM
1 1 80PC4S16F59 80 4 16 n.d 0.59
2 80PC8S12F59 80 8 12 n.d 0.59
3 80PC12S8F59 80 12 8 n.d 0.59
4 80PC16S4F59 80 16 4 n.d 0.59
5 100PC59 100 - - n.d 0.59
2 1 80PC4S16F33 80 4 16 0.33
2 80PC8S12F33 80 8 12 0.33
3 80PC12S8F33 80 12 8 0.33
4 80PC16S4F33 80 16 4 0.33
100PC33 100 - - 0.33
3 1 50PC25FS38 50 25 25 160 0.38
2 50PC25FS60 50 25 25 140 0.60
3 100PC38 100 - - 80 0.38
4 100PC60 100 - - 90 0.60
4 1 65PC25S10F42 65 25 10 60 – 100 0.42
2 100PC 100 - - 60 – 100 0.42

5. Source Mixture
Number
Concrete Grade OPC (%) GGBFS (%) FA (%) Slump (mm) W/CM
5 1 50PC30S20F34 50 30 20 595 0.34
2 100PC34 100 - - 590 0.34
6 1 50PC18S36Fc44 50 18 36 650 0.44
2 50PC18S36Ff44 50 18 36 650 0.44
3 100PC44 100 - - 650 0.44
Indicator:
S = Slag
F = Fly Ash
PC = Portland Cement
FS = Fly Ash together with Slag; Example: 25FS = 25% FA, 25% S

6. Compressive Strength Result

7. Source Mixture Number Concrete Grade Compressive Strength (MPa)
7 Days 28 Days 90 Days
1 1 80PC4S16F59 - 23.23 -
2 80PC8S12F59 - 27.16 -
3 80PC12S8F59 - 24.70 -
4 80PC16S4F59 - 29.72 -
5 100PC59 - 30.13 -
2 1 80PC4S16F33 40.90 65.95 -
2 80PC8S12F33 42.74 65.12 -
3 80PC12S8F33 43.79 68.55 -
4 80PC16S4F33 52.52 72.39 -
5 100PC33 43.90 65.14 -
3 1 50PC25FS38 - 83.10 86.60
2 50PC25FS60 - 42.90 51.20
3 100PC38 - 86.10 92.20
4 100PC60 - 55.70 57.50
4 1 65PC25S10F42 33.50 43.30
2 100PC42 29.40 37.70

8. Source Mixture Number Concrete Grade Compressive Strength (MPa)
7 Days 28 Days 90 Days
5 1 50PC30S20F34 24.30 41.71 -
2 100PC34 35.53 43.35 -
6 1 50PC18S36Fc44 38.90 50.00 -
2 50PC18S36Ff44 18.80 35.80 -
3 100PC44 39.00 43.80 -
Indicator:
S = Slag
F = Fly Ash
PC = Portland Cement
FS = Fly Ash together with Slag; Example: 25FS = 25% FA, 25% S

9. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
80PC4S16F59
80PC8S12F59
80PC12S8F59
80PC16S4F59
100PC59
80PC4S16F33
80PC8S12F33
80PC12S8F33
80PC16S4F33
100PC33
50PC25FS38
50PC25FS60
100PC38
100PC60
65PC25S10F42
100PC42
50PC30S20F34
100PC34
50PC18S36Fc44
50PC18S36Ff44
100PC44
Compressive Strength (MPa) Comparison

10. Discussion (Compressive Strength)
• According to Neville (2008), strength of cement increases when ratio of
water to cement (w/c) decreases. For concrete, the relation still applies,
although ratio of GGBS and fly ash (FA) plays some important role in terms
of strength of the concrete.
• From source 1, we can conclude that at higher w/c ratio (0.59), ternary
mixtures tends to have lower strength compared to pure portland cement
(PC)
• From source 2, however at lower w/c ratio (0.33), ternary mixture tends to
have better strength gain compared to pure PC, where much better
strength is gained when ratio of GGBS is higher than FA (16% GGBS, 4% FA)
• Highest strength is gained when using w/c ratio of 0.38 (Accordingly to
Neville, 2008), however, there will be a slight drop of strength of ternary
mixture compared to pure PC, given an even ratio of both GGBS and FA in
ternary mixture.
• Hence, it could be theorized that the best strength gained will be ternary
mixture at w/c ratio of 0.38, with ratio of GGBS being higher compared to
FA. In addition, higher amount of PC might contribute to the increase of
strength gained, compared to mixtures that are using less PC in mixtures.

11. Split Tensile Strength Result

12. Source Mixture Number Concrete Grade Split Tensile Strength (MPa)
7 Days 28 Days
1 1 80PC4S16F59 - 2.08
2 80PC8S12F59 - 2.98
3 80PC12S8F59 - 3.00
4 80PC16S4F59 - 3.23
5 100PC59 - 3.24
2 1 80PC4S16F33 4.53 5.36
2 80PC8S12F33 4.24 5.27
3 80PC12S8F33 4.09 4.94
4 80PC16S4F33 3.41 4.65
5 100PC33 3.21 3.78
3 1 50PC25FS38 - -
2 50PC25FS60 - -
3 100PC38 - -
4 100PC60 - -
4 1 65PC25S10F42 - -
2 100PC - -

13. Source Mixture Number Concrete Grade Split Tensile Strength (MPa)
7 Days 28 Days
5 1 50PC30S20F34 2.19 2.91
2 100PC34 2.46 2.96
6 1 50PC18S36Fc44 - -
2 50PC18S36Ff44 - -
3 100PC44 - -
Indicator:
S = Slag
F = Fly Ash
PC = Portland Cement
FS = Fly Ash together with Slag; Example: 25FS = 25% FA, 25% S

14. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Split Tensile Strength (MPa)

15. Discussion (Split Tensile Strength)
• There is fewer data available for comparison between the mixtures
for split tensile strength (STS), however, the explanation would be
the same with discussion about compressive strength.
• Source 2 are using w/c of 0.33, while source 5 are using w/c of 0.34,
which theoretically leads to a better strength for source 5’s mixture,
but it is not. The are several explanation for this question.
• First, w/c ratio is not much in difference, hence there should be
another reasons why.
• Second, by referring to source 2, higher ratio of GGBS leads to
lower STS, which in source 5, the amount of GGBS is even higher,
which could cause the even lower value of STS.
• Another reason for the result is because the amount of aggregate
used compared to amount of cementitious material (CM) used.

16. Chloride Ion Permeability Result

17. Sources Mixture Number Concrete Grade Chloride Ion permeability (Coulombs)
28 Days 90 Days
3 1 50PC25FS38 387 217
2 50PC25FS60 660 376
3 100PC38 1877 1780
4 100PC60 6813 5500
6 1 50PC18S36Fc44 1326 942
2 50PC18S36Ff44 4204 660
3 100PC44 5635 5058
Indicator:
S = Slag
F = Fly Ash
PC = Portland Cement
FS = Fly Ash together with Slag; Example: 25FS = 25% FA, 25% S

18. 0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Chloride Ion Permeability (Coulomb)
28 Days
90 Days

19. Discussion (Chloride Ion Permeability)
• According to Sengul and Tasdemir (2009), to attain a durable concrete mixture
low chloride permeability should be obtained.
• From the graph, it is clearly seen that ternary concrete is much better at
resisting chloride ion, compared to ordinary concrete.
• Even though the rapid chloride ion penetration test (RCPT) value of the PC
concrete is reduced about 70% by lowering the water/cement ratio, the values
for the PC concrete at w/c 0.38 ratio are still 2 times or even higher than those
of the ternary concrete at 0.60 w/c ratio. This result indicates that to reduce
the chloride permeability of portland cement concrete, inclusion of
supplementary cementitious material (SCM) are more effective than reducing
the water/cement ratio.
• The presence of reaction from GGBS and FA creates a denser microstructure,
reducing micro pores and clogging pores which results in lower chloride ion
transport. Also, reducing amount of water, will also reduce the amount of
pores, which responsible for the transport of chloride ion.

20. Conclusion

21. • From data gathered and analyzed, it can be
concluded that the best combination and ratio
of PC, GGBS and FA is as follow:
– Lower w/c ratio, which apparently best at 0.38
– Moderate ratio of cement, which is around 50 –
80%
• Ratio of GGBS to FA should be equal or higher.
(According to compressive strength data)
• Ratio of GGBS to FA should be higher ( STS, for w/c >
0.38)
• Ratio of GGBS to FA should be lower (STS, for w/c <
0.38)
– Some mixture ratio proposed:
• 80PC16S4F38, 50PC30S20F38

22. Thank you!