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The cement and concrete market in East, Central and Southern Africa is highly fragmented. The concrete industry in this area consists of multiple parties, including producers and suppliers of construction materials, formal and informal contractors, engineers and architects, unions of trades persons and workmen, governmental bodies and formal institutions of research and education. All these institutions mostly do not interact adequately, which makes building with cementitious materials susceptible to damage and failures. Completely opposed to the situation in Europe or North America, cement in Africa is often unaffordable, while manpower is cheap, which results in a questionable economisation of cement. Typically, there is not sufficient awareness of methods to sensibly reducing the cement content in concrete or replace Ordinary Portland Cement by adequate alternative materials. Research activities in this field of technology are often missing completely. Only few countries in the area, such as South Africa, are exempted from these issues.
This paper presents the SPIN project, which is a joint project of a consortium of 8 African and 3 European partners within the ACP Science and Technology Programme. The project is funded by the EC and ACP Secretariat is the project body. The main objective of the current project is to strengthen the cement and concrete industry in the East and Central African regions. The project shall generate reasonable solution strategies to implement clean, safe and sustainable cement and concrete technology on the African continent, including general and specific guidelines for sensible application. Furthermore it shall be the kick-off for future projects, research activities and the world-wide expansion of a European-African network.
The paper addresses special problems the cement and concrete market in Eastern, Central and Southern African countries has to face. Several options are presented in detail, which shall help overcoming the current situation. Customized solutions for the African market include rational methods for reducing the amount of cement used and the replacement of Ordinary Portland Cement with cheaper alternatives. The use of recycled concrete through a new and economically effective method, as well as the opportunity of using locally available resources is also discussed.
Today polycarboxylate ether based superplasticizer (PCE) is commonly used in concrete technology when high flow properties and water reduction are specified. The ionic strength of the polymers’ backbones determines the adsorption behaviour of polymers on clinker and early hydration products. The amount of required polymers for specified flow properties and the performance over the time of casting is thus determined by the molecular structure of the superplasticizer. The time depending consumption of polycarboxylate ether polymers strongly affects the reaction of aluminates and sulphate ions as well as the hydration process in general. Hence, the choice of polymers for particular flow properties greatly affects the very early properties of cementitious materials such as setting, heat evolution and autogenous deformations.
In order to better understand how PCEs influence the early properties, mixes from cement, limestone filler, viscosity modifying agent and water were varied with a high and a low charge density superplasticizer in differing amounts. Results are presented from measurements with an automatic Vicat device, an isothermal heat flow calorimeter, and shrinkage cones. Tests were conducted at 5, 20, and 30 °C.
It is shown that in presence of PCE the final set correlates well with the inflexion point of the heat flow curve, which emphasises the interrelation between C-S-H formation and setting. No such clear correlation can be found for the initial set, which is attributed to the fact that the initial set is rather a rheological than a structural phenomenon, so that other effects overlap with C-S-H formation. The results demonstrate that for a given polymer concentration low charge density polymers yield earlier setting than high charge polymers. However, this influence is overridden by the influence of the total amount of polymers in a cementitious system. Since PCE is typically added according to rheological specifications, and low charge PCE typically requires higher amounts of polymers than high charge PCE for comparable flow performance, low charge PCE retards setting more than high charge PCE.
The paper furthermore points out that there is no significant influence of the polymer type or amount on the early deformations. Since type and amount strongly affect the hydration, it is demonstrated that early setting causes higher strain after the final set. It is hence concluded that higher PCE solid contents reduce the risk of early cracks that occur at time of setting, when a solid structure has already been formed but without resistance against cracks yet.
The SPIN project
(2011)
Globally, cement and concrete experts are at the cutting-edge to sustainable, green, healthy but nonetheless high-performance concrete. In the present age, concrete is not yet well established in Africa, which öfters the unique opportunity to build up a cement and concrete market based on the highest available state of technology. As this industry needs high level expertise, a central issue in implementation of skilled technology is cross-linking research institutions and laboratories. It should not be neglected that concrete is a product with comparably low transport ranges, which means that an improved concrete market will mainly support the local economy without exceeding financial drains to the international market, thus fostering the fight against poverty, which is an urgent need in most African countries.
The SPIN project highlights recent developments in the field of cement and concrete research with impact on the local and global economy. Challenges, future developments and opportunities for the African construction industry are in the focus.
The SPIN project is funded by the European Commission (EC) and supported by the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States under the project body of the ACP Science and Technology Programme. SPIN is acronym for “Spearhead network for Innovative, Clean and Safe Cement and Concrete Technologies”. The project aims to cross-link experts with industry and policy making bodies, aiming to establish sustainable cement and concrete construction in Africa.
Die Versiegelung von Oberflächen, Bebauung und die Ausweitung städtischer Gebiete führen weltweit besonders in sonnenreichen Regionen zu innerstädtischen Hitzeinseln. Diese Flächen wirken als Wärmespeicher, so dass an Sonnentagen eine Temperaturdifferenz bis zu 10 K zwischen Stadt und umliegendem Land entstehen kann. Verstärkt wird dieser sogenannte Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE) durch die meist direkte Abführung des anfallenden Regenwassers in die Kanalisation, wodurch eine Kühlung durch stetige Verdunstung unterbunden ist, Mit steigender Urbanisierung wächst auch die Bedeutung dieses Phänomens. Innerstädtische Hitzeinseln ziehen direkte wirtschaftliche und soziale Folgen nach sich, da hohe Temperaturen eine teure Klimatisierung der Städte bedingen. So entsteht ein erhöhter Verbrauch an Ressourcen sowie zusätzliche Abwärme. Das Wohlbefinden und die Gesundheit der Bevölkerung verschlechtern sich bei sehr hohen Temperaturen, was zu sinkender Leistungsfähigkeit und sogar zu einer erhöhten Sterberate führen kann.
The large scale application of self-cooling concrete pavers is a future-oriented approach to reduce the urban heat island effect in inner-city areas. Making use of evaporation enthalpy, these new pavements counterbalance the absorption of solar radiation and the subsequent transfer of heat to the surrounding environment. The concrete pavers consist of a permeable top-layer and a storage layer. As the different requirements of these layers demand different concrete mixtures they are developed and optimised for their respective functions. This paper presents some results of the concrete mixture design and Solutions that combine a sufficient compressive strength as well as good water transportation properties for the face concrete layer.
This study focuses on concrete flow in presence of obstacles and develops a mathematical model and a computational approach for SCC flow through reinforced formworks. In order to decrease high computational times needed to simulate castings through reinforced elements, an innovative approach to model the reinforced sections as porous media is proposed here. In the previous work, this numerical model is proved able to simulate the free-surface flow of non-Newtonian fluids through the reinforcement networks. In the present study, the applicability of the model on the concrete flow will finally be proved. The large-scale form-filling experiments with SCC will be conducted and the experiments will be simulated using the proposed numerical model. The numerical model will then be validated through the comparison of the experimental results and the results of the numerical simulations.
As soon as cement is mixed with water, the hydration reaction starts to set of. The progression of the hydration process is governed by the amount and the availability of water and its possibility to access the unhydrated cement grain surfaces. For a total hydration cement theoretically requires water amounting approximately 0.38 of its own mass. Nevertheless, due to the cement’s highly hygroscopic nature, already the moisture in the ambient air can cause first hydration reactions to set in upon the cement grain surfaces. Such pre-hydration processes have an effect on the cement's properties. Dpending on the specific conditions during the storage the significance of the impact on certain properties can vary.
If cement is consumed soon after production and is transported only short distances in a silo wagon to its final destination for immediate use without further stock transfer, the effects are rather negligible. However, if cement is delivered in bags, transported over long distances, shifted serval times and stored for longer time periods until it is finally consumend, these effects can be quite severe. Due to the actual logistical situation with comparably few cement plants, large delivery distances and partially less developed infrastructures, the latter scenario pictures the situation for the most cases in Africa quite well.
In order to verify the relevance of the pre-hydation for practical application, a series of tests was conducted at the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM). The influence of the cement storage on gresh and hardened concrete properties was investigated for different concrete and mortar types. The investigations show that the impact of the storage conditions is more pronounced for specialized concretes with high sophisticated optimized mixture compositions containing admixtures. Nevertheless, the effects also occur for ordinary concrete and should not be ignored.
This report is based on a three-year experience as coordinator of the ACP-EU funded SPIN project. The project involved eight African and three European partners. Practical and unforeseeable problems are addressed that occurred during the project implementation and ways how they were successfully solved are reported. The major problems in many African institutions were administrations that are not used to work in multi-national consortia and a lack of institutional support for the African researchers. In Europe a misjudgement of the African boundary conditions as well as inflexible administrations caused problems. Finally the funding scheme did not always allow to easily overcome the high number of unexpected practical problems. A major deficit identified during the project was a general trend in Africa to underestimate the role of research for the development of the continent. Most universities focus on teaching applied sciences, which is without doubt important to cover the market need for qualified staff in the rapidly growing African industries. However, this makes it unattractive for highly qualified performers to conduct research on the continent. Furthermore this leads to the situation that the curricula can only contain second hand knowledge. In order to attract international high level researchers, it is suggested to install multi-national regional excellence research centres that only promote PhD and post-doc research on a level that can cope with highest international excellence. High level research is often perceived as not capable of focusing on immediate actual problems that many African economies have to cope with.. However, it is considered to be very sustainable in terms of autonomy and mastering future challenges.
Since its invention in the early 1990’s, self-consolidating concrete has never become well established in the ready-mix sectors worldwide. The reason for this can be mainly found in the fact that the sophisticated compositions are sensitive against changing environments. This lack of robustness can be attributed to the interaction between cement hydration reaction and high range water reducing agent (HRWRA). Understanding the relevant mechanisms that control the initial flow performance as well as the flow retention helps optimizing SCC mixtures that perform either steadily in one specific environment or that perform largely similarly at steadily changing environments.
This paper depicts how HRWRAs interact with clinker and hydration phases and discusses the important role of the charge density of a polycarboxylic HRWRA in the way the rheology is affected. Based on rheometric results and observations of the Vicat setting times, it is shown that increasing charge densities of the HRWRA and decreasing water to powder ratios (w/p) reduce the flow retention and have lesser retarding effect on the setting. Based on the discussion, optimization procedures for the mixture composition and the HRWRA modification are suggested to achieve optimized performance for varying environmental situations or highest robustness for specific conditions.
Rheological optimisation for flowable mixture compositions specified for African boundary conditions
(2013)
To date concrete technology is not yet well established in sub-Saharan Africa but considering the construction technological challenges of the region, without doubt, concrete will play a major role in future. The social, economic, and geographic boundary conditions distinguish greatly from those that can be found in many other regions of the world, where concrete is considerably well established. Düring the last decades, concrete technology underwent a rapid evolution process, but in most countries, where concrete is already well established, innovations are difficult to be brought into practice, Africa, currently has the opportunity and potential, of directly establishing the best available practice in concrete technology.
The conclusion is drawn that self-compacting concrete (SCC) or highly flowable concrete is a reasonable solution for African construction sites. Since on most African construction sites the disadvantageous concreting environment is the most crucial factor for the concrete quality, the outstanding workability properties outweigh any disadvantages of SCC.
Based on this consideration, concepts are developed, how to bring about robust SCC cost-efficiently and reliably into practice as pre-mixed dry compound under consideration of local materials such as rice husk ashes, bagasse ashes, natural pozzolans, cassava starch and lignosulphonate.
African cement inffastructure is quite complex. Apart from Northern Africa and South Africa in particular, cement plants are scarce resulting in highly unstable cement pricing. Clinker and cement are imported from overseas, e.g. from Portugal, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, and China. Imports are typically determined by the lowest price, and as a result the countries of origin of products vaiy regularly yielding large scatter of properties. Quality control and a good quality infrastructure are thus of utmost importance for the safety of the popuiace, an issue, which is actually often neglected. With funding of the German Metrology Institute (PTB) and Support of the SPIN project, a proficiency testing scheme for cement testing according to EN 196 was set up for African laboratories. Proficiency testing schemes, also called round robins. are interlaboratory performance comparisons allowing participants to evaluate themselves against pre-established criteria. Thev are a powerful tool to help laboratories improve their performance as well as demonstrate their competences to accreditation bodies or Customers. 26 laboratories from 20 nations, 18 of which from Africa, participated. The BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing acted as coordinator and provider of the scheme. The aim of the round robin was to interpret the submitted data further beyond the pure statistic analyses. The data provided a positive picture of the performance of the participants in general, but it also exhibited a number of technical fields that need improvement. The paper provides the general results of the scheme and analyses identified strengths and weak points based on the submitted and non submitted data as well as on discrepancies from the EN 196 procedures during measurements. The application of EN Standards for material testing is critically discussed and since quality infrastructure is also always an issue between industrial and political stakeholders, suggestions for the mitigation of the identified shared problems are given.