Journal of Applied Science and Engineering, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp.

425-430 (2013)

DOI: 10.6180/jase.2013.16.4.10

Effect of Silt Fines on the Durability Properties of

Concrete
Shih-Wei Cho
Department of Architecture, China University of Science and Technology,
Taipei, Taiwan 115, R.O.C.

Abstract
Silt fines are fine aggregate particles smaller than the 75 mm (No. 200) sieve. Usually, they are
either silts or clayey silts, and are difficult to remove from the aggregate surface. Considering the high
proportion of silt fines found in the river sands of Taiwan, this research investigates the impact of the
material on the properties of concrete. Concrete specimens with a w/c ratio of 0.48 and different silt
content of fine aggregate, ranging from 0% to 9%, were cast and tested in this study. Moreover,
chloride transport tests were conducted to investigate the properties of concrete. Test results indicate a
decrease in durability when the ratio of silt content to fine aggregate exceeds 5%. The compressive
strength, however, when silt fine content is small than 5%, increases only 1 MPa. But decreases from 3
MPa to 5 MPa when the silt content increases from 7% to 9%. These results could serve as a reference
in concrete production as well as quality control of fine aggregate containing a large amount of silt
fines.
Key Words: Silt Fine, Fine Aggregate, Concrete, Durability

1. Introduction
Sand and stone aggregate is the basic material used
for concrete mixtures. A 2009 report by Taiwans Bureau
of Mines declares that Taiwan consumed 75 million tons
of aggregate in 2008, whereas Taiwan normally produces approximately 54 million tons of aggregate per
year. To meet market demands, a certain amount of aggregate is imported from other countries. In recent years,
however, the principal exporting countries experienced
rapid economic growth, thereby limiting their exports of
the aggregate to Taiwan. Consequently, in some cases,
aggregates that do not meet code requirements may still
be used in concrete production. Such aggregates - in particular those derived from certain types of river sand are not only is gap-graded, but also contain high levels of
fine materials. Fine materials are defined as particles that
are able to pass through the 75 mm (No. 200) sieve. Silt
*Corresponding author. E-mail: swcho@cc.cust.edu.tw

forms the type of fine materials found in river sand comprising particles smaller than 60 mm that are reduced because of the natural processes of weathering [1]. Silt is
always attached to the aggregate surface and is difficult
to discard. Thus, the small size of silt combined with
large surface area may increase the amount of water used
in the concrete mix design. Conversely, the chemically
reactive nature of silt may also affect the properties of the
interface between the cement paste and aggregate [2].
Hence, standard codes such as ASTM and CNS have set
a limit on the maximum amount of materials passing
through the 75 mm mesh sieve that cannot exceed 5% for
fine aggregate or 3% if the concrete is subject to abrasion
[3,4]. Based on the investigation conducted in 2001, the
amount of silt fine content in Nan-ao river sand, which is
a typical aggregate production area in Taiwan, decreased
from 2% to 10% [5]. Generally, in self-compacting concrete mix design, fine aggregate comprises more than
50% of the total volume of the aggregate [6]. Most prior
research has been focused on the workability of concrete

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Shih-Wei Cho

that contains silt fines. Seemingly, in recent years, because of the addition of chemical admixtures, workability has improved [7,8]. However, the durability properties, especially the permeability of hardened concrete
containing silt have not been solely explored. The permeability of concrete is a crucial parameter affecting the
ability of concrete to resist chloride attack. And the chloride attack is a major durability problem affecting concrete structures in the marine and island environment
[9-11]. To investigate the durability of concrete, this
study examined fine aggregate composed of different
levels of silt fine content used in concrete design, and
also conducted a series of chloride transport tests.

2. Experimental Program
2.1 Mixture Proportion and Specimen Preparation
In this study, concrete was made of Type 1 cement,
water, river sand, and crushed stone (maximum size: 20
mm). All river sand was washed when passed through
the 75 mm (No. 200) sieve to obtain the silt fines. Then,
silt fines were added at different ratios (0%, 1%, 3%, 5%,
7% and 9%, respectively) to the river sand that was already retained on the 75 mm sieve to form a fine aggregate for concrete mix design. The crushed stone was also
cleaned before concrete mixing. Concrete mixtures composition, slump, and compressive strength at the age of
91 days are given in Table 1. Furthermore, to identify the
concretes durability, this study conducted the rapid
chloride permeability test (ASTM C1202, RCPT), accelerated chloride migration test (ACMT), and pore structure observation.
All cylindrical specimens (j100 mm 200 mm) were
cast and cured in water for 91 days. Two thick discs of 50
mm and 30 mm, respectively, were obtained from the central portion of the cylinder for RCPT and ACMT testing.

2.2 Accelerated Chloride Migration Test (ACMT)

The accelerated chloride migration test is a modified
version of the ASTM C1202 method. The major difference between the RCPT and the ACMT is the size of the
testing chamber: the chamber for the ACMT is 4.5 litters,
whereas for the RCPT it is only about approximately 250
ml. The increased volume helps to avoid the Joule effect
during the test. In addition, the increased volume simplifies periodic and continuous measurement of the accumulative chloride ion concentration determined by the
potentiometric titration method. Test duration depends
on the quality of the concrete, but usually requires 7 to 10
days. Based on this test method, the Nernst-Planck equation was applied to calculate the chloride ion migration
coefficient Ms.
2.3 Pore Structure Observation
A mortar specimen (1 cubic inch) for pore structure
observation was manufactured from concrete mixtures
after wet sieving, where sieved concrete was passed through the 4.75 mm sieve, and analyzed by the mercury
intrusion porosimetry (MIP) test. The MIP instrument
subjects the samples to a maximum pressure of up to
60000 psi. The study measured and recorded the mercury content in specimens at each pressure level. Finally,
based on pressure, the pore radius was determined using
the Washburn equation, and the pore size distribution
(0.003-375 mm) of the specimen was measured.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1 Workability and Compressive Strength
To examine workability of concrete, the slump test
was carried out. The slump of all mixtures with various
silt fine contents is shown in Figure 1. Except for Mix T1
(with silt fine content of 1%), the slump decreases with

Table 1. Concrete mixtures composition, slump and compressive strength

Mix #

T0

T1

T3

Cement (kg/m )
Water (kg/m3)
Coarse aggregate (kg/m3)
Fine aggregate (kg/m3) Passing the 75 mm sieve
Retaining on the 75 mm sieve
Slump (cm)
Compressive strength (MPa)

T5

T7

T9

.040
.759
22.0
.041

.056
.743
20.0
.037

.072
.727
17.5
.035

0405
0194
1032
.000
.799
24.5
.040

.008
.791
24.5
.041

.024
.775
23.5
.041

Effect of Silt Fines on the Durability Properties of Concrete

an increase in the silt content. The compressive strength

of all mixtures is shown in Figure 2. It appears when silt
fine content is small than 5%, the compressive strength
increases only 1 MPa. But decreases from 3 MPa to 5
MPa when the silt content increases from 7% to 9%.

3.2 RCPT Results

The RCPT test used total charge passed to estimate
the concretes ability to resist chloride ion penetration.
The total charge passed obtained from the RCPT is listed

427

in Table 2. The study findings indicate that silt fine content of more than 5% causes the concrete to have high
chloride ion penetrability of more than 4000 coulomb.
When fine aggregate contains 0% silt fines, the result is
positioned between T5 (with silt fine content of 5.0%)
and T7 (with silt fine content of 7.0%) mixtures. The silt
fine is shown to possibly benefit the concretes durability
when silt fine content is less than 5%. Figure 3 shows the
compressive strength and displays the relationship between the total charge passed and silt fine content. The
variation of compressive strength is small than 1 MPa
when the silt fine content is less than 5%. Nevertheless,
Table 2. Total charge passed in RCPT
Silt fine
Mix NO.
content
T0

0%

T1

1%

T3

3%

T5

5%

T7

7%

T9

9%

Total charge passed

(Coulomb)
Test result Average
4449
4469
3702
3710
3977
3819
4129
4082
4813
4791
5182
5376

Chloride ion
penetrability

4458

High

3706

Medium

3898

Medium

4106

High

4802

High

5279

High

Figure 1. Correlation between slump and silt fine content.

Figure 2. Compressive strength of concrete.

Figure 3. Correlation between total charge passed and silt

fine content.

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Shih-Wei Cho

the RCPT test has shown a difference result. The total

charge passed was found to increase considerably with a
silt fine content of more than 5%. This indicates that silt
fine content has a primary impact on concretes durability.

3.3 ACMT Results

Figure 4 shows the results of chloride ion concentration measured through the NaOH solution in the anode
chamber during the test period. As displayed in Figure 4,
the chloride ion concentration rose consistently and had
a linear relationship with elapsed time after penetration
into the concrete specimen. The migration velocity Kcl in
Mol/min was measured from the slope of the straightline. It was then designated to the chloride ion flux (Jcl).
Finally, the Nernst-Planck Equation (1) was applied to
calculate the chloride ion migration coefficient Ms. The
equation is shown below [12].
Ms =

RTlJ cl
Z cl FC cl DE

which also shows the relationship between the migration coefficient and the silt fine content. A slight difference is shown between the T1 and T3 mixtures. Furthermore, the migration coefficient is higher when silt
fine content exceeds 5%. The T0 mixture result falls between those of the T3 and T5 mixtures.

3.4 Pore Size Distribution

To measure pore size distribution, the study performed the MIP test. Figure 6 shows the plots of cumulative intrusion with a corresponding pore radius for each
sample. Furthermore, the cumulative intrusion volume

(1)

where Ms represents the chloride ion migration coefficient (m2/s); R is the gas constant (8.31 J mol K); T
stands for the absolute temperature; l is the concrete
thickness (cm); Jcl represents the chloride ion flux (mol
s-1/cm2); Zcl is the ionic charge of chloride; F indicates
the Faraday constant (96500 C/eq); Ccl stands for chloride ion concentration (mol/cm3); and DE is the applied
potential between electrodes (V). The migration velocity (Kcl), chloride ion flux (Jcl), and the chloride ion migration coefficient (Ms) are listed in Table 3. Figure 5,

Figure 4. Test results of cumulative chloride concentration in

anode cell as function of time.

Table 3. Steady state chloride ion migration coefficient in ACMT

Mix No.
T0
T1
T3
T5
T7
T9

Migration velocity Kcl

( 10-5 mole/m3/s)

Chloride ion flux Jcl

( 10-5 mole/m2/s)

24.90
24.53
19.50
20.18
18.80
20.50
27.00
28.13
28.23
28.68
29.12
30.22

14.27
14.05
11.17
11.56
10.77
11.74
15.47
16.12
16.17
16.43
16.68
17.31

Migration coefficient Ms ( 10-12 m2/s)

Test result

Average

8.69
8.56
6.80
7.04
6.56
7.15
9.42
9.81
9.85
10.010
10.160
10.540

8.62
6.92
6.86
9.62
9.93
10.350

Effect of Silt Fines on the Durability Properties of Concrete

in the specified pore size distribution range is calculated

in Table 4. The pore size distribution ranges include
those of 3-10 nm, 10-50 nm, 50-100 nm, 100-500 nm,
500-1000 nm, 1000-10000 nm, and greater than
10000 nm. Figure 7 displays the cumulative intrusion
pore volume in the specified pore size distribution range,
normalized with the total intrusion pore volume for each
mixture. Table 4 shows that the cumulative intrusion

429

pore volume at the pore radius is greater than 100 nm. A

small difference is visible between the T1 and T3 mixtures. Moreover, the fraction is higher when silt fine content is more than 5%. The T0 mixture result is located
between those of the T3 and T5 mixtures. This trend is
similar to the ACMT results. For the pore size in concrete, the capillary pores and those in the interface transition zone were found to be greater than 100 nm. Past
studies noted that the capillary pores and those in the interface transition zone constitute an interconnected network of pores for water flow and chloride ion diffusion
[13,14].

4. Conclusions

Figure 5. Correlation between chloride ion migration coefficient and silt fine content.

Figure 6. Test results of cumulative intrusion and corresponding pore radius for each mixture.

Based on the results obtained from the experimental

investigation, the main conclusions are summarized below.
1. The RCPT detected that concrete exhibits higher
chloride ion penetrability when silt fine content is
more than 5%.
2. After comparing RCPT and compressive strength results, the study indicates that silt fine content has an
effect on concretes durability, especially when silt
fine content in concrete is more than 5%.
3. The migration coefficient obtained from the ACMT
increases significantly when the silt fine content exceeds 5%. In addition, the fraction of cumulative intrusion pore volume at a pore radius greater than 100
nm shows the same trend as the ACMT results.
4. The comparison of the T0 mixture result and other
mixtures indicates that silt fine may benefit concretes

Figure 7. Percentage of pore size distribution.

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Shih-Wei Cho

Table 4. Cumulative intrusion pore volume in the specified pore size distribution range (mL/g)
Mix No.

Cumulative intrusion pore volume

> 10000 nm
1000-10000 nm
500-1000 nm
100-500 nm
50-100 nm
10-50 nm
< 10 nm
Pore radius greater than 100 nm

T0

T1

T3

T5

T7

T9

0.00127
0.00427
0.00321
0.01148
0.00866
0.02231
0.00308
0.02022

0.00054
0.00182
0.00109
0.00875
0.02032
0.02674
0.00609
0.01220

0.00034
0.00141
0.00169
0.00613
0.01584
0.02823
0.00657
0.00957

0.00124
0.00122
0.00328
0.01776
0.01213
0.02363
0.00572
0.02351

0.00122
0.00091
0.00270
0.01213
0.02148
0.02551
0.00450
0.01695

0.00072
0.00685
0.00636
0.01600
0.01623
0.02395
0.00695
0.02994

durability when silt fine content in concrete is below

5%.
5. Suggestion for further research is to study the long
term effect of silt contents on the durability of concrete in the marine environment.

Acknowledgements
The financial support of National Science Council in
ROC under the grants NSC 96-2221-E-157-008 is gratefully appreciated.

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Manuscript Received: May 4, 2012

Accepted: Oct. 12, 2013