Packing Density by par cle packing of Combined Granular materials into the concrete

Why packing density required & why it is too important for sustainability prac ces…?
The ra onal use of materials in construc on, par cularly cemen ous materials, are crucial for
environmental preserva on day by day, as per current GWP (global warming poten al) situa on & its
increment, lowering clinker or OPC content to reduce the CO2 emission which will very much helpful
to reduce carbon footprint from concrete.

Packing density is the ra o of the volume of solid par cles to the bulk volume they occupy (solids +
voids). A higher packing density means fewer voids, which provides the following advantages as
listed below-

 Reduces the amount of paste required, economical way

 Improves workability and strength

 Enhances dimensional stability and durability

 Enhance the strength of the concrete or mortar

 Reduce CO2 emission by op mizing the PV

 Closer to sustainability as compared to other mix which not considered to packing density
approaches

 Dense packing provides stronger ITZ, to enhance the overall mechanical proper es of the
concrete

 Dense packing reduces porosity in the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between aggregate
and paste.

Keywords:
Packing density; Least void content; Par cle size distribu on; Combined Packing models; Coarse and
Fine Agg. grada on.

For modern concrete technology or in advanced concrete, packing density (PD) plays a very
important roles, especially for HSC, SCC, HPC or UHPC/RPC, by the help of this we can clearly
understand the least void content of the system, means a system can eligible for max. packing
density, for this we can make the concrete with least PV%, which makes the mixed economical and
helps to sustain as well as more durable.

Apart from this, with least PV content, creep and shrinkage effects into the hardened concrete
can be minimized as compared to regular grade of concrete.

Par cle size distribu on into the hardened concrete sec on

  PARTCLE PACKING APPROACH MODEL/TERNARY PACKING MODEL- Its require when we
design for HSC or medium strength grade of concrete, it will help to minimize the void
content into the combined granular packing system, due to this, packing density as
men oned above will be higher in side and less require of PV%, as voids are minimum; from
this we will get op mized PV% for the specific concrete mix which will helps in many aspects.

(Coarser size filled only) (Coarse with fine agg.) (CA+FA+PV) filled

The idea of Ternary Packing Model, is not a new technology based, its being carried since 1961, by
Mc. Greary concrete designer, he developed a model of combined agg. (20mm, 10mm & sand) mixed
ternary system, with percentage of 3 diff. materials to find out the max. PD and least void content.

However, Par cle Packing Model process can be divided by two categories wise-

 Discrete Models - The coarsest par cles form the base skeleton and its voids are filled by
smaller par cles and these in turn by finer par cles and so on, in the order of decreasing
par cle size, to control the and obtain the least void content as well as max. PD, also the
discrete model approaches, can be further classified as binary, ternary and mul modal
mixtures models.

 Con nuous-Models - All possible sizes are present in the par cle distribu on system & no
gaps exist between size of classes. It’s based on mul modal mixtures models only.

Besides that, here, three best prac ces models by very known concrete designer are described as
below-

 The Fuller & Thompson’s formula at 1907, for packing density is used to achieve maximum
density in aggregate grada on. It is given by:

CPFT=100×(d/D)~n

where:

 CPPFT = cumula ve (volume) percent finer than for par cle size d,

 d = par cle size,

 D = maximum aggregate size,

 n = empirical constant (typically between 0.45 and 0.50).

It’s an example based on Con nuous Model.

 The De Larrard packing density model is a well-known approach for op mizing par cle
packing in concrete mix design. It was developed by François De Larrard at the year of 1994
and is widely used to predict the packing density of granular materials, par cularly in high-
performance concrete applica ons.
The model considers the interac on between different par cle sizes and their arrangement
to achieve maximum packing density, which directly influences workability, strength, and
durability. This model also known as Linear packing density model (LPDM). It has been
refined over the years and is o en compared with other models like Kwan's model and Yu's
model for predic ng op mal mixing frac on.
It’s an example based on Discrete Models.

 Fuller and Thompson’s model was later followed later by Andreasen to develop their PPM at
1997, Andreasen proposed an “ideal’ curve for par cle packing presented in below eqn.

𝐶𝑃𝐹𝑇= ( 𝑑/𝐷 )~𝑞 ×100

Where, q = distribu on factor, the value for which should be range in between 0.21 to 0.37
for op mum value and minimum par cle size is zero.

If the exponent increases, it means an increase of the coarse materials, and if it decreases,
the amount of the fine materials is increased. The exponent value, q, gives the indica on of
the finer frac on that could be accommodated in the mixture. As the water demand and
water holding capacity of the mixture is controlled by the volume of fines, this exponent
gives a reasonable basis for choosing the right amount of water and rheology modifying
admixtures RMA/VMA to be added into the concrete mixture.

Later Andreasen assumed that the smallest par cles would be infinitesimally small. Dinger
and Funk recognised that the finest par cles in real materials are finite in size and modified
the Andreassen equa on considering the minimum par cle size in the distribu on. A
modified model linking the Andreasen and Furnas distribu ons was later developed and
termed as AFDZ (Andreassen, Funk, Dinger and Zheng) equa on for dense packing-

According to the Modified Andreassen model, the eqn. followed as below-

𝐶𝑃𝐹𝑇= (d - d min)~q ×100

(𝐷 𝑚𝑎𝑥―d 𝑚𝑖𝑛 )~q

where, CPFT = the cumula ve (volume) percent finer than,

d = the given par cle size,

d min = the minimum par cle size of the distribu on,

D max = the maximum par cle size, and q = the distribu on coefficient or exponent with
range of 0.25 to 0.30.
 Based on that, EMMA so ware developed by both Andreasen proposed & modified
Andreasen model to find out the max. packing density line in 0.45 power chart, achieving by
combined dry granular mix of all ingredients of concrete, where q value selec on is to be
done as per below assump ons or guidelines provided by EMMA developer-

The q-value gives the slope of the target line on the graph. 0.30 is the default value.

There is no hard correla on between the q-value and rheological proper es, however the
following points are informa ve:

• The higher the q-value, the steeper the slope and the mix will be more coarse and less
workable.

• At lower q-value, the fines content will be increased and the mix more workable.

• A q-value of less than 0.36 is necessary for op mum par cle packing.

• Good free-flow in mortar results when the q-value is less than 0.25

• For self-compac ng concrete 0.28 has been found beneficial

• For a self-flowing refractory mix, the q-value should be in the range of 0.21-0.25 in order to
obtain self-flow at minimum water addi on using enough fine materials such as Micro-SF.

The modified Andreasen equa on takes into account a minimum par cle size, whereas the
Andreasen distribu on suppose an infinite distribu on towards smaller and smaller par cles. On a
logarithmic plot, that of Andreassen gives a straight line, while the modified equa on gives a
downward curvature.

It is seen when the superfine frac on (like micro-SF or UF-SCMs) are removed from a par cle size
distribu on following the Andreassen distribu on, the resultant par cle size distribu on follows the
modified Andreassen equa on. When self-flowing mixes are to be designed, one should apply the
Andreassen equa on.

 Mechanisms of Par cle Packing Concept- Concrete Packing System works for larger par cle
to smaller par cles into the definite system, where finer por on of both larger or coarser
and smaller par cles to be filled the gaps or Inters al Voids of the system.
 First coarse Agg. filling into the system its packed very negligible amounts voids, inters al
Voids filled by finer por on of CA-then remaining inters al voids filled by Fine Agg.-then
remaining inters al voids filled by cement or cemen ous paste, which called as PV to
make the system well packed & increase PD with least void content.

Apart from this, a er obtaining the least void content (theore cally) of the system, its not the actual
void content, as lots of other factors are to be contributed more voids into the system in prac cally.

 Wall Effects- When we packed the materials into the cylinder or moulds, the density near
wall is found less and density found more away from the wall, it called as the wall effects,
due to this voids increase as compared to theore cally system.
 Loosening Effects- When in the packed system, the availability of finer por on found less,
the whole system unable to stable and try to split them, due to less por on or appropriate
 size of fines or par cles are not available into the packing and also reduce the cohesiveness,
its called as loosening effects, which also increase the voids.
 Nega ve Packing Effects- When too much fine adding into the system, it becomes also start
loosening in between of inter molecular par cles, due to this PD reduce.

Wall Effects Loosening Effects

Generally, a er obtaining the least void content of the well packed dry combined granular materials,
we can find out the PV for the same, but due to above men oned both effects we should increase or
require the PV (just enough) at least (5-7)% more than the void content to makes the mix consistence
& workable condi ons.

Now to find out the PD we can reliable both empirical and so ware based programme, for more
details please find below-

For empirical based methods, 3 process are available as described further below-

1. Bucket Test Method to iden fy the packing density of combined granular dry mixed, no
need to rodding, the compactness done by gravity free fall filling in container from height of
200 mm, as per ASTM C29.
2. Fixed volume known of cylinder process, packing density, combined dry Agg. grada on,
works as first binary of two materials separately, then mixed two materials with right
propor on to get max. PD and least void content.
3. Find out the Cu vs PD regression eqn. to establish the PD of the system, typically based on
formula oriented.

For so ware based methods, 4 process or approaches are available to find out the PD-

1. EMMA- developed by Elkem

2. Europac- commercial developed so ware
3. Lafarge RENE-LCPC- developed by Lafarge Cement
4. LISA- developed by silica fume
Par cle Packing Density- Void content of the combined dry granular mixed materials required to find
out for the op mized PV, to imitate the sufficient flow and accurate binding for the overall matrix,
also makes the concrete mix more economical, sustainable and durable by applying least PV content,
which also reduce the creep and shrinkage effects.

(1-Packing Density = Void Content)

Factors depends upon the following observa ons for par cle size distribu on (PSD) to Packing
Density (PD)-

 Max. size of AGG.

 Shape of AGG.
 Grada on of AGG.
 Methods of Compac on
 Wall and Loosening effects
 Selec on of the dry mixed material range as per applicability and availability
 Diff. types of fine agg. with varies FM and selec on of sand like crushed stone sand or river
sand or combined mixed of sand

PSD Nano materials to Cement/SCMs and Aggregates

 Bucket test method setup for find out the PD

The results clearly shown for fixed PV with diff. void content, how it will be effected in flow and
strength of the SCC mix. Hence, Paste to Void Ra o min. 1.2 required for SCC.

Strength & flowability of the SCC mixed should always depends upon the func on of PD of the
combined dry mixed system. For this, during SCC mix prepara on PD find out required very essen al.
Max. PD line obtained from EMMA so ware, where, blue line is actual mixed density line and red
line is max. density line, the por on of blue line above the red line means the density of selec ve
materials are high than max. density and blue line por on or zone below the red line means, density
found less as compared to max. density line.

For advanced or modern concrete designs, like HPC, HSC, SCC and UHPC, we have to run the EMMA
so ware or by any empirical methods, as men oned in above find out the max. PD or least void
content of the system, for the selec ve combined granular dry materials.

 Benefits of PD for concrete mix design’s-

 Increase the hardened concrete strength.
 Reduce the creep and shrinkage effects into the hardened concrete by reducing PV
content.
 Increase the concrete mix flowability, by reducing the void content.
 Durability increase by op mized PV.
 Permeability decrease by reducing void content.
 Make concrete more sustainable by reducing PV.
 GWP reduce, as op miza on of PV into the concrete.

Packing Density Effect Impact on Strength

Fewer voids Higher solid volume, be er load distribu on

Lower paste demand Reduced shrinkage and thermal cracking

Lower W/C ra o Increased compressive strength

Improved ITZ Enhanced bond and durability

  Conclusion- Aggregate should be painted enough by paste or mortar volume to make the
concrete good workable in fresh condi on, finishing with very lowering the effects &
achieving all the desired or targeted proper es in hardened stage, to make the concrete mix
more economical & lowering CO2 emission for environmental aspects.

Here, I a ached the test report for both empirical methods, one is fixed known volume cylinder
method and other is obtain PD from combined grada on of Cu value, please check in details.

Prepared By- Sasanka Dey.

 Fixed volume known of cylinder process for PD

Dp W/(G*V)

Dp PD
W wt in SSD
G SP GRAVITY
V KNOWN VOLUME OF CYLINDER

For binary mixture for both 20 mm and 10 mm

Dp ((W1/G1)+(W2/G2))/V

% of 20
W1 2040 20 MM W1 2600 20 MM PD%
Lets say Lets say mm
Ratio of Ratio of
40/60 W2 3060 10 MM 50/50 W2 2600 10 MM 40% 0.62
W1:W2 W1:W2
SAMPLE SAMPLE
TOTAL TOTAL
5100 G1 2.72 20 MM 5200 G1 2.72 20 MM 50% 0.63
WT in WT in
gms gms
G2 2.74 10 MM G2 2.74 10 MM 60% 0.66 Highest PD with 60% of 20 mm and 40% of 10 mm
V 3000 CC V 3000 CC 70% 0.61

Dp 0.62 Dp 0.63 Cobined PD% of only 20 mm & 10 mm

0.67

Lets say W1 3240 20 MM Lets say W1 3500 20 MM 0.66

Ratio of Ratio of
60/40 W2 2160 10 MM 70/30 W2 1500 10 MM 0.65

Packing Density
W1:W2 W1:W2
SAMPLE SAMPLE 0.64
TOTAL TOTAL 0.63
5400 G1 2.72 20 MM 5000 G1 2.72 20 MM
WT in WT in
gms gms 0.62
G2 2.74 10 MM G2 2.74 10 MM 0.61
V 3000 CC V 3000 CC
0.60
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Dp 0.66 Dp 0.61
% 0f 20 mm agg. content

Now, combination for 60/40 for 20 mm/10mm mixed and sand combined mixed

Agg. 2700 Agg. 3390 Agg. 3710

Lets say W1 1620 20 MM Lets say W1 2034 20 MM Lets say W1 2226 20 MM
Ratio of W2 1080 10 MM Ratio of W2 1356 10 MM Ratio of W2 1484 10 MM
50/50 60/40 70/30
CA:FA CA:FA CA:FA
W3 2700 SAND W3 2260 SAND W3 1590 SAND
SAMPLE SAMPLE
SAMPLE
TOTAL TOTAL
TOTAL WT in 5400 G1 2.72 20 MM 5650 G1 2.72 20 MM 5300 G1 2.72 20 MM
WT in WT in
gms
gms gms
G2 2.74 10 MM G2 2.74 10 MM G2 2.74 10 MM
G3 2.6 SAND G3 2.6 SAND G3 2.6 SAND
V 3000 CC V 3000 CC V 3000 CC

Dp 0.68 Dp 0.70 Dp 0.66

Agg. 2000
Lets say W1 1200 20 MM % of Sand PD%
W2 800 10 MM 30% 0.66
Ratio of
40/60 Highest PD by blended with 60% of 20+10 mm (60%
CA:FA W3 3000 SAND 40% 0.70
of 20 mm & 40% of 10 mm) mixed and 40% of Sand

SAMPLE
TOTAL WT in 5000 G1 2.72 20 MM 50% 0.68
gms
G2 2.74 10 MM 60% 0.63
G3 2.6 SAND
V 3000 CC Combined PD% of 20 mm, 10mm & Sand
0.71
Dp 0.63
0.70

Comb. Packing Density 0.70 0.69

Packing Density

So, Void content 0.30 0.68

Hence required PV% 0.35 0.67
0.66
0.65
0.64
0.63
Prepared By- Sasanka Dey
0.62
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
% of Sand content
 Combined Agg. dry mixed gradation method to find out PD

Total Sample
Highest PD obtained by blended with 60% of combined
of 20+10 mm (60% of 20 mm & 40% of 10 dry mixed of 3000
mm) mixed and 40% of Sand CA and FA
(Gms)

Particle Weight
% Commulitive
IS sieve size in Retained % Finer
Retained % Retained
MM in Gms
20.00 20.00 0 0.00 0.00 100.00
12.50 12.50 450 15.00 15.00 85.00 Cu 36.951
10.00 10.00 651 21.70 36.70 63.30
4.75 4.75 185 6.17 42.87 57.13 D10 0.195
2.36 2.36 139 4.63 47.50 52.50 D60 7.191
1.18 1.18 115 3.83 51.33 48.67 PD Cu*0.0045+0.5935
1.00 1.000 110 3.67 55.00 45.00 PD 0.76
600 Mi 0.6 595 19.83 74.83 25.17 Void content 0.24
300 mi 0.3 325 10.83 85.67 14.33 PV 24.02%
150 mi 0.15 185 6.17 91.83 8.17 Adjuested PV 29.02%
75 mi 0.075 150 5.00 96.83 3.17

 Target PV% must be limited for Normal grade of concrete- not> 25% (M20-M35)
Prepared By- Sasanka Dey  Target PV% must be limited for medium grade of concrete- not> 30% (M40-M50)
 Target PV% (void content+2% extra PV) must be limited for HSC/HPC- not> (34-35)% (M65-M80)

For SCC min. PV% content of SCC should be as follow-

 For wall and columns – Void content + 7% (void content- ternary packing system of granular materials, obtained from
software’s EUROPAC, EMMA, Lafarge Cement-RENE-LCPC)
 For Slab- Void content + 5%
 For high rise tower job and building- Void content + 8% (generally PV range 37%-40%)
 For UHPC/RPC/UHPFRC PV% should be min. 60% as per trials records & based on earlier data records and performance