Studies on the Mechanisms of Alkali ".'Carbonate Reaction Part I. Chemical Reactions
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Studies on the Mechanisms of Alkali ".'Carbonate Reaction Part I. Chemical Reactions W. CULLEN SHERWOOD and HOWARD H. NEWLON, JR., respectively, Geologist and Highway Research Engineer, Virginia Council of Highway Investigation and Research •AN understanding of the mechanisms of alkali-carbonate rock reaction which result in expansion of concrete is of primary importance in dealing with the resultant prob lems on a practical level. This paper reports results of laboratory studies made to determine the contributory chemical reactions that may take place. Results of parallel studies on such physical aspects as internal structure of and access of alkalies into various carbonate rock types are not included, but will be published at a later date. The method of approach has been to consider each of the three major minerals or groups of minerals that normally make up carbonate rocks; i.e., quartz, clays and carbonates. These were investigated through studies of pure minerals, as well as re active and non-reactive rocks, to determine what possible role each might play in ob served expansion in the composite system. These major constituents were analyzed and measured by a variety of methods to determine chemical composition, phase composition, and volume and mass of the ma terials before and after exposure to sodium and potassium hydroxide solutions. (Mass and weight are used interchangeably throughout this paper.) Evidences of reactions noted during this portion of the study were then sought in thin sections, test prisms, and in aggregate from laboratory and field concrete. MINERALS AND ROCKS UTILIZED The calcite and dolomite minerals used in this study were high-purity coarsely crystalline materials. The dolomite was the snow-white variety obtained from Wards Natural Science Establishment, Inc. , and was shown by chemical analysis to contain 46.4 percent MgC03. The calcite was a clear-to-white vein material containing less than 1 percent MgC03 and was collected at Harrisonburg, Virginia. Approximately 300 hand samples and data on their composition and expansivity as measured by the prism test described by Hadley (6) were available for this study from a previously conducted statewide survey for reactive carbonate aggregates from Virginia commercial aggregate sources (Newlon and Sherwood, 10). The,se rocks in cluded a great variP.ty of lithologic types exhibiting wide ranges in composition, texture and reactivity. Samples exhibiting extremes in composition and expansion as well as more representative rock materials were utilized from this suite. EFFECT OF ALKALIES ON QUARTZ AND CLAY Quartz In all the rocks studied, quartz was present in quantities easily detected by thin section or X-ray analysis. The actual percent of quartz varied from about 1 to as high as 40. Petrographic studies indicated this material to be dominantly a dense, well- Paper sponsored by Committee on Performance of Concrete~Chemical Aspects . 41 42 TABLE 1 ROCKS SELECTED FOR QUARTZ AND CLAY MINERAL STUDIES Ratio: 1 Prism Expansion, Rock Dolomite/ Total Quartz (%) Clay (%) (8 weeks) Carbonate % 1-8 0. 63 9 . 5 16.3 0.69 5-1 0.18 6.5 13.1 0.13 26-5 1.00 1.0 4 .8 0 . 02 35-6 0.09 8,0 1.0 0 . 01 22-2 0.80 2 . 0 18.5 -0.01 32-2 0.56 1.0 18.5 -0.02 1-17 0.03 2.0 1.0 -0 . 08 1 The two-nwnber designation of the rock samples has been carried over from the previous work (9). The first number designates the quarry, the occond the sample taken from Llrn.L 4_uw·r·y. crystallized, clear quartz with only minor amounts of chert. However, a considerable amount of clay-sized quartz with a high surface area to volume ratio was present in all the samples and the susceptibility of this material to attack by strong alkalies might be suspected. To investigate this possibility, two chips for thin sectioning and 3 gm of -200 mesh material were prepared from each of several rocks showing a large varia tion in composition and reactivity (Table 1). One chip was soaked in lN NaOH for three months, and one-half of the powdered rock was soaked for four weeks . (The effects of NaOH have received most attention in these studies because induced expansions of re active rocks were previously determined to be greater with NaOH than with KOH (6, 9).) Subsequent to the alkali exposure, thin sections were made from both the soaked ilul unsoaked chips, and the rock powders were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. In each case, no significant change could be discerned in the amount or nature of the quartz present. The clay-sized fractions of the insoluble resicine of these rocks were also exposed to strong alkali solutions and X-rayed for quartz with similar results. These test results, together with lack of visible evidence (gel, etc.) of alkali-silica reaction in laboratory and field concrete, have led the authors to disregard quartz as a deleterious constituent in any of the carbonate rocks studied to date. Clays Clay minerals, like quartz, were present in every carbonate rock analyzed during this study. The amount of clay is often difficult to measure accurately because of problems encountered in separating the fine quartz particles from the clay fraction. Several X-ray methods have been suggested (1, 5), and the authors are now experi menting with modifications of these. Generaiiy,-X-ray diffraction methods using an internal standard for determining quartz in the insoluble residue of a carbonate rock and designating the remainder of the residue as clay, providing no other minerals are present in large amounts, havebeenfound to be satisfactory for most of the work done to date. These techniques indicate that clay contents of more than 15 percent are not unusual in the Virginia carbonates. To investigate the effects of strong alkali on the clay fraction of the carbonate rocks the seven samples given in Table 1, which represent both reactive and non-reactive rocks and also wide variations in the carbonate minerals and insoluble residue contents, were utilized . Each rock was ground to - 50 mesh and treated with a 0. 23N HCl, which was added in small increments until vigorous reaction ceased. This concentration was previously determined to have essentially no effect on the clay minerals present. 43 The clay fraction was separated, dried and identified by X-ray diffraction. The clay species found in both reactive and non-reactive rock from the Virginia portion of the Appalachian geosyncline are very similar, consisting almost entirely of a 10.A illite and a 14.A chlorite . This chlorite varies slightly from sample to sample but appears to be a magnesian variety. Clay fractions of rocks 1-8, 5-1and1-17 which showed high, moderate, and no alkali reactivity, respectively, .were each split into three parts. One-third was put into lN NaOH and another in lN KOH for a period of one year. The remaining one third was kept sealed and dry as a standard. At the end of one year, all three parts were oriented by settling on glass slides and studied by X-ray diffraction. The only alteration evident in the X-ray diffraction patterns of the soaked versus unsoaked ma terial involved the peaks representing d-spacings at approximately 7. 68A and 7 .13A. The 7. 68A spacing seemed to have weakened during soaking; whereas the 7. 13.A spacing appeared to have been reinforced. This phenomenon occurred with both NaOH and KOH exposures and was clearly evident in the clays from each rock type. This alteration may be due to poorly crystallized chlorite (002 plane) being trans formed to a better crystallized material during the soaking period. Heat treatment is reported to have tllis effect on some chlorites (3). The values of 7. lA for this d-spacing is that generally evident in well-crystallized chlorites. In any case this minor alte1·a tion in crystal structure was observed to take place in both reactive and non-reactive rock and is of academic rather than practical significance in the present work. EFFECTS OF ALKALIES ON POWDERED CARBONATE MINERALS AND ROCKS Volume and Mass Changes Based on the work of Swenson and Gillott (12), Hadley (6), and others, the break down of dolomite had been suspected as the major cause Of the expansive alkali carbonate reaction prior to the present work. The remainder of this paper is devoted primarily to data and observations taken from experiments investigating the effects of sodium and potassium hydroxides on calcite and dolomite mixtures and on carbonate rocks. Mineral Calcite and Dolomite.-Experiments were designed to measure possible volume and mass changes in finely ground dolomite and calcite minerals exposed to alkali solutions. The first of these involved five discrete mixtures ranging from pure dolomite to pure calcite computed on a mole-rather than a weight basis. Each of these mixtures was exposed to NaOH solutions with the following hydroxide to car bonate ratios: Equivalents of OW 1 Equivalents of C0 = 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00 3 All the mixtures were stored at 25 C in graduated cylinders and were stirred peri odically for :!2 weeks. At the end of this period the solid material was allowed to settle for several days to a constant level and its apparent volume was measured. Figure 1 shows the level of the solid materials after exposure to distilled water and to concen trated NaOH for 22 weeks. Figure 2 shows the curves obtained by plotting apparent volume increase of solid material in the cylinders versus concentration of NaOH for several mixtures of calcite 1 Yielding NaOH concentrations of approximately o, lN, 2N, 3N and 4N, respectively, since the moles of carbonate and the volume of solution were kept constant.