Shotcrete Quality Control and Testing for an Underground Mine in Canada

By Dudley R. (Rusty) Morgan and Mazin Ezzet

AMEC Earth & Environmental, a division of AMEC Americas Limited SHOTCRETE FOR AFRICA CONFERENCE Misty Hills Conference Centre South Africa 2-3 March, 2009

Subject of Presentation
General Introduction Standards and Codes Shotcrete Materials Requirements Cementing Materials Aggregates Mixing Water Chemical Admixtures Shotcrete Performance Requirements

Subject of Presentation (continued)

Quality Control Testing Aggregates Batching and Supply (Plastic Shotcrete) Hardened Shotcrete

Shotcrete Quality Control Organizational Chart

New Underground Gold Mine in British Columbia

Portal at Decline into Underground Mine

Mobile Mass Batcher Unit Discharging into Ready-Mix Concrete Truck

Remixer Unit for Hauling Shotcrete Down Decline

Remixer Unit Discharging into Shotcrete Pump at Back of Shotcrete Sprayer

Remote Control Shotcrete Sprayer

Manipulator Arm on Remote Control Shotcrete Sprayer

Shooting ASTM C1550 Round Test Panels

Ready for Shotcreting Underground

Drilling Face for next Round of Blasting

Note Shotcrete with Bolts and Plates

Standards and Codes

American Concrete Institute (ACI) American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Canadian Standards Association (CSA) National Ready Mix Concrete Association (NRMCA) Concrete Plant Manufacturers Bureau (CPMP)

Standards and Codes

ASTM C114 ASTM C642-82 ASTM C1116 ASTM C1140 ASTM C1141 ASTM C1436 ASTM C1550 ASTM C1602 ASTM C1604 Standard Test Methods for Chemical Analysis of Hydraulic Cements Standard Test Method for Specific Gravity, Absorption, and Voids in Hardened Concrete Specification for Fibre Reinforced Concrete Standard Practice for Preparing and Testing Specimens from Shotcrete Test Panels Specification for Admixtures for Shotcrete Standard Specification for Materials for Shotcrete Standard Specification for Flexural Toughness of Fibre Reinforced Concrete (Using Centrally Loaded Round Panel) Standard Specification for Mixing Water Used in Production of Hydraulic Cement Concrete Standard Test Method for Obtaining and Testing Drilled Cores of Shotcrete

Standards and Codes (continued)

American Concrete Institute (ACI)
ACI 506R-05 ACI 506.2-95 Guide to Shotcrete Specifications for Materials Proportioning and Application of Shotcrete

Canadian Standards Association (CSA)

CSA A23.1-04 CSA A23.2-04 CSA A3001-03 Concrete Materials and Methods of Concrete Construction Methods of Test and Standard Practices for Concrete Cementitious Materials for Use in Concrete

Shotcrete Materials
Cementing Materials
Portland Cement: CSA Type GU Fly Ash: CSA Type F or CI Silica Fume: CSA Type SF

Other Cementing Materials

Natural Pozzolans Calcined Metakaolins Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag

Limits for Deleterious Substances and Physical Properties of Aggregates

Property CSA Test Method A23.2-3A A23.2-4A A23.2-5A A23.2-13A A23.2-23A A23.2-29A A23.2-16A A23.2-9A Standard Requirements Clay lumps Low-density granular materials Material finer than 80 m Flat and elongated particles Procedure A, ratios 4:1 Micro-Deval test Unconfined freeze-thaw test Impact and abrasion loss MgSO4 soundness loss Maximum Percentage by Mass of Total Sample Fine Aggregate 1 0.5 3.0 20 16 Coarse Aggregate 0.25 0.5 1.0 20 17 6 50 12

Grading Limits for Fine Aggregate

Total Passing Sieve, Percentage by Mass Sieve Size 10 mm 5 mm 2.5 mm 1.25 mm 630 m 315 m 160 m 80 m FA1 100 95-100 80-100 50-90 25-65 10-35 2-10 0-3

Grading Limits for Coarse Aggregate

Nominal Size of Aggregate 14 mm 10 mm 5 mm 2.5 mm 1.25 mm Total Passing Sieve, Percentage by Mass 100 85-100 10-30 0-10 0-5

Grading Limits for Combined Aggregates

Sieve Size 14 mm 10 mm 5 mm 2.5 mm 1.25 630 m 315 m 160 m 80 m Total passing sieve, percentage by mass 100 90-100 70-85 50-70 35-55 20-35 8-20 2-10 0-3

Graph of ACI No. 1 & No. 2 Gradings

120 100

ACI Gradation 1 Limits ACI Gradation 2 Limits Combined % Passing

Percent Passing

80 60 40 20 0

0.08

0.16

0.315

0.63

1.25

2.5

10

14

Metric Sieve Size

Chemical Limits for Mixing Water

Maximum Concentration In Mixing Water, ppm Chloride as Cl Sulphate as SO Alkalies as (Na2O + 0.658 K2O) Total solids by mass 1000 3000 600 50,000 C114 C114 C114 C1603 Limits ASTM Test Method

Chemical Admixtures
Water Reducing Admixtures Set Retarding or Hydration Controlling Admixtures Air Entraining Admixtures Set Accelerators Added at Nozzle

Fibres
Steel Fibres: ASTM C1116 Type I and ASTM A 820 Synthetic Fibres: ASTM C1116 Type III

Typical Shotcrete Performance Requirements

Test Method
CSA A23.2 5C CSA A23.2 4C Penetrometer as calibrated against beams tested as equivalent cubes ASTM C1604 & CSA A23.2 14C

Property
Maximum water/cementing materials ratio Slump (at discharge into shotcrete pump) Temperature (at discharge into shotcrete pump) Air content as shot Minimum early age compressive strength before re-entry under shotcrete Minimum compressive strength of shotcrete cores 1 Day 7 Days 28 Days Maximum values of boiled absorption Maximum volume of permeable voids Minimum Joules energy at 40 mm deflection in round panel test

Performance Requirement
0.40 170 20 mm 10-30oC 2-5 % 2 MPa

10MPa 30 MPa 40 MPa 9% 18 % *

ASTM C642 ASTM C1550

Fibre Reinforced Shotcrete Testing in North America

Steel fibre synthetic macro-fibre reinforced shotcrete in North America has been tested to the following ASTM Standards: ASTM C1018: Standard test method for flexural toughness and first-crack strength of fiber-reinforced concrete (using beam with third point loading) first published 1984, withdrawn 2006 ASTM C1609: Standard test method for flexural performance of fiber-reinforced concrete (using beam with third point loading) first published 2005 ASTM C1550: Standard test method for flexural toughness of fiber reinforced concrete (using centrally loaded round panel)

ASTM C1018 and ASTM C1609 Beam Test

Fibre Shotcrete Tests

ASTM C1018 Load vs Deflection Curve

Test Results Include:

First crack and ultimate flexural strengths (MPa) Toughness Indices I5, I10, I20, etc Residual Strength Factors R5,10, R10,20, etc.

Problems of reliability with this test method and withdrawn in 2006

Flexural Toughness Performance Levels Morgan and Chen, 1995

Fibre Shotcrete Beam Tests

ASTM C1609 Load vs Deflection Curve

ASTM C1550 Round Panel Test

ASTM C1550 Round Panel Test

Technical Report

Typical Shotcrete Mixture Design

Material
Cement Type GU Silica Fume Coarse Aggregate (10-2.5mm, SSD) Fine Aggregate (SSD) Estimated Water, L High Water Reducing Admixture, L Hydration Controlling Admixture, L Macro Synthetic Fibre Air Content: At Pump (+/- 1.5%) At Shot (%) Total

Mass per m3 SSD Agg [kg]

430 45 380 1310 185 2.5 1.2 6.0 2.5 2.0 2354

Density [kg/m3]
3150 2200 2744 2649 1000 1000 1000 910 Yield (m3) =

Volume [m3]
0.1365 0.0205 0.1385 0.4945 0.1850 0.0025 0.0012 0.0066 0.0202 1.0105

Shotcrete Quality Control Certification and Testing

Aggregates Batch Plant Mixers Plastic Shotcrete Hardened Shotcrete

Shotcrete Aggregates Testing Frequency

CSA Test Method A23.2-3A A23.2-4A A23.2-5A A23.2-13A A23.2-23A A23.2-24A A23.2-16A A23.2-9A A23.2-15 A23.2-25A A23.2-2A A23.2-6A A23.2-7A A23.2-12A A23.2-11A Clay Lumps Low Density Granular Materials Material Finer than 80 m Flat and Elongated Particles Micro-Deval Test Unconfined Freeze-thaw Test Impact and Abrasion Loss MgSO4 Soundness Loss Petrographic Analysis Alkali Silica Reactivity Sieve Analysis of Fine and Coarse Aggregates Relative Density and Absorption of Fine Aggregates Organic Impurities Colour Test Relative Density and Absorption of Coarse Aggregate Surface Moisture in Fine and Coarse Aggregates Property Testing Frequency 6 months 6 months 1 week 6 months 6 months 6 months 6 months 6 months 1 year 1 year Each delivery 6 months 1 week 6 months Each day

Shotcrete Batching and Supply Certification and Testing

Test Method NRMCA CPMB 100 M-07 Test Procedure Certification of ready mixed concrete production facilities using truck mixing Testing Frequency At start of project and every 2 years

NRMCA CPMB 100 M-07

Certification of ready mix concrete truck mixers and remixer units

Before use and every 6 months

NRMCA CPMB 100 M-07

Batch records with solid materials in kg and liquids in L

Each batch of shotcrete produced

Plastic Shotcrete QC Testing

Test Method CSA A23.2-5C CSA A23.2-5C Test Procedure Slump at discharge into remixer unit Slump at discharge into shotcrete pump Shotcrete and ambient temperatures at discharge into remixer unit and at shotcrete pump CSA A23.2-7C Air content of plastic shotcrete at discharge into remixer unit and at shotcrete pump Air Content as-shot (without accelerator) Wash-out test to determine uniformity of fibre distribution at discharge from remixer unit Testing Frequency Each batch of shotcrete produced At beginning of each shift Each batch of shotcrete produced At start of project and with any change in mixture proportions At start of project and with any change of mixture proportions At start of project and with any change in fibre type or dosage

CSA A23.2-7C Modified CSA A23.2-7C Modified

Hardened Shotcrete QC Testing

Test Method Ref. 1 Test Description Early age compressive strength of beams as equivalent cubes Early age compressive strength estimate using penetrometer Compressive strength of cores extracted from shotcrete test panel at age 1 day (1 core), 7 days (1 core) and 28 days (2 cores) Boiled absorption and volume of permeable voids Round panel test to 40mm deflection Testing Frequency At start of project and with any change in mixture proportions or accelerator type or dosage One heading per shift One heading per week for each shotcrete robot and each shotcrete crew used One heading per week for each shotcrete robot used Two panels at each of ages 7 and 28 days at start of project for one fibre type and dosage Two panels at 28 days for each week of shotcrete production or at any change in fibre type or dosage

Penetrometer ASTM C1140 ASTM C1604 ASTM C642 ASTM C1550

ASTM C1550

Round panel test to 40 mm deflection

Quality Assurance Plan

Shotcrete Quality Control
Shotcrete Materials Check List Inspection and Test Plan (ITP)
a) Materials b) Batching and Supply c) Hardened Shotcrete

Shotcrete Quality Audit

Non-conformance Report (NCR) Opportunity for Improvement Report (OFI) Corrective Action Report (CAR) Audit Report

Conclusions
Production of quality shotcrete in an underground environment requires:
Rigorous shotcrete specifications Implementation of a quality management plan (follow ISO 9000 approach) Pre-production qualification of all materials and shotcrete mixture design Implementation of a systematic quality control inspection and testing plan for the aggregates, mix water and plastic and hardened shotcrete Use of nozzlemen and shotcrete batching, supply and application crew properly trained and qualified