Effect of limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) on the fire safety of concrete structures

Limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) is a low carbon alternative to conventional cement. Literature shows that using limestone and calcined clay in LC3 increases the thermal degradation of LC3 pastes and can increase the magnitude of fire risk in LC3 concrete structures. Higher thermal degradation of LC3 paste prompts this study toward understanding the fire performance of LC3 concrete and the associated magnitude of fire risk. For fire performance, concrete prepared using ordinary Portland cement (OPC), pozzolanic Portland cement (PPC) and LC3 were exposed to 16 scenarios of different elevated temperatures (400 degrees C, 600 degrees C, 800 degrees C, and 1000 degrees C) for different durations (0.5 h, 1 h, 2 h, and 4 h). After exposure to elevated temperatures, mass loss, residual ultrasonic pulse velocity (rUPV) and residual compressive strength (rCS) were measured as the residual properties of concrete. XRD (X-ray diffraction), TGA (thermogravimetric analysis) and three-factor ANOVA (analysis of variance) are also used to compare the fire performance of LC3 with OPC and PPC. Monte Carlo simulation has been used to assess the magnitude of fire risk in LC3 structures and devise recommendations for the robust application of LC3. Results show that LC3 concrete has weaker fire performance, with average rCS being 11.06% and 1.73% lower than OPC and PPC concrete. Analysis of 106 fire scenarios, in Indian context, shows lower rCS and higher failure probability for LC3 (95.05%, 2.22%) than OPC (98.16%, 0.22%) and PPC (96.48%, 1.14%). For robust application, either LC3 can be restricted to residential and educational structures (failure probability <0.5%), or LC3 can have reserve strength (factor of safety >1.08).

Automated summary

Limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) is a low carbon alternative to conventional cement, but it has weaker fire performance compared to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and pozzolanic Portland cement (PPC). Higher thermal degradation in LC3 may increase the fire risk in LC3 concrete structures. It is recommended to restrict the use of LC3 in residential and educational structures or to ensure a reserve strength to mitigate the fire risk.