Developments in the Built Environment 13 (2023) 100120

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Developments in the Built Environment

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Development of a high strength cementitious grout for filling the joints of

UHPC permanent formwork
Yibo Yang a, b, **, Baixi Chen c, *, Yong Chen b, Fucai Liu d, Xiangming Xie e, Wenying Guo b,
Hengchang Wang b
a
State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Architectures Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
b
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
c
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
d
Guangdong Gaiteqi New Materials Technology Co, Ltd, Qingyuan, 511600, China
e
Guangdong No.2 Hydropower Engineering Co, Ltd., Guangzhou, 511300, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The utilization of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) permanent formwork could facilitate the construction
UHPC of hydraulic concrete structures. However, the joints between UHPC formwork are the vulnerable parts of a
Formwork whole permanent formwork system. This study aimed to develop a High Strength Cementitious Grout (HSCG) for
Cement
filling these joints, integrating the formwork system, and minimizing the adverse influence on these joints. The
Grout
Admixture
aggregate size for the HSCG was optimized, and four kinds of admixtures (i.e., hydrophobic powder (HP),
PVA expansive agent (EA), redispersible polymer powder (RPP), and cellulose ether (CE)) and PVA fibers were used to
improve the HSCG. The HSCG with different aggregate sizes, admixture dosages, and PVA fiber contents were
experimentally investigated. By evaluating the compressive, tensile, flexural, and adhesive strengths of the
prepared grout, the aggregate size range was recommended to be 0.15–0.30 mm, while the suggested contents of
HP, EA, RPP, and CE were 0%, 6%, 2%, and 0.1%, respectively, by weight of binding materials. In addition, the
optimal volume content of PVA fibers was 0.45%. In order to avoid the introduced foams, 0.2% of the defoamers
were used in combination with the CE. After that, six combinations were tested to consider the coupled effect of
different admixtures and PVA fibers on the HSCG. In consideration of the strengths, shrinkage, and abrasion
resistance to water impact, the HSCG with the combination of (EA + RPP + CE), the aggregate size of 0.15–0.30
mm showed the optimal overall performance and was regarded as the most suitable HSCG for grouting.

1. Introduction themselves to implementing the UHPC for preparing permanent form­

work in the past few years (Li et al., 2016; Lin et al., 2021; Shan et al.,
As the construction process of hydraulic or coastal concrete struc­ 2018). The application of the UHPC permanent formwork systems could
tures is often interrupted by typhoons or other extreme weather condi­ not only facilitate the concrete construction but also strengthen the
tions (Wei, 2017), it is vital to improve the in-situ efficiency and reduce concrete structure and prevent the coastal concrete structures from
the construction period. One of the attractive ways to shorten the con­ water abrasion. However, the installation joints and gaps existing in the
ventional construction process is using prefabricated permanent form­ UHPC permanent formwork systems are the weakness of the whole
work systems. By means of the permanent formwork systems, the labor system and are vulnerable to water intrusion. Without carefully
and cost for the formwork dismantlement could be eliminated from the handling these joints, the lifespan of the concrete structures will be
construction (Tian et al., 2020). Due to the superiorities of terribly reduced.
ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), such as its high strength and For the issue mentioned above, the commonly used way is to grout
high durability (Azmee and Shafiq, 2018), many researchers devoted the joints with cementitious material (Vasumithran et al., 2020). There

* Corresponding author. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
** Corresponding author. State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Architectures Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.
E-mail addresses: yangyibo@[Link] (Y. Yang), [Link]@[Link] (B. Chen), 997800987@[Link] (Y. Chen), 743186569@[Link] (F. Liu),
xiexiangming74@[Link] (X. Xie), wyguo@[Link] (W. Guo), cthcwang@[Link] (H. Wang).

[Link]
Received 28 October 2022; Received in revised form 20 December 2022; Accepted 11 January 2023
Available online 14 January 2023
2666-1659/© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ([Link]
nc-nd/4.0/).
Y. Yang et al. Developments in the Built Environment 13 (2023) 100120

Fig. 1. Experimental design and optimization of the High Strength Cementitious Grout (HSCG).

were many studies conducted to develop a suitable cement grout. Bras 2012; Hirschi and Wombacher, 2008; Courtial et al., 2013; Yang et al.,
et al. (2013) developed an injectable grout by considering the coupled 2020, 2021) stated that the most effective water reducer for preparing
effect of temperature and silica fume addition. The apparent loss of the high strength cementitious material was the polycarboxylate water
workability was observed when the grout temperatures reached over reducer, which was also used in this study to modify the fluidity of the
35 ◦ C. The effect of sand grading on the mechanical performance of the HSCG.
cementitious grout was investigated by Lim et al. (2013). The grout with In addition to the workability, the developed HSCG should have
the finer sand grading had worse workability and required a higher stronger mechanical performance. There are many admixtures available
water-to-binding materials (W/B) ratio. The influence of the sand to improve the performance of cementitious materials. Since the HSCG
grading on the grout strength depends on the adopted W/B ratio. Ana­ needs to permanently adhere to the joint and integrate the whole
gnostopoulos (2014) prepared the cement grout with different super­ formwork systems, an excellent adhesive strength is primarily desired.
plasticizers. Compared with the polynaphthalene superplasticizer, the Many scholars (Bin Mobarak et al., 2021; Lee et al., 2004) used redis­
cement grout containing polycarboxylate superplasticiser presented persible polymer powders (RPP) to improve the concrete adhesive
higher viscosity and final strength. Nguyen et al. (2011) discussed the strength. As the grouted joints in the coastal structure are often rushed
effect of the W/B ratio, water reducer, and polysaccharide on the by the dynamic water, the developed HSCG should have good resistance
rheological behavior of the cement grout. They also used the Her­ to water abrasion. In order to enhance the water-resistance of concrete,
schel–Bulkley model to describe the whole rheological behavior. Liu the addition of hydrophobic powders (HP) was adopted by some re­
et al. (2019) added the clay to prepare the clay-cement slurry for searchers (Jahandari et al., 2021; Yan et al., 2019). Their studies stated
grouting, and the obtained clay-cement grout expressed strong scouring that the concrete containing the hydrophobic powder showed an
resistance. excellent capability of repelling water. The water abrasion resistance
Cementitious grout had good applications in previous studies, but could also be improved by reducing the concrete crack. The expansive
the strength of conventional cementitious grout is relatively low. The agent (EA) could reduce the concrete shrinkage and prevent the concrete
low strength of cementitious grout makes the grouted joints fail earlier from shrinkage crack (Gagné et al., 2016; Benmokrane et al., 1995; Chen
than the UHPC formwork under the impact of water and water-borne et al., 2020), while the cellulose ether (CE) could improve the water
sand so that the grouted joints are still the vulnerable part of the retention and consistency of the concrete and prevent the concrete from
UHPC formwork systems. In order to minimize the adverse effect of the drying crack (Patural et al., 2011; Xie et al., 2021). Besides the admix­
joints on the whole UHPC formwork system, this study proposed to tures, the previous studies showed that the PVA fiber could improve the
develop a high strength cementitious grout (HSCG) for the joints. With abrasion resistance, and the compressive, tensile, and flexural strengths
the help of HSCG, the formwork joints could be dramatically improved. of concrete as well (Wang et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2021; Xu et al.,
Although the materials cost of HSCG is higher than the conventional 2017).
cementitious materials, the application of high strength materials can With the target of developing the HSCG for filling the joints of the
extend the structure service life and reduce the life cycle cost (Racky, UHPC permanent formwork systems, the influence of the aggregate size
2004). Besides, for marine or coastal structures, repairing the damaged was considered first, and then the PVA fiber and four admixtures (i.e.,
grouted joints is quite troublesome and expensive, so improving the hydrophobic powder, expansive agent, redispersible polymer powder,
performance of the grout material usually is prior to reducing its cost and cellulose ether) were adopted in this study to modify the HSCG. The
during construction and is the main concern of this study. optimal PVA fiber content, the optimal content of each admixture, and
For the objective of filling the gaps between the permanent form­ the suitable aggregate size for the HSCG were investigated. As followed,
work, the HSCG should have sufficient flow capacity. The fluidity is a suitable combination of admixtures and PVA fiber was determined
influenced by plenty of factors, such as the W/B ratio and the type and based on the overall performance.
dosage of the water reducer, etc. (Bras et al., 2013; Yang et al., 2018; Lu
et al., 2022; Li et al., 2022; Chen et al., 2023). In order to achieve high 2. Experiments
strength, the typical W/B ratio of the high strength cementitious mate­
rial ranges from 0.14 to 0.20, which is comparatively low. Hence, the 2.1. Experimental design principle
type and dosage of the water reducer should be carefully chosen to
guarantee the fluidity requirement. The previous studies (Schröfl et al., The goal of this study was to develop an optimized HSCG, which not

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Y. Yang et al. Developments in the Built Environment 13 (2023) 100120

Table 1
Particle size distribution of sands.
Sand Type Sieve size (mm)

4.75 2.36 1.18 0.60 0.30 0.15 Pan

Percentage Passing (%) Type A (0.15–1.18 mm) 100 100 100 65 32 0 –

Type B (0.15–0.30 mm) 100 100 100 100 100 0 –

evaluating the effect of each admixture, the contents, which could

provide the best strength indices, were selected.
3. The influence of two different aggregate sizes on the strength of the
HSCG was evaluated, and the suitable aggregate size was selected.
4. Different combinations of the admixtures and the PVA fiber with the
optimal content were added to enhance the HSCG. The coupled ef­
fects of different admixtures and PVA fiber were experimentally
studied. In addition to the four strength indices, the drying shrinkage
and the abrasion resistance of the HSCG were also measured. The
combination, which had the comprehensive optimal performance,
was desired for the HSCG preparation.

It needs to be mentioned that the optimal contents of PVA fibers and

admixtures, and the suitable aggregate size were assumed to be inde­
pendent of each other in this study. Therefore, the content optimization
of PVA fibers and admixtures and the selection of aggregate size, namely
Stages 1–3 above, were conducted in parallel instead of in sequence,
which is also indicated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 2. Particle size distribution of the binding materials. 2.2. Raw materials

only could fill the joints of the UHPC permanent formwork system but Two types of sand, type A and type B, were used as the aggregate in
also had optimal mechanical performances. Based on the preliminary this study. Type A is coarser than Type B. The particle size distributions
trials, the cementitious grout with fluidity ranging from 160 mm to 180 of the sands are presented in Table 1. The binding material used here
mm can be injected into the joints of the UHPC permanent formwork consisted of ordinary Portland cement, silica fume, slag powder, and fly
and seal the gaps appropriately. The HSCG, with the W/B ratio of 0.18, ash with a proportion of 0.7:0.15:0.10:0.05. The silica fume employed
was able to achieve this fluidity requirement by adjusting the content of here was semi-encrypted. The particle size distributions and chemical
the water reducer. Therefore, the main objective of this work can be compositions of these binding materials are presented in Fig. 2 and
transferred to optimize the mechanical behaviors of the HSCG with its Table 2, respectively. Both sand and binding material were from
fluidity controlled to 160 mm–180 mm. Guangdong Gaiteqi New Material Technology [Link].
Since the HSCG needed to bond the formwork together as well as The RPC-H polycarboxylate water reducer with a solid content of
resist the impact of the environment, four strength indices, namely 40% was used here. The water reducer was from Guandong Daoming
compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, and adhesive Railway Equipment [Link]. The Dow Corning SHP 60 silicone hydro­
strength, were mainly concerned in this study. In order to find the HSCG phobic powder and the WALOCEL MKX 15000 PP 20 cellulose ether
with the optimized mechanical performance, the experimental design from The Dow Chemical Company were employed here. The vinyl acetate
and optimization procedure was presented in Fig. 1 and demonstrated and ethylene copolymer-based redispersible polymer powder ELOTEX
below. FL2211 from AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals [Link] were chosen. The
defoamer was supplied by BASF SE. The expansive agent and the PVA
1. The influence of the reinforcement (i.e., PVA fiber) on the strength of fiber were from Jiangmen Zhongjian Technology [Link]. and Sinopec
the HSCG was evaluated, and the optimal content of PVA fiber was Sichuan Vinylon Plant, respectively. The properties of the PVA fiber are
selected. demonstrated in Table 3.
2. Four kinds of admixtures, namely the hydrophobic powder (HP),
expansive agent (EA), redispersible polymer powder (RPP), and 2.3. Experimental schemes
cellulose ether (CE), were added separately to modify the HSCG.
Since it was observed in the preliminary trials that the cellulose ether Seven groups of samples with a W/B ratio of 0.18 and a sand-to-
introduced many bubbles into the HSCG, the cellulose ether should binding material (S/B) ratio of 1:1 were prepared to optimize the
be used in combination with the defoamer (DF). By experimentally HSCG. Both Type A and Type B sands were acceptable before the suit­
able aggregate size was determined. The experimental schemes of these

Table 2
Chemical compositions of building materials (%).
CaO SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 SiO3 MgO K2O Na2O LOIa

Ordinary Portland cement 61.46 20.54 5.52 3.19 2.68 0.9 0.71 0.13 4.72
Silica fume 1.90 93.7 0.45 0.39 0.08 0.25 0.68 0.14 1.72
Slag powder 39.41 30.82 16.38 0.92 2.32 8.79 0.35 0.31 0.09
Fly ash 1.69 58.82 30.67 3.36 0.37 0.59 1.84 0.57 1.28

Note: a: LOI, Loss on ignition.

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Y. Yang et al. Developments in the Built Environment 13 (2023) 100120

Table 3
Properties of the PVA fiber.
Diameter (μm) Length (mm) Density (g/cm3) Tensile strength (MPa) Elastic modulus (GPa) Elongation (%)

PVA fiber 12 12 1.3 1300 30 6.15

ratios ranging from 0–12% were tested for selecting the optimal EA
Table 4
content. As presented in Table 6 and Table 7, the contents of the HP and
Experimental schemes of optimizing the content of PVA fiber.
RPP were varied to find the optimal dosages. The HP and RPP dosage
No. A-1 P-1 P-2 P-3 P-4 P-5 ranges were 0–1.25% and 0–2.5% by weight of binding materials,
Sand type Type A Type A Type A Type A Type A Type A respectively. In Table 8, the CE and DF were added simultaneously to
S/B ratio 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 modify the performance of HSCG. The contents of both the CE and DF
W/B ratio 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 varied from 0% to 0.2% by weight of binding materials. The mixtures
WR content 3.00% 4.50% 6.25% 8.75% 12.50% 15.00%
PVA fiber 0.0% 0.15% 0.30% 0.45% 0.60% 0.75%
proportions in Table 9 were used to find a suitable aggregate size by
content considering two sand types (i.e., Type A and Type B). The experimental
schemes in Table 4~Table 9 were conducted in parallel, and the optimal
value of each scheme was assumed not to influence others. Finally, six
different combinations of admixtures and PVA fiber were prepared in
Table 5
Experimental schemes of optimizing the content of expansive agent (EA). the seventh group to develop the optimal HSCG.

No. A-1 E− 1 E− 2 E− 3 E− 4 E− 5

Sand type Type A Type A Type A Type A Type A Type A

2.4. Tests methods
S/B ratio 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1
W/B ratio 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 2.4.1. Flow test
WR content 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% The fluidity of specimens was evaluated by the flow test following
EA content 0% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%
the Chinese Code GB/T2419-2005 (GB/T 2419-2005, 2005). The cone,
which has a height of 60 mm, a base diameter of 100 mm, and a top
diameter of 70 mm, was set on the disc of the flow table first. And then,
Table 6 the fresh specimen was poured into the cone by two layers. The bottom
Experimental schemes of optimizing the content of hydrophobic powders (HP). layer and top layers were compacted by 15 and 10 strokes of a tamper,
No. A-1 H-1 H-2 H-3 H-4 H-5

Sand type Type A Type A Type A Type A Type A Type A Table 9

S/B ratio 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 Experimental schemes of optimizing the type of sand.
W/B ratio 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18
No. A-1 B-1
WR content 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% 3.00%
HP content 0.00% 0.25% 0.50% 0.75% 1.00% 1.25% Sand type Type A Type B
S/B ratio 1:1 1:1
W/B ratio 0.18 0.18
WR content 3.00% 3.00%
Table 7
Experimental schemes of optimizing the content of redispersible polymer pow­
der (RPP).
Table 10
No. A-1 R-1 R-2 R-3 R-4 R-5
Experimental schemes of optimizing the combination of admixtures and PVA
Sand type Type A Type A Type A Type A Type A Type A fiber.
S/B ratio 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1
No. B-1 X-1 X-2 X-3 X-4 X-5 X-6
W/B ratio 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18
WR content 3.00% 3.50% 4.00% 5.00% 6.25 7.50% Sand type Type Type Type Type Type Type Type
RPP content 0.0% 0.5% 1.0% 1.5% 2.0% 2.5% B B B B B B B
S/B ratio 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1
W/B ratio 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18
seven groups are reported in Table 4~Table 10. The water reducer (WR) WR 3.0% 3.0% 10.0% 12.5% 6.25% 12.5% 15.0%
is added at the weight ratio of the binding material. The fluidity of all content
PVA fiber 0% 0% 0% 0% 0.45% 0.45% 0.45%
prepared mixtures was evaluated following the suggestion described in content
Chinese Code GB/T2419-2005 (GB/T 2419-2005, 2005) and controlled EA content 0% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6%
in the range of 160 mm–180 mm by adjusting the content of the water RPP 0% 0% 0% 2% 0% 0% 2%
reducer. In the first group (i.e., Table 4), the PVA fiber was added with content
CE content 0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0% 0.1% 0.1%
the volume contents of 0–0.75%. In Table 5, the EA was employed as a
DF content 0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% 0% 0.2% 0.2%
partial replacement of the binding materials by weight. The replacement

Table 8
Experimental schemes of optimizing the content of cellulose ether (CE) and defoamer (DF).
No. B-1 C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7

Sand type Type B Type B Type B Type B Type B Type B Type B Type B
S/B ratio 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1
W/B ratio 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18
WR content 3.0% 3.0% 10.0% 10.0% 10.0% 12.5% 12.5% 12.5%
CE content 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2%
DF content 0.00% 0.20% 0.10% 0.15% 0.20% 0.10% 0.15% 0.20%

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Y. Yang et al. Developments in the Built Environment 13 (2023) 100120

Fig. 3. The geometry of the specimens for tensile and adhesive strength tests.

respectively, to make the specimen uniformly fill the cone. After

removing the excess specimen, the cone was lifted vertically. The flow
table was vibrated by 25 times to make the specimen spread on the disc.
The averaged diameters of the spread specimen were defined as the
fluidity of specimens. Three specimens were prepared for flow test and
the mean value was used to make final evaluation. Since the fluidity of
all specimens was controlled between 160 mm and 180 mm by varying
the content of the water reducer, the fluidity was not further discussed in
this study.

2.4.2. Strength tests

The prismatic specimens (40 mm × 40 mm × 160 mm) were man­
ufactured for each experimental scheme (Table 4~Table 10). The pre­
pared specimens were cast, demolded after 24 h, and cured in a standard
environment (i.e., the temperature of 23 ± 2 ◦ C and R.H. of 50 ± 5%) for
28 days before measuring the flexural and compressive strengths. The Fig. 4. The grout specimens for abrasion resistance evaluations.
flexural and compressive strength tests were carried out following the
procedures given in Chinese Code JC/T 1004–2006 (JC/T 1004-2006,
of three specimens was analyzed in this study.
2006). Three samples were used for the flexural strength test, while
six specimens were used for the compressive strength test. The average
2.4.4. Abrasion resistance
value was regarded as the estimation of the strength index.
When the UHPC permanent formwork is used to construct the hy­
Moreover, the specimens with the geometry described in Fig. 3 were
draulic structure, they frequently suffer from the friction and impact of
also manufactured for each experimental scheme to evaluate the tensile
water and water-borne sand, resulting in abrasion damage and reducing
strength and adhesive strength according to the Chinese Code SL
the service life. Compared with the UHPC permanent formwork, the
352–2006 (SL 352–2006, 2006). Each test was conducted on six speci­
joint grout is more vulnerable. It is vital to test the abrasion resistance of
mens and the mean value was used for the final estimation of the tensile
the prepared HSCG. In this study, the water-borne sand jet method
or adhesive strength. Similarly, the specimens were cast, demolded after
proposed by Tu (2018) was applied here to evaluate the abrasion
24 h, and cured in a standard environment for 28 days before testing as
resistance of the HSCG.
well. The substrate for testing the adhesive strength was the commercial
In order to simulate the grouted joints of the UHPC permanent
UHPC used to prepare permanent formwork, so that the bonding be­
formwork, the specimens shown in Fig. 4 were prepared. Three speci­
tween UHPC and HSCG could be evaluated. In addition to the normal
mens were constructed for the abrasion resistance test and the mean
condition, the adhesive strength was tested for the specimens under the
value was used for the final estimation. The base concrete was used to fix
soaked condition and the thermal aging condition. For the soaked con­
the permanent formwork and the HSCG. Similar to the real construction,
dition, the specimens were cured in a standard environment for 7 days
three parts (namely, the base concrete, permanent formwork, and
and then in 20 ± 2 ◦ C water for 21 days before testing. The specimens
HSCG) were connected by their adhesive force. During the specimen
under the thermal aging condition were cured in a standard environ­
preparation, the UHPC permanent formwork was put in the mold first
ment for 14 days and then submitted to thermal treatment of 70 ± 2 ◦ C
with the gap reserved, and then the base concrete was cast. The spec­
for 14 days before testing.
imen was not demolded until 24 h passed, and the reserved joint was
grouted by the HSCG. After that, the specimens were covered by two
2.4.3. Drying shrinkage
layers of plastic wraps and cured in a natural environment for 7 days.
According to the Chinese Code JC/T 1004–2006 (JC/T 1004-2006,
And then, the specimens were exposed to the thermal treatment of 70 ±
2006), the prismatic specimens (40 mm × 40 mm × 160 mm) were
2 ◦ C in a drying oven for 7 days before testing.
prepared for each mixture proportion in Table 10 to measure the drying
The equipment for the water-borne sand jet method is presented in
shrinkage of the HSCG with multiple admixtures. The specimens were
Fig. 5. The water jet moved horizontally to impact the surfaces of the
cast and demolded after 24 h. The specimens were placed in an envi­
HSCG in six specimens. The horizontal moving speed of the water jet is
ronment with a constant temperature of 23 ± 2 ◦ C and R.H. of 50 ± 5%
4.85 cm/s. The sands were added at the rate of 2.5 kg/min. In order to
for testing up to 28 days of curing. The shrinkage of the specimens after
simulate the natural water flow in the field, the flow rate and the water
1, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days of curing was evaluated. The average shrinkage

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Y. Yang et al. Developments in the Built Environment 13 (2023) 100120

Fig. 5. Test apparatus for the water-borne sand jet method.

2.5. Comprehensive evaluation method for HSCG

In order to comprehensively assess different admixture combinations

in step 4 of the experimental procedure described in section 2.1, the
comprehensive evaluation method based on the Analytic Hierarchy
Process (AHP) was proposed and described below.
Firstly, all mechanical indices needed to be normalized to the same
scale. As the low drying shrinkage was desired for the HSCG, it was
normalized by the following equation:
max(Si )/Si
̂
Si = (2)
max[max(Si )/Si ]

where Si denotes the shrinkage of the ith admixture combination, max(•)

represents the function to find the maximum value among all combi­
S i denotes the normalized shrinkage of the ith admixture
nations. ̂
combination and it ranges from 0 to 1. The larger ̂
S i means the lower
drying shrinkage and the better performance.
The HSCG desired a high value for strength and abrasion resistance.
Hence, they can be normalized by the following equation:
Qi
̂i =
Q (3)
max(Qi )

where Qi denotes the strength or abrasion resistance of the ith admixture

combination and Q ̂ i denotes the normalized strengths or abrasion
resistance of the ith admixture combination and it ranges from 0 to 1.
The larger Q̂ i indicates the higher strengths or abrasion resistance, and
Fig. 6. The specimen exposed to the water-borne sand jet method.
the better performance.
Secondly, the relative importance of each index was evaluated by
pressure were set to 26 m/s and 2.4 MPa, respectively, by adjusting the
using professional knowledge. In this study, the adhesive strength and
inlet water. The particle sizes of the sands used here ranged from 0.15
the tensile strength were more important than others indices, since the
mm to 1.18 mm. The water jet erosion lasted for 720 s for each batch of
purpose of HSCG was to connect the UHPC permanent formwork and
specimens.
seal the joints. Compared with the tensile strength, the adhesive strength
Based on the preliminary trials (Fig. 6), no abrasion was observed in
was preferred, as the interface between the grout and UHPC formwork
the permanent formwork, and the abrasion mainly occurred in the
was usually weaker than the grout itself. The normal condition was more
grouted joints. Therefore, the abrasion resistance of the HSCG can be
frequent than the thermal aging condition and the soaked condition, so
evaluated by the following equation:
the normal adhesive strength was prior to the other two. As the key
T factors to resist the impact from external environments, compressive
fa = (1)
(G2 − G1 )/(ρc A) strength, drying shrinkage, and abrasion resistance shared the same
importance level. With the help of the identified relative importance, the
where fa is the abrasion resistance (Unit: h/cm), which reflects the time comparison matrix could be constructed via Saaty scale (Saaty, 2005).
required to achieve the abrasion of 1 cm. A greater value of fa signifies The obtained comparison matrix is presented in Fig. 7. The elements in
the stronger resistance to the abrasion from water-borne sands. G2 and the comparison matrix represented the relative importance level be­
G1 are the mass (Unit: g) of the specimen before and after the test, tween the two indices. For example, the value in the position (1, 2) of the
respectively. ρc is the density (Unit: g/cm3) of the HSCG. A is the abrased matrix was 3, which means the compressive strength was moderately
surface area (Unit: cm2) of the HSCG. T is the abrasion time (Unit: h). ρc , preferred to the flexure strength. The value of 7 in the position (4,1)
A and T are 2.4 g/cm3, 100 cm2 and 0.2 h, respectively in this study. indicates that the normal adhesive strength was strongly more impor­
tant than the compressive strength. It should be noted that the relative

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Y. Yang et al. Developments in the Built Environment 13 (2023) 100120

Fig. 7. AHP-based comprehensive evaluation method of HSCG.

Fig. 8. Mechanical performances of the HSCG at the different PVA fiber contents.

importance level in this study was based on the expert knowledge of the matrix.
authors. If there were any other preferences specified to the HSCG, the Finally, the eigenvector of the comparison matrix was normalized to
comparison matrix would be changed. give the weight for each index. The obtained weight for each index is
Thirdly, the consistency index (CI) and the consistency rate (CR) of presented in Fig. 7. And then, the weighted sum of all normalized me­
the comparison matrix were calculated by following the procedure in chanic indices was used to evaluate the comprehensive performance of
Fig. 7 to validate the consistency of the comparison matrix. With a CR HSCG.
less than 0.1, the comparison matrix can be regarded as the consistent

Fig. 9. Mechanical performances of the HSCG at the different expansive agent (EA) contents.

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Y. Yang et al. Developments in the Built Environment 13 (2023) 100120

Fig. 10. Mechanical performances of the HSCG at the different hydrophobic powders (HP) contents.

3. Results and discussion 3.2. Optimization of admixture contents

3.1. Optimization of PVA fiber content Utilizing the expansive agent could prevent the HSCG from cracking
caused by the shrinkage. The influence of the expansive agent on the
The PVA fiber could reinforce the ductility and strengths of the mechanical performances of the HSCG is presented in Fig. 9. With the
HSCG. The mechanical behaviors of the HSCG at the different PVA fiber contents of the expansive agent increasing, the strengths of the HSCG
contents were demonstrated in Fig. 8. As observed in Fig. 8, except for increased first and then decreased. At the EA content of low level, the
the tensile strength, which increased continuously with the PVA fiber hydration products of the expansive agent could fill the void of the grout
ratios rising, all other strength indices were enhanced first and then and make the grout denser so that the grout strengths can be improved.
decreased. A similar trend was observed by Zhang et al. (2021) and Xu However, when the EA content was high, the content of binding mate­
et al. (2018) as well. The reason for this initial increase trend is that rials was obviously reduced, which led to the reduction of the grout
adding a slight amount of PVA fibers could bridge cracks in the grout strengths. The tensile strength and the adhesive strength reached the
and prevent crack propagation so that the grout could sustain more maximum at the EA content of 6%, while the compressive strength and
loads. However, excessive PVA fiber tended to agglomerate and intro­ the flexural strength obtained the peak value at the EA content of 4%. As
duced more flaws into the grout, worsening the grout performance and the compressive and flexural strengths differences between the EA
decreasing the grout strength. contents of 4% and 6% were minor, the EA content of 6% was recom­
The overall performance reached the optimum at the PVA fiber mended here to optimize the overall performance. At the EA contents of
volume fraction of 0.45%. Although adding more PVA fibers could 6%, the compressive, flexural, tensile, normal adhesive, thermal aging
further improve the tensile strengths, the excess PVA fibers weakened adhesive, and soaked adhesive strengths were 1.0%, 0.7%, 26.8%,
the other five strength indices. As a result, the optimal PVA fiber ratio is 28.2%, 20.5%, and 20.1% higher than the reference specimen A-1
0.45% for the HSCG. With respect to the reference specimen A-1 con­ containing no admixture, respectively.
taining no PVA fiber, the compressive strength, flexural strength, tensile The mechanical performances of the HSCG with the different con­
strength, normal adhesive strength, thermal aging adhesive strength, tents of the hydrophobic powders are illustrated in Fig. 10. It can be
and soaked adhesive strength of the HSCG with the optimal PVA fiber noted that the hydrophobic powders significantly reduced the overall
content were enhanced by 8.3%, 10.6%, 16.7%, 18.2%, 13.1%, and strengths of the HSCG. The strength reduction was because the hydra­
12.3%, respectively. tion reaction of binding material was restrained by the hydrophobic
powders and the strength was hard to be developed. Although the hy­
drophobic powders could help the HSCG repel water, the adverse effects
on the mechanical behaviors, especially the adhesive strengths, were

Fig. 11. Mechanical performances of the HSCG at the different redispersible polymer powder (RPP) contents.

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Y. Yang et al. Developments in the Built Environment 13 (2023) 100120

Fig. 12. Mechanical performances of the HSCG at different cellulose ether (CE) contents and defoamer (DF) contents.

undesirable. The adhesive strengths under normal, thermal aging, and strength was weakened. At the RPP ratio of 2%, the flexural strength,
soaked conditions were almost lost and were decreased by 52.6%, tensile strength, normal adhesive strength, thermal aging adhesive
78.1%, and 57.5% in comparison with the reference specimen A-1 strength, and soaked adhesive strength were increased by 20.4%,
containing no admixture, respectively, when the HP ratio was 1.2%. 24.3%, 61.3%, 97.5%, and 64.9% with respect to the reference specimen
Without sufficient adhesive strength, the HSCG was not capable of filling A-1 containing no admixture, respectively. In comparison, the
the joints and bonding the permanent formwork. Therefore, the hy­ compressive strength was 20.2% lower than the reference specimen A-1.
drophobic powders were not suggested for preparing the HSCG. The influence of the cellulose ether and defoamer on the mechanical
Fig. 11 shows the performances of the HSCG at the different contents performances of the HSCG is presented in Fig. 12. The addition of the
of redispersible polymer powder. Except for the compressive strength, cellulose ether could improve the adhesive strengths of the HSCG
all other strengths can be improved to some extent by adding the appropriately, while the compressive and tensile strengths were signif­
redispersible polymer powder. This significant enhancement was a icantly reduced by using the cellulose ether. The reduction of the
result of the polymer membrane developed during the dissolving of the compressive and tensile strengths was caused by the foams introduced
redispersible polymer powders. The developed polymer membrane by the cellulose ether. The defoamer can be used as the admixture to
strengthened the bonding of the interface and improved the adhesive minimize the side effect of the cellulose ether by removing the intro­
strength. The positive effects of the redispersible polymer powder duced foams. It can be observed from Fig. 12 that utilization of the
became negligible when the RPP content was over 2%. In order to defoamers could enhance the overall performance of the HSCG. With the
provide sufficient bonding between the grout and the permanent CE ratio of 0.1%, 0.2% of defoamer could almost eliminate the adverse
formwork, the adhesive and tensile strengths of the grout had priority effect of the cellulose ether on the compressive and tensile strengths.
over other strengths. For this reason, the RPP ratio of 2%, which could However, the adverse effect of 0.2% of cellulose ether on tensile strength
provide the optimal adhesive and tensile strength under all conditions, cannot be eliminated by 0.2% of defoamer. As tensile crack failure and
was selected as the optimal content here, even though the compressive adhesive failure are the most common failures of cementitious grout, the

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Y. Yang et al. Developments in the Built Environment 13 (2023) 100120

Table 11
Mechanical performance of the HSCG with different aggregate sizes.
No. Aggregate type Aggregate size (mm) Compressive strength (MPa) Flexural strength (MPa) Tensile strength (MPa) Adhesive strength (MPa)

Normal Thermal aging Soaked

A-1 Type A 0.15–1.18 88.3 14.2 4.57 1.42 1.22 1.54

B-1 Type B 0.15–0.30 104.3 17.2 4.83 1.71 1.61 2.05

Table 12
The mechanical properties of the HSCG with different combinations of admixtures and PVA fiber.
No. Combinations Strength (MPa) Adhesive strength (MPa) Abrasion resistance (h/cm)

Compressive Flexural Tensile Normal Thermal aging Soaked

B-1 Reference 104.3 17.2 4.83 1.71 1.61 2.05 18.11

X-1 EA 107.5 17.6 5.99 1.87 1.74 2.21 20.00
X-2 EA+(CE + DF) 116.3 18.8 6.23 2.23 1.90 2.37 21.33
X-3 EA + RPP+(CE + DF) 112.6 18.7 6.21 2.43 2.63 2.60 20.00
X-4 PVA + EA 107.1 17.8 6.14 1.96 1.79 2.19 21.33
X-5 PVA + EA+ (CE + DF) 116.6 19.2 6.46 2.28 1.94 2.34 22.86
X-6 PVA + EA + RPP+(CE + DF) 108.2 19.3 6.37 2.44 2.44 2.55 21.82

and 16.6% higher than the reference specimen which did not contain
any cellulose ether and defoamer.

3.3. Optimization of aggregate sizes

In Table 11 is shown the effect of different aggregate sizes (i.e., Type

A: 0.15–1.18 mm and Type B: 0.15–0.30 mm) on the strengths of the
HSCG. It can be noticed that the utilization of the finer aggregate (i.e.,
Type B) can effectively improve the mechanical behaviors of the HSCG.
The phenomenon that the cement grout with finer aggregates (i.e., Type
B) presented higher strength in this study was similar to that observed by
Lim et al. (2013). Compared with the specimen with the coarser
aggregate (i.e., Type A), the compressive, flexural, and tensile strengths
of the HSCG with the finer aggregate (i.e., Type B) were increased by
18.1%, 21.1%, and 5.7%, respectively, while its normal, thermal aging,
Fig. 13. The drying shrinkage of the HSCG with different combinations of and soaked adhesive strengths were enhanced by 20.4%, 32.0%, and
admixtures and PVA fiber. 33.1%, respectively. The HSCG with the finer aggregates (i.e., Type B)
had a denser aggregate structure, which resulted in an increase in the
tensile strength should be guaranteed. Hence, the following design used grout strength. Besides, by using the finer sand (i.e., Type B), more fine
the combination of 0.1% cellulose ether and 0.2% defoamer as the particles could permeate the substrate and improve the mechanical
optimal content. With the cellulose ether of 0.1% and the defoamer of interaction between the grout and the substrate, which led to a signifi­
0.2%, the compressive strength, flexural strength, tensile strength, cant enhancement in the adhesive strengths. Hence, the finer sand (i.e.,
normal adhesive strength, thermal aging adhesive strength, and soaked Type B) with a size of 0.15–0.30 mm was better for the HSCG
adhesive strength of the HSCG were 9.7%, 8.7%, 6.0%, 24.6%, 22.4%, preparation.

Fig. 14. Performance of the HSCG with different combinations of admixtures and PVA fiber: (a) normalized mechanical indices of different combinations, (b) the
comprehensive performance for each combination.

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Y. Yang et al. Developments in the Built Environment 13 (2023) 100120

3.4. Optimization of admixture and PVA fiber combination outperformed the commercial cementitious grouts and the
standard-specified cementitious grouts and achieved the development
After obtaining the optimal contents of each admixture and PVA goal of the HSCG.
fiber in the last sections, these admixtures (i.e., expansive agent, redis­ On the other hand, it could be noted in Table 10 that more than 10%
persible polymer powder, and cellulose ether and defoamer) and the of the water reducer was needed to make the optimal mixture meet the
PVA fiber were coupled to optimize the HSCG. The admixture contents fluidity requirement, due to the poor performance of the water reducer.
and the PVA fiber content in each combination were set to the optimal The high contents of water reducers not only lead to the high cost but
content obtained in the last sections. As the result of Section 3.3, the also may influence the long-term durability. The high-performance
finer sand (i.e., type B), which presented better performances, was uti­ water reducer will be used to settle this issue and further improve the
lized for preparing all combinations described in Table 10. The me­ performance of the HSCG in our future work. Additionally, the life cycle
chanical properties of the HSCG with different combinations were analysis on the cost, mechanical performances, sustainability, and car­
tested. The obtained results are demonstrated in Table 12 and Fig. 13. bon emission could be carried out as well to show the superiority of the
In addition to the strength indices, the abrasion resistance and the HSCG over the conventional cementitious grout in future works.
drying shrinkage of the prepared HSCG were evaluated here as well. As
observed in Table 12, the addition of the PVA fiber, expansive agent, 4. Conclusion
cellulose ether, and defoamer could strengthen the abrasion resistance,
while the redispersible polymer powder has harm on the abrasion This study targeted developing a high strength cementitious grout
resistance. This negative influence is because the redispersible polymer (HSCG) for filling UPHC formwork joints and integrating the UPHC
powder reduced the compressive strength of the HSCG. And the abrasion permanent formwork system. Based on the compressive, tensile, flex­
resistance was positively related to the concrete compressive strengths ural, and adhesive strengths, the PVA fiber content, admixture contents
(Wang et al., 2017; Atiş, 2002; Horszczaruk, 2005). and aggregate sizes of the HSCG were optimized. As the hydrophobic
It can be noted from Fig. 13 that the expansive agent could signifi­ powder dramatically decreased the adhesive strengths of the grout by
cantly reduce the drying shrinkage of the HSCG and other admixtures more than 50%, it was not recommended for preparing the HSCG. In
had little effect on the initial shrinkage of the HSCG. However, the contrast, the suitable addition of the PVA fiber, expansive agent (EA),
utilization of the redispersible polymer powder and the PVA fiber redispersible polymer powder (RPP), and cellulose ether (CE) presented
dramatically increased the final shrinkage (i.e., the drying shrinkage a positive effect on the overall strength of the HSCG. The optimal con­
after 28 days of curing) of the HSCG and eliminated the expansive effect tents of the PVA fiber, EA, RPP, and CE were 0.45%, 6%, 2%, and 0.1%,
caused by the expansive agent. This phenomenon is due to the flaw respectively. For eliminating the bubble introduced by the CE, 0.1% of
introduced into the HSCG by the redispersible polymer powder and the CE needs to be combined with 0.2% of defoamer during the utilization.
high fraction of PVA fiber. In comparison with the coarse aggregate (i.e., Type A), the finer one (i.
The strengths, abrasion resistance, and 28 days drying shrinkage of e., Type B) could improve all strength indices of the HSCG, especially the
the different combinations were normalized by using Eq. (2) and Eq. (3), adhesive strength. With the optimal content of the admixtures and the
and the normalized indices are illustrated in Fig. 14 (a). As described in PVA fiber, the three selected admixtures and the PVA fiber were coupled
section 2.5, the comprehensive performance of the different combina­ to modify the HSCG simultaneously, and six different combinations were
tions could be assessed by the weighted sum of all normalized indices. considered here. In terms of strengths, drying shrinkage, and water
The obtained results are presented in Fig. 14 (b). The comparison be­ abrasion resistance, the mixture of (6% of EA+2% of RPP+0.1% of
tween X-1, X-2, X-3 and X-4, X-5, X-6 in Fig. 14 (b) presented that the CE+0.2% of defoamer) outperformed other mixtures with the best
addition of PVA fibers had little influence on the comprehensive per­ comprehensive performance. And it was the optimal admixture combi­
formance. In consideration of the material cost, the PVA fiber was not nation for preparing the HSCG.
suggested for the HSCG. It can be noted from Fig. 14 (b) that the com­
bination X-3 had the highest scores among the six combinations. Credit author statement
Although the drying shrinkage of X-3 was higher than X-1 and X-2, X-3
had comparatively higher adhesive strengths, which was desired for the Yibo Yang: Methodology, Supervision, Funding acquisition, Writing
HSCG. Therefore, the combination X-3 was regarded as the optimal – review & editing. Baixi Chen: Methodology, Investigation, Formal
combination for the HSCG. Compared with reference specimen B-1, the analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Yong
normal, thermal aging, and soaked adhesive strengths of X-3 were Chen: Methodology, Investigation, Data curation. Fucai Liu: Investi­
enhanced by 42.1%, 63.4%, and 26.8%, respectively. The compressive, gation, Funding acquisition Xiangming Xie: Investigation, Funding
flexural, and tensile strengths of X-3 were 8.0%, 8.7%, and 28.6% higher acquisition Wenying Guo: Methodology, Supervision Hengchang
than the reference specimen B-1, respectively. In addition, with respect Wang: Methodology, Supervision.
to the mixture containing no admixture, the utilization of the combi­
nation X-3 could improve the abrasion resistance by 10.4% and reduce
the drying shrinkage by 9.5% as well. Declaration of competing interest
According to the standard ISO13007–1:2014 (Inter­
national-Organization-for-Standardization, 2014), the desired adhesive The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
strengths of normal and improved cementitious grout are ≥0.5 MPa and interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
≥1.0 MPa, respectively. Peng et al. (2021) compared four types of the work reported in this paper.
commercial high-performance cementitious grouts. Their results indi­
cated that the four grouts’ adhesive strengths on the concrete substrate, Data availability
which did not have roughness treatment, were usually lower than 2.0
MPa under the normal condition. The cementitious grout with an ad­ Data will be made available on request.
hesive strength of ≥2.0 MPa was superior to most of the currently
available cementitious grouts and was desired in this study. As shown in Acknowledgements
Table 12, the adhesive strengths of the optimal combination X-3 under
all conditions reached over 2.4 MPa, which was 20% larger than the This research was funded by the Water Resource Science and Tech­
desired value and was more than twice the standard value of improved nology Innovation Program of Guangdong Province, China (No.
cementitious grout. Therefore, it can be claimed that the mixture X-3 2017–22).

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Y. Yang et al. Developments in the Built Environment 13 (2023) 100120

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