Proceedings of International Structural Engineering and Construction, 11(2), 2024

Developing Materials and Structures for Sustainable Engineering

Edited by Gribniak, V., Rimkus, A., Holschemacher, K., Quapp, U., Singh, A., and Yazdani, S.
Copyright © 2024 ISEC Press
ISSN: 2644-108X
www.doi.org/10.14455/ISEC.2024.11(2).CGC-08

PACKING ORDER THEORY FOR ULTRA-HIGH

PERFORMANCE CONCRETE MIX DESIGN: A
CRITICAL REVIEW
AMIN AKHNOUKH1 and MOHAMED DIAB2
1
Construction Management Dept, East Carolina Univ, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
2
Construction Management Dept, Minnesota State Univ Mankato, Mankato, Minnesota, USA

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), also known as reactive powder concrete

(RPC), is a relatively new construction material with improved mechanical properties
and long-term performance. UHPC is manufactured using a specific matrix of well-
graded granular particles including Portland cement, supplementary cementitious
materials (SCMs), and fine aggregates. The cementitious material matrix is hydrated
using a relatively low water-to-powder ratio and high range water reducing chemicals
(HRWR). The hydrated mix is augmented with high grade random steel fibers. UHPC
superior mechanical performance and durability is attributed to the high packing order
of the granular materials within the UHPC mix resulting in lower voids, reduced
permeability, and high density. Accordingly, UHPC design depends on proportioning
the mix granular material to produce minimal void content (i.e., produce highest packing
order). This research paper discusses UHPC mix constituents, proprietary UHPC mix
designs, sizes of granular particles, and resulting packing order. Moreover, a critical
review of the particles packing order approach used in UHPC mix design is presented.
Possible improvement of UHPC mix design may result in economic mixes, enhanced
mechanical properties, and increased durability.
Keywords: UHPC, Packing orders, Voids, Density, Cement, Fine aggregates, Fibers.

1 INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), also known as reactive powder concrete (RPC), is a
relatively new construction material with improved mechanical properties and long-term
performance characteristics. UHPC is manufactured using a specific matrix of well graded granular
particles including fine Portland cement, supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) with
pozzolanic effect as micro-silica, fly ash, metakaolin, or blast furnace slag, and very well graded
fine sand (Akhnoukh 2008, Akhnoukh 2018a, Akhnoukh 2018b, Akhnoukh and Ekhande 2021).
UHPC granular matrix is hydrated using low water-to-powder ratio and high range water reducing
chemicals (HRWR). High grade random steel fibers are added to proprietary UHPC mixes to
enhance the hardened concrete ductility. Current proprietary UHPC mixes include ductal
developed and marketed by LaFarge-Holcim, BSI “Beton Special Industrial” developed by Eiffage,
Cemtec developed by LPC. Mix designs for several types of proprietary UHPX mixes are shown
in Table 1. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), UHPC is defined as “a
cementitious composite material composed of an optimized gradation of granular constituents, a
water-to-cement ratio less than 0.25, and a high percentage of discontinuous internal fiber

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reinforcement.” UHPC minimum compressive strength is greater than 150 MPa and sustained post
cracking tensile strength greater than 5 MPa (Graybeal 2014).

Table 1. Mix designs for different proprietary UHPC mixes.

Cor-tuf Mix Cemtec Mix CRC mix

Material Kg/m3 Kg/m3 Kg/m3
Portland Cement 790 1050 861
Sand 765 514 792
Silica Flour 216 - 215
Silica Fume 308 268 215
HRWR 14 44 9.5
Steel Fibers 247 858 218
Water 166 180 220

Recently, several research programs investigated the possibility of producing economic non-
proprietary UHPC mixes. Non-proprietary mixes were successfully developed with comparable
compressive strength by using mix constituents available at the local market and/or through the
elimination of random steel fibers to minimize the cost of the final product (Akhnoukh 2020,
Akhnoukh and Ekhande 2021). UHPC superior characteristics and mechanical properties are
attributed to the high packing order of the mix granular constituents, low water-to-powder ratio,
and steel fibers ductility. This paper focuses on the UHPC mix constituents, the impact of the
granular materials packing order, and critically evaluate the effectiveness of packing order theory
used in UHPC mix design.
The cementitious content of UHPC mixes includes fine Portland cement and SCMs with high
pozzolanic activity. SCMs play an important role in UHPC superior properties. First, SCMs reacts
with calcium hydroxide resulting from the hydration of Portland cement resulting in additional
binder content and reduced efflorescence. Second, the fine size of SCMs results in increased
packing order of mix constituents which reduces air voids and increase hardened concrete density.
Additional research findings suggest that inclusion of SCMs results in the mitigation of alkali-silica
and alkali-carbonate reactivity within hardened concrete. The mitigation of these deleterious
reactions results in increased concrete durability (Akhnoukh 2013, Akhnoukh et al. 2016,
Akhnoukh 2019, Akhnoukh and Ekhande 2021).
The enhancement of UHPC mix packing order is highly dependent on the fineness of granular
constituents, constituents’ gradation, and the ability to effectively pre-blend all granular
constituents (cement, SCMs, and fine sand) prior to adding the designated amount of water,
HRWRs, and random steel fibers. Typically, proprietary UHPC mixes includes 2% to 3% of voids
as compared to 6% to 9% of voids in normal strength concrete mixes.

2 UHPC MIX DESIGN THEORIES

Different UHPC mix design theories are introduced for optimized mix design of proprietary UHPC
mixes. Researchers proposed mix optimization using a combination of aggregates using aggregate
shapes, sizes, and bulk density to create an optimized aggregate constituent within the mix (Wille
et al. 2011, and Meng et al. 2017). Other researchers proposed a different approach where a cement
paste is designed including Portland cement and SCMs followed by the incorporation of aggregates
and fibers to produce optimized UHPC mix design (Graybeal 2013). Finally, the particle packing
order theory was introduced to the UHPC mix design. The philosophy of this technique is that the
particle size distribution and their packing order will significantly impact the density of the

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 Proceedings of International Structural Engineering and Construction, 11(2), 2024
Developing Materials and Structures for Sustainable Engineering

developed concrete mix. Thus, both the fresh and hardened properties of the UHPC are affected
(Hunger and Brouwers 2006). For UHPC to have superior strength and long-term performance,
the mix are generally designed according to the packing order theory to decrease the concrete
porosity (El-Tawil et al. 2018). Details of the packing order theory, its advantages, and critique
are provided in the following sections.

3 PACKING ORDER MIX DESIGN OF UHPC

The particle packing theory is based on decreasing the UHPC concrete porosity by filling the air
voids among granular particles using smaller size constituents, as shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of particles packing order in conventional and UHPC mixes.

Many particle packing models are available and used by different researchers. The most
common model is known as The Anderson and Anderson (A&A) theory, as shown in the following
equation (Eq. 1):
!!
𝑃(𝐷) = ! (1)
!"#$

Where D is the particle size (in micro meters), P(D) is the volume fraction of the total solids
small than size D, and Dmax is the maximum particle soze (in micro meters)m and q is the
distribution modulus. Due to the fact that the A&A model does not consider the minimum particle
size, a modified Anderson model was developed. The modified Anderson model is considered
more appropriate as t considers both maximum and minimum sizes of mix constituents. The
modified Anderson model is represented by the following equation (Eq. 2):
!
! ! "!"%&
𝑃(𝐷) = !! ! (2)
"#$ "!"%&

4 PACKING ORDER THEORY CRITIQUE

The modified Anderson model is currently used for UHPC mix design by optimizing the packing
order of granular mix constituents. Despite the successful use of the packing order theory is UHPC
mix design and development, major critique exist and represent a debate among academicians and
design professionals. First, the extreme fineness of granular mix constituents, mainly cement and
SCMs result in strong interparticle forces. These forces, and relevant impact, is not accounted for

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Gribniak, V., Rimkus, A., Holschemacher, K., Quapp, U., Singh, A., and Yazdani, S. (eds.)

in the afore-mentioned models. Also, when wet mixing starts (upon the addition of water and
HRWR), the interaction between particles is changed. The change due to wet mixing is not
considered (Meng et al. 2017). Other factors affecting the particle packing order including the
particle shape (angular, subangular, rounded, and subrounded) is not considered. Finally, the
surface condition of the granular constituent is typically ignored. These ignored parameters may
result in deviations in UHPC mix design. Additional research is required to introduce empirical
non-dimensional constants to account for particle fineness, impact of moisture content, and particle
shape to enhance the packing order theory.

5 CONCLUSIONS
UHPC concrete mixes depends on the selection of mix constituents with superior quality to ensure
improved mechanical properties and long-term performance. Several theories and design
techniques are used in proportioning mix constituents. Currently, the packing order of granular
mix constituents is being used in UHPC mix design. The main objective of the packing order
theory is to minimize porosity by reducing air voids in concrete. Mix constituents are selected
according to modified Anderson model which enable the designer to select and proportion the mix
granular constituents that result in optimized density. Additional research is required to address
concerns regarding the modified Anderson theory. Mainly, inclusion of interparticle forces, the
impact of water and chemical effects on particles inter-relations and ensuring that particle shape
and surface condition is taken into consideration. The adjustment of the packing order theory will
result in a better understanding of resulting UHPC mix properties and provides researchers and
industry practitioners with improved UHPC design techniques.

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