Influence of aggregate–binder and water–binder ratios on pervious concrete properties: An RSM approach

K.S.  Elango; Jayaprakash  Sridhar; Vivek  Deivasigamani; Saravanakumar  Ramasamy; Revathi  Vaiyapuri

doi:10.62638/ZasMat1583

Authors

Elango Krishnan Soundararajan Department of Civil Engineering, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7669-9490
Jayaprakash Sridhar Department of Civil Engineering, GMR Institute of Technology, Rajam, Andhra Pradesh, India Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4058-1703
Vivek Deivasigamani Department of Civil Engineering, Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1588-2045
Saravanakumar Ramasamy Department of Civil Engineering, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9817-9456
Revathi Vaiyapuri Department of Civil Engineering, K.S.R. College of Engineering, Tiruchengode, Tamilnadu, India Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4703-1990

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62638/ZasMat1583

Abstract

Pervious concrete is a special type of concrete being used in construction industry and offering a sustainable solution for storm water management and ground water recharge. This research focuses on Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with a Box- Behnken design to systematically evaluate different parameters such as aggregate size, quantities of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and coarse aggregate content for analysing the influence the mechanical performance of pervious concrete mixes. Through comprehensive testing and statistical analysis, the study uncovers complex interactions of the mix components, facilitating the identification of optimal formulations to achieve a balance between strength and sustainability for diverse applications. In this present study, nine mixes were performed with varying Aggregate Binder (A/B) and Water Binder (W/B) ratio ranging from 3 - 2.9 and 0.3 - 0.35. All the mixes were tried with OPC and PPC binders using aggregate sizes viz. 6.3 mm, 9.4mm and 12.5 mm respectively. Test results proved that, mix containing more binder content with higher water cement ratio (M9) showcased higher mechanical strength properties than other mixes (M1-M8) due to enriched paste coating around the aggregate surface. Mix M1 has shown higher permeability and porosity due to lesser binder quantity and the adequate water-cement ratio results in slower rate of hydration process resulting in more void formation. Better strength properties are observed in smaller size aggregates which attributed to a dense microstructure. Increase in aggregate size results in decrease in strength whereas permeability and porosity increase.

Keywords:

Response Surface Methodology, Aggregate Binder Ratio, Water Binder Ratio, Pervious Concrete, Aggregate Size

Supporting Agencies

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other financial support were received during the preparation and execution of this research work

References

S. Park, S. Ju, H.K. Kim, Y.S. Seo, S. Pyo (2022) Effect of the rheological properties of fresh binder on the compressive strength of pervious concrete, J. Mater. Res. Technol., 17, 636–648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2022.01.045

J. Sun, J. Zhang, Y. Gu, Y. Huang, Y. Sun, G. Ma (2019) Prediction of permeability and unconfined compressive strength of pervious concrete using evolved support vector regression, Constr. Build. Mater., 207, 440–449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.02.117

Y. Shin, H.M. Park, J. Park, H. Cho, S.E. Oh, S.Y. Chung, B. Yang (2022) Effect of polymer binder on the mechanical and microstructural properties of pervious pavement materials, Constr. Build. Mater., 325, 126209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.126209

S. Bright Singh, M. Murugan (2022) Effect of aggregate size on properties of polypropylene and glass fibre-reinforced pervious concrete, Int. J. Pavement Eng., 23(6), 2034–2048. https://doi.org/10.1080/10298436.2020.1836562

P. Zhao, X. Liu, J. Zuo, H. Huangfu, R. Liu, X. Xie, X. Wang, T. Li, D. Liu, S.P. Shah (2024) Research on the strength prediction for pervious concrete based on design porosity and water-to-cement ratio, Rev. Adv. Mater. Sci., 63(1). https://doi.org/10.1515/rams-2022-0335

A. Mulu, P. Jacob, G.S. Dwarakish (2022) Hydraulic performance of pervious concrete based on small size aggregates, Adv. Mater. Sci. Eng., 2022, 2973255. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/2973255

O. Deo, N. Neithalath (2010) Compressive behavior of pervious concretes and a quantification of the influence of random pore structure features, Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 528(1), 402–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2010.09.024

K.S. Elango, V. Revathi (2017) Fal-G binder pervious concrete, Constr. Build. Mater., 140, 91–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.02.086

R.A. Armstrong, S.V. Slade, F. Eperjesi (2000) Statistical review: An introduction to analysis of variance (ANOVA) with special reference to data from clinical experiments in optometry, Ophthalmic Physiol. Opt. www.elsevier.com/locate/ophopt

J. Sridhar, D. Jegatheeswaran, R. Gobinath (2022) A DOE (response surface methodology) approach to predict the strength properties of concrete incorporated with jute and bamboo fibres and silica fumes, Adv. Civ. Eng., 2022, 1150837. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/1150837

ACI 522 R-10 (Reapproved 2011) Report on pervious concrete, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, MI, USA.

M.M. Muda, A.M. Legese, G. Urgessa, T. Boja (2023) Strength, porosity and permeability properties of porous concrete made from recycled concrete aggregates, Constr. Mater., 3(1), 81–92. https://doi.org/10.3390/constrmater3010006

H.H. Almasaeid, D.G. Salman (2022) Application of artificial neural network to predict the properties of permeable concrete, Civ. Eng. Archit., 10(6), 2290–2305. https://doi.org/10.13189/cea.2022.100605

H. Liu, G. Luo, H. Wei, H. Yu (2018) Strength, permeability, and freeze-thaw durability of pervious concrete with different aggregate sizes, porosities, and water-binder ratios, Appl. Sci., 8(8), 1217. https://doi.org/10.3390/app8081217

R. Wu, S. Shi, Y. Shen, C. Hu, M. Luo, Z. Gan, B. Xiao, Z. Wang (2022) Effects of different factors on the performance of recycled aggregate permeable pavement concrete, Mater., 15(13), 4566. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15134566

V. Banevičienė, J. Malaiškienė, R. Boris, J. Zach (2022) The effect of active additives and coarse aggregate granulometric composition on the properties and durability of pervious concrete, Mater., 15(3), 1035. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15031035

K. Ferić, V. Sathish Kumar, A. Romić, H. Gotovac (2023) Effect of aggregate size and compaction on the strength and hydraulic properties of pervious concrete, Sustainability, 15(2), 1146. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021146

S. Marathe, M. Nieświec, B. Gronostajska (2024) Alkali-activated permeable concretes with agro-industrial wastes for a sustainable built environment, Mater., 18(1), 87. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18010087

M. Ziccarelli (2025) Mix design of pervious concrete in geotechnical engineering applications, Mater., 18(9), 1909. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18091909

A. Akkaya, İ.H. Çağatay (2024) Investigation of the effect of compression force on the tensile strength and infiltration rate of pervious concrete blocks, Buildings, 14(11), 3689. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14113689

H. Lv, Z. Xiong, H. Li, J. Liu, G. Xu, H. Chen (2025) Investigating the mechanical properties and water permeability of recycled pervious concrete using three typical gradation schemes, Buildings, 15(3), 358. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15030358

H. Bilal, X. Gao, L. Cavaleri, A. Khan, M. Ren (2024) Mechanical, durability, and microstructure characterization of pervious concrete incorporating polypropylene fibers and fly ash/silica fume, J. Compos. Sci., 8(11), 456. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs8110456

X. Bai, H. Zhou, X. Bian, X. Chen, C. Ren (2024) Compressive strength, permeability, and abrasion resistance of pervious concrete incorporating recycled aggregate, Sustainability, 16(10), 4063. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16104063

Y. Moodi, S.R. Mousavi, A. Ghavidel, M.R. Sohrabi, M. Rashki (2018) Using response surface methodology and providing a modified model using whale algorithm for estimating the compressive strength of columns confined with FRP sheets, Constr. Build. Mater., 183, 163–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.06.081

G. Yu, S. Zhu, Z. Xiang (2024) The prediction of pervious concrete compressive strength based on a convolutional neural network, Buildings, 14(4), 907. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14040907

A. Hammoudi, K. Moussaceb, C. Belebchouche, F. Dahmoune (2019) Comparison of artificial neural network (ANN) and response surface methodology (RSM) prediction in compressive strength of recycled concrete aggregates, Constr. Build. Mater., 209, 425–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.03.119

M. Adresi, A. Yamani, M.K. Tabarestani, G.H. Nalon (2024) A prediction model for the unconfined compressive strength of pervious concrete based on mix design and compaction energy variables using the response surface methodology, Buildings, 14(9), 2834. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14092834

M. Aziminezhad, M. Mahdikhani, M.M. Memarpour (2018) RSM-based modeling and optimization of self-consolidating mortar to predict acceptable ranges of rheological properties, Constr. Build. Mater., 189, 1200–1213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.09.019

S.J.S. Chelladurai, R. Arthanari, A.N. Thangaraj, H. Sekar (2017) Dry sliding wear characterization of squeeze cast LM13/FeCu composite using response surface methodology, China Foundry, 14(6), 525–533. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41230-017-7101-3

S.J.S. Chelladurai, R. Arthanari, R. Selvarajan, R. Kanagaraj, P. Angappan (2018) Investigation on microstructure and tensile behaviour of stir cast LM13 aluminium alloy reinforced with copper coated short steel fibers using response surface methodology, Trans. Indian Inst. Met., 71(9), 2221–2230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12666-018-1353-5

IS 12269-2013 Specification for grade 53 ordinary portland cement, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, India.

IS 1489 Part 1-1991 (Reaffirmed 2014) Specification for portland pozzolana cement, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, India.

IS 2386 Part 1-1963 (Reaffirmed 2011) Methods of test for aggregates for concrete – particle size and shape, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, India.

IS 516-1959 (Reaffirmed 2013) Methods for test for strength of concrete, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, India.

IS 5816-1999 (Reaffirmed 2013) Splitting tensile strength of concrete method of test, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, India.

ASTM Standard Test Method for density, absorption, and voids in hardened concrete, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, USA.

K.S. Elango, V. Revathi (2019) Infiltration and clogging characteristics of pervious concrete, Asian J. Civ. Eng., 20(8), 1119–1127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42107-019-00170-w