Performance of self-compacting concrete containing different mineral admixtures

Self-Compacting Concrete is an innovative concrete that does not require vibration for placing and compaction. It is able to flow under its own weight, completely filling formwork and achieving full compaction, even in the presence of congested reinforcement. One of the disadvantages of self-compacting concrete is its cost, associated with the use of high volumes of Portland cement and use of chemical admixtures. One alternative to reduce the cost of self-compacting concrete is the use of mineral admixtures such as silica fume, ground granulated blast furnace slag and fly ash, which is finely, divided materials added to concrete during mixture procedure. When these mineral admixtures replace a part of the Portland cement, the cost of self-compacting concrete will be reduced especially if the mineral admixtures are waste or industrial by-product. Moreover, the use of mineral admixtures in the production of self-compacting concrete not only provides economical benefits but also reduces heat of hydration. The incorporation of mineral admixtures also eliminates the need for viscosity-enhancing chemical admixtures. The lower water content of the concrete leads to higher durability, in addition to better mechanical integrity of the structure. This paper presents an experimental investigation on strength aspects like compressive, flexural and split tensile strength of self compacting concrete containing different mineral admixtures and workability tests for different mineral admixtures (slump, L-box, U-box and T-50) are carried out. The methodology adopted is that mineral admixtures are replaced by 30%, 40% and 50% for Portland cement and performance is measured and compared. The influence of mineral admixtures on the workability, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural strength of self-compacting concrete was investigated. The mix proportion is obtained as per the guidelines given by European Federation of producers and contractors of special products for structure. The following inferences were made; optimum dosage of super plasticizer enhanced the flow property of the concrete. As a result, overall improvements in the flow and filling ability of the self-compacting concrete were observed. It is observed that when mineral admixtures used in self-compacting concrete, can reduce the amount of super-plasticizer necessary to achieve a given fluidity. It should be noted that the effect of mineral admixtures on admixture requirements is significantly dependent on their particle size distribution as well as particle shape and surface characteristics. From this view point, a cost effective self-compacting concrete design can be obtained by incorporating reasonable amounts of silica fume, fly ash, and ground granulated blast furnace slag.