Study on Self-Compacting Concrete with Sustainable Materials

The current study experimentally probes into the possibilities of using M-sand with ground granulated blast furnace slag in Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC). The Ground granulated blast furnace slag is a by-product material obtained through the blast-furnaces used to make iron. Dumping of this waste material near to the industries creates land pollution. The research analyses the potential of GGBS when it is added at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50% by weight instead of cement in the preparation of SCC. M-sand was also used instead of natural fine aggregate at 20, 40, 60 and 80% by weight. An evaluation of the Fresh and hardened properties of the samples was also done. Efforts were made to study in detail the microstructure of the SCC specimens by subjecting it to Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X ray Analyzer (EDAX) analysis. In order to achieve the required flow parameters, superplasticizer was added. Likewise, fly ash (FA) was employed as an additional mineral admixture to the components. The results revealed that the inclusion of M-sand with the GGBS increases the compressive strength of SCC to about 55.55 MPa with 20% replacement of GGBS which helps to reduce the CO2 emission due to cement industries.