Effect of design parameters on the proportioning of mass concrete using fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag

Massive concrete placed in heavy structures such as dams, reservoirs, bridge piers, and so on are referred to as mass concrete. This concrete contains large size aggregates namely 40 mm, 80 mm and 150 mm. Nowadays, supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) are used in order to control the heat of hydration and different SCMs are recommended by the codes of practice namely fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag. Recently bureau of Indian standard has published the design guidelines for the design of mass concrete which is in line with many other international codes of practices. In order to understand the importance of mass concrete mix design and the influence of different ingredients, a parametric study is made using combinations of cement and fly ash or slag as per the provisions of IS:10262-2019. Different grades namely M15, M20, M25 and M30 are considered for different design stipulations. For mix design, an excel programme is generated and the influence of various parameters namely cement content, maximum size of aggregate, water cementitious ratio is studied. One complete mix proportioning is demonstrated for M20 grade concrete for moderate exposure keeping in mind the importance of trial mixes for complete understanding. Conclusions are drawn based on the computed results. Copyright (C) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.