Optimization of Graphene Oxide Incorporated in Fly Ash-Based Self-Compacting Concrete

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) was developed to overcome the challenges of concrete placement in dense or congested reinforcement structure, where the concrete can flow under its own weight to fill the densely reinforced structure. However, production of SCC mostly involves the use of high cement to achieve the desired strength. Therefore, to reduce the needed amount of cement, pozzolanic materials such as fly ash can be used to partially replace cement. However, fly ash has been reported to decrease the strengths of concrete especially at early ages. In this study, a self-compacting concrete (SCC) was developed with fly ash as a basic replacement material considering the efficiency of fly ash and incorporating graphene oxide (GO) as a cement additive to counteract the negative effect of fly ash. Response surface methodology (RSM) was utilized for designing the experiments, investigating the effects of fly ash and GO on SCC properties, and developing mathematical models for predicting mechanical properties of SCC. The ranges of fly ash and graphene oxide were 16.67 to 35% and zero to 0.05%, respectively. Statistical analysis was performed by using Design Expert software (version 11.0, Stat Ease Inc., Minneapolis, MS, USA). The results showed that fly ash had a positive effect while GO had a negative effect on the workability of SCC. The incorporation of fly ash alone decreased the compressive strength (CS), splitting tensile strength (STS) and flexural strength (FS), and additionally, increased the porosity of SCC. The addition of GO to fly ash-based SCC reduced its porosity and enhanced its mechanical strengths which was more pronounced at early ages. The developed models for predicting the mechanical strengths of fly ash-based SCC containing GO have a very high degree of correlation. Therefore, the models can predicts the strengths of SCC using fly ash and GO as the variables with a high level of accuracy. The findings show that based on the EFNARC guidelines, up to 35% of fly ash can be used to replace cement in SCC to achieve a mix with satisfactory flowability and deformability properties