Investigation of Mechanical Properties, Durability and Microstructure of Low-Clinker High-Performance Concretes Incorporating Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag, Siliceous Fly Ash and Silica Fume

Abstract

The main assumption of eco-efficient High-Performance Concrete (HPC) design is the reduction of Portland cement clinker content without negatively affecting the composite’s mechanical and durability properties. In this paper, three low-clinker HPC mixtures incorporating slag cement (CEM III/B as per EN 197-1) and Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs)—Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS), Siliceous Fly Ash (SFA) and Silica Fume (SF)—were designed. The maximum amount of Portland cement clinker from CEM III/B varied from 64 to 116 kg in 1 m3 of concrete mix. The compressive strength of HPC at 2, 7, 14, 28, 56, 90 days, and 2 years after casting, as well as the modulus of elasticity on 2-year-old specimens, was tested. The depth of water penetration under pressure and internal frost resistance in freeze–thaw tests were evaluated after 56 days of curing. Additionally, the concrete pH value tests were performed. The microstructure of 2-year-old HPC specimens was analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The research proved that it is possible to obtain low-clinker High-Performance Concretes that reach compressive strength of 76–92 MPa after 28 days of curing, show high values of modulus of elasticity (49–52 GPa) as well as increased resistance to frost and water penetration under pressure.

Predicting compressive strength of green concrete using hybrid artificial neural network with genetic algorithm

“…In this study, in order to develop a prediction model for the compressive strength of green concrete, data was collected from the literature 6,16,18,20,22,[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] and the University of California, Irvine Machine Learning Repository. 59 A comprehensive dataset was constructed, which included 2479 experimental data of the compressive strength of green concrete prepared from binary, ternary, and quaternary cementitious binders.…”

“…6,17,20,21 The increase of CS is mainly due to the microstructure and interface transition zone (ITZ) improvement by adding SCMs. 11,22,23 The CS of concrete can be obtained through experiments and prediction models, but the latter method is more simple and fast, which could save time, resources, and costs. In previous studies, scholars have developed a series of normal concrete CS prediction models.…”

“…The long‐term compressive strength of concrete with SCMs is generally higher than that of normal concrete, whether single or compound‐mixed method 6,17,20,21 . The increase of CS is mainly due to the microstructure and interface transition zone (ITZ) improvement by adding SCMs 11,22,23 . The CS of concrete can be obtained through experiments and prediction models, but the latter method is more simple and fast, which could save time, resources, and costs.…”

Special Issue Advances in High-Performance of Eco-Efficient Concrete

“…Katarzyna Konieczna, Karol Chilmon and Wioletta Jackiewicz-Rek [6] show that the main assumption of eco-efficient High-Performance Concrete (HPC) design is the reduction in Portland cement clinker content without negatively affecting the composite's mechanical and durability properties. In this paper, three low-clinker HPC mixtures incorporating slag cement (CEM III/B as per EN 197-1) and Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs)-Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS), Siliceous Fly Ash (SFA) and Silica Fume (SF)-were designed.…”

Investigation of the Cementing Efficiency of Fly Ash Activated by Microsilica in Low-Cement Concrete

“…The main way to increase the criterion L in modern concrete technology is by using active mineral additives in combination with superplasticizers [4,5]. The main qualitative indicator of mineral additives is their pozzolanic activity due to the increased reactivity of their constituent silicate and aluminosilicate compounds.…”