Physico-mechanical and sulfate resistance evaluation of concrete made with ground granulated blast-furnace slag.
الملخص
Abstract: In recent years, with the aim of restricting the formation of ettringite and reducing the environmental impact associated with cement manufacturing, the incorporation of ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) as a partial replacement of cement has become a common tendency, due to its efficiency in enhancing the physico-mechanical properties of concrete. This research study reports the experimental results on the properties of concrete containing GGBS at different partial cement substitution levels (0, 50, and 75%). A total of three concrete mixes were manufactured using a water/cement ratio (w/c) of 0.55 and binder: sand: aggregate proportion of 1: 2: 3. Thereafter, a physico-mechanical evaluation including slump test, compactability degree test, unconfined compression strength (UCS) test, tensile splitting strength (TSS) test and sulfate attack, were performed to assess the concrete performance. The experimental results suggested that, although the use of GGBS as a partial cement replacement slightly affects the mechanical performance at the early curing age, its usage improves the consistency and yielded a higher residual mechanical performance after immersion in sulfate solution, particularly at higher substitution level (75%).