Effect of Slag Particle Size on Fracture Toughness of Concrete

Abstract

The effects of particle size of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) on the fracture energy, critical stress intensity, and strength of concrete are experimentally studied. Three fineness levels of GGBS of 4000, 5000, 6000 cm2/g were used. In addition to the control mixture without slag, two slag replacement levels of 20% and 40% by weight of the cementitious material were selected for preparing the concrete mixtures. The control mixture was designed to have a target compressive strength at 28 days of 62 MPa, while the water to cementitious material ratio was selected as 0.35 for all mixtures. Test results indicate that using finer slag in concrete may improve the filling effect and the reactivity of slag, resulting in a larger strength enhancement. The compressive strength of slag concrete was found to increase in conjunction with the fineness level of the slag presented in the mixture. Use of finer slag presents a beneficial effect on the fracture energy (GF) of concrete, even at an early age, and attains a higher increment of GF at later age (56 days). This implicates that the finer slag can have a unique effect on the enhancement of the fracture resistance of concrete. The test results of the critical stress intensity factor (KSIC) of the slag concretes have a similar tendency as that of the fracture energy, indicating that the finer slag may present an increase in the fracture toughness of concrete.