Mechanical properties of high-performance concrete by replacing cement with quaternary cementitious material with lignin as an additive material

Abstract

The performance of the preponderance of materials can be described by characteristics dependent on their mechanical properties. These parameters can include strength, strain, and stiffness. Strength or stiffness alone is insufficient to characterize fiber-reinforced concrete’s behavior. This study investigates and analyses the mechanical properties of High-performance fiber-reinforced concrete developed with Lignin and brass-coated micro steel fiber. Cementitious elements such as Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Slag, Metakaolin, Alcoofine-1203 and Granite powder are used in conjunction with cement to create High-Performance Concrete. It was found that a mix ratio of 1:1.17:2.20 yielded an M60-grade of concrete using water-to-cement proportion of 0.32. Brass-coated micro steel fibers were used, and the flexural toughness was measured according to ASTM C1018. The toughness index of the structural member was calculated, together with its equivalent flexural Strength, with the application of three-point loading. These results suggest that the brass coating on the mild steel fiber significantly impacts the flexural toughness characteristics of the three-point bending beam specimen. When increasing the percentage of brass-coated micro steel fiber ranging from 0.5% to 2%, the flexural toughness parameters progressively enhance. It is found that 1.5% of fiber depicts the maximum Strength and toughness.