Investigation on Performance of Concrete Incorporating Silica Fume and Local UAE Materials

Abstract

In an effort to reduce the amount of cement in the concrete industry and produce greener concrete, emphasis was put on using several industrial by-products such as silica fume, fly ash and slag as partial replacements for cement in concrete. Due to the enormous number of mega reinforced concrete projects constructed in the United Arab Emirates, it is considered to be one of the largest consumers of high strength concrete in the region. On the other hand, only limited research has been done on high strength concrete incorporating local materials in the UAE. The main objective of this research is to conduct an investigation on the performance of high strength concrete containing silica fume as partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement incorporating superplasticizers and local UAE materials by studying its mechanical properties and durability. The experimental program involved two groups: The first group had a water-to-binder material ratio (w/b) of 0.4, whereas, the second group had w/b = 0.3. For both groups the silica fume replacement percentages were 0 (control mix) 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, and 15 percent. The mechanical properties were tested at 7, 28, and 91 days and the durability tests were performed at 28 days. The results were compared to the control mix and they showed that for all the curing ages studied the use of silica fume as partial replacement of OPC has favorable effect on the compressive strength values and the optimum replacement ratios of silica fume for the tested specimens are found to be at 12.5% and 10% replacement for the w/b ratios of 0.3 and 0.4, respectively. For all the four performed durability tests the replacement of the OPC with silica fume is found to have favorable results and the higher the silica fume percentage replacement of OPC the more favorable the results are. The detailed description of the used mixes and the main conclusions drawn from this research are presented in this paper