Eco-mechanical performance of binary and ternary cement blends containing fly ash and slag

Abstract

It is becoming more common to replace cement partially with supplementary cementitious materials, which in turn influence the mechanical performance and environment impact of the resulting mortar or concrete. A study was undertaken to evaluate the eco-mechanical performance of both binary and ternary blended cement mortars. For this purpose, fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag were used at various cement replacement levels. Ternary blended cements with up to 40% cement replacement exhibited both good flow and compressive strength performances compared with binary blended cements. From an environmental perspective, life-cycle assessment revealed that the major impacts of global-warming potential and fine-particulate-matter formation were mostly influenced by total cement replacement rather than by the type or replacement or blending combination. Similar observations were made for the eco-mechanical performance based on calculated warming-potential-to-strength and particulate-matter-to-strength ratios. Mortars containing 20 and 40% cement replacements demonstrated improvement in these aspects on average by about 20 and 40%, respectively. Overall, the study indicated that a 40% replacement level in a ternary blended cement is a viable eco-friendly solution for the cement industry.