Assessment of the flexural strength of sustainable self-consolidating concrete

Abstract

The use of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) in which a high percentage of cement is replaced with sustainable materials is becoming increasingly popular. Fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), and silica fume are commonly used to replace traditional cement. These cement replacements as well as superplasticizers commonly used in SCC mixes may change mechanical properties such as flexural strength compared to conventional concrete. This paper assesses the splitting tensile strength as a measure of concrete flexural strength for concrete in which up to 80% of cement was replaced with combinations of fly ash, silica fume, and GGBS. Prediction formulas for flexural strength are compared to selected concrete building codes. For the concrete mixes covered in this study, it was noted the American Concrete Institute ACI 318 formula for splitting tensile strength overestimate the splitting tensile strength, especially for concrete with lower compressive strength. Prediction formulas for splitting tensile strength offered higher accuracy and compatibility with test data collected in this study.

Keywords: Fly Ash, Green Concrete, Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag, Self-Consolidating Concrete, Silica Fume, Splitting Tensile Strength