Foundry sand waste can be utilized for the preparation of concrete as a partial replacement of sand. The strength properties of M25 grade concrete are studied with different percentages of replacement of fine aggregates by foundry sand at 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%. The optimum percentage of foundry sand replacement in the concrete corresponding to maximum strength will be identified. Keeping this optimum percentage of foundry sand replacement as a constant, a cement replacement study with mineral admixtures such as silica fume (5%, 7.5%, 10%) and fly ash (10%, 15%, 20%,) is carried out separately. The maximum increase in strength properties as compared to conventional concrete was achieved at 40% foundry sand replacement. Test results indicated that a 40% replacement of foundry sand with silica fume showed better performance than that of fly ash. The maximum increase in strengths was observed in a mix consisting of 40% foundry sand and 10% silica fume. SEM analysis of the concrete specimens also reveals that a mix with 40% foundry sand and 10% silica fume obtained the highest strength properties compared to all other mixes due to the creation of more C-H-S gel formations and fewer pores.
In this research reactive powder concrete (RPC) was prepared using sand from North Sinai. The mechanical properties of locally cast RPC were investigated and evaluated by studying the effects of using different cement and silica fume contents and new steel fi bers’ aspect ratios as reinforce-ment for RPC. Specimens’ preparation, curing regimes and testing procedures to evaluate the com-pressive strength, the modulus of elasticity, the indirect tensile strength and the fl exural strength were discussed. A compressive strength of 154.5 MPa, indirect tensile strength of 11.98 MPa, mod-ulus of elasticity of 45.1 GPa and fl exural strength of 30.26 MPa have been achieved for reinforced RPC contains 800 kg/m³ cement content and silica fume content 30% of cement weight. The test results showed some improvements by increasing cement and silica fume contentsas well as adding steel fi bers on the compressive strength, modulus of elasticity and indirect tensile strength.
Admixtures are commonly used nowadays in the mix composition of concrete. These additions affect concrete properties and performance especially creep deformations. This paper shows the effect of admixtures on creep of concrete. In fact, creep deformations have prejudicial consequences on concrete behaviour; an incorrect or inaccurate prediction leads to undesirable consequences in structures. Therefore, an accurate estimation of these deformations is mandatory. Moreover, design codes do not consider admixtures’ effect while predicting creep deformations, thus it is necessary to develop models that predict accurately creep deformations and consider the effect of admixtures. Using a large experimental database coming from international laboratories and research centres, this study aims to update the Eurocode 2 creep model by considering the type and percentage of admixtures using Bayesian Linear Regression method. The effect of two types of admixtures is presented in this paper; the water reducer and silica fume.
An attempt was made in the present work to study the compressive strength and microstructure of geopolymer containing high calcium fly ash (HCFA) and silica fume. Concentration of sodium hydroxide solution 8M, 10M, 12M & 14M, liquid to binder ratio 0.5 and sodium hydroxide to sodium silicate ratio 2.5 were selected for the mixes. Geopolymer mortar test results indicated that the mix with 40% silica fume by the weight of HCFA yielded higher compressive strength under ambient curing. The XRD pattern typically shows the major portion of amorphous phase of geopolymer. The existence of C-A-S-H gel, N-A-S-H gel and hydroxysodalite gel products were observed through SEM which developed dense microstructure and thus enhanced strength of HCFA and silica fume geopolymer.