Durability properties of fly ash and silica fume blended concrete for marine environment

Abstract

The improvement in durability and strength by replacing the conventional components with supplementary materials in concrete is one of the recently focused areas in concrete technology. From the previous till the recent times serious efforts have been taken to improve the structural adequacy and durability characteristics of concrete so as to efficiently replace the usual conventional concrete. In this present research work, the mechanical and durability properties of the concrete blended with fly ash (FC) and silica fume (SC) are studied in detail. The partial replacement of cement with silica fume and fly ash in the concrete improves the overall property of the concrete, gives a way for the reuse of the supplementary material to be efficiently brought back giving a cleaner environment. The fly ash is used with the replacement percentages of 10, 15 and 20 of the cement whereas for silica fume the replacement percentages are 8, 10 and 12, respectively. Also the study is extended to combination mixes to test the strength and durability and it has been found that the increase in the percentage of the silica fume increases the strength reduces the workability and permeability to a high extent and the inclusion of the fly ash paves a way for the increase in the durability property. The effect of the cementitious material with FC and SC on the concrete is compared with the nominal concrete and also the suitability in the usage of marine environment is validated in accordance with the International codes.