Properties of steel Fiber Self-compacting concrete incorporating quarry dust fine powder

Abstract

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) has great potentials as it offers great several environmental , economic and technical benefits. Moreover, the use of fibers extends its possibilities since fibers arrests cracks and retard their propagation. Incorporation of quarry dust (QD) in SCC help to reduce environmental hazards during the production of QD. This study evaluated the fresh and hardened properties of steel fiber self-compacting concrete (SFSCC) incorporating QD. The optimum fiber and QD contents with no adverse effects on fresh and hardened properties were determined. A comparative study on behaviour of SCC and SFSCC mixtures in terms of workability, compressive strength development ratio, flexural and energy absorption capacity was carried out. Test results showed that compressive strength increased with increased in QD contents at fixed fiber content by mass of Portland cement (PC) and then decreased. Strength development ratio (C28/C7) for SCC was 1.13, while it was 1.06, 1.08, 1.10 and 1.01 after reinforcing with 0.10, 0.20 and 0.30 contents of fiber. The compressive, tensile, flexural and energy absorption capacityor toughness of SFSCC increased with inclusion of the aforementioned contents of steel fiber up to 0.20 % volume of total binder at constant QD and then decreased when compared with control values. From these results, optimum value for the variables studied was obtained from mix QD20 + 0.20fr. Hence, steel fiber and QD can be successfully used in SCC production not minding the slight dosage of super-plasticizer (SP), fresh and hardened properties , in accordance with specifications in relevant code(s0 can be acheived .