EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON WORKABILITY, MECHANICAL AND MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SELF-COMPACTING CONCRETE CONTAINING COLLOIDAL NANO SILICA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55766/sujst8825Keywords:
Colloidal nano silica, Flowability, Ground granulated blast furnace slag, Self-compacting concreteAbstract
Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is voluminously utilized in building construction due to its distinct design. This work depicts the effect of colloidal nano-silica (NS) of size 5-40nm with an active nano solids content of 32% on SCC of grade 30 containing Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) and Ordinary Portland Cement as binders in addition to NS. The liquid content of 68% in NS was added to the water content in the mix. The ratios of NS were evaluated at 0%,0.5%,1%,1.5%, 2% and GGBFS as 20% by weight of binder in concrete. The water to binder ratio was 0.38 with a water and binder content of 201kg/m3 and 528.95 kg/m3 respectively. The optimum mix was 1.5% NS as per the slump and compressive strength at 28 days. The slump was reduced with a rise in NS beyond 1.5% due to the accumulation of NS particles causing the reduction in flowability. The density of SCC for all the mixes was satisfactory. The compressive strength of optimum SCC, M-1.5NS20G was increased by 11.71%, 8.58% and 17.45% at 7, 28 and 91 days respectively to that of the reference mix whereas its split tensile strength was risen by 43.40%, 23.11% and 9.51% and flexural strength was risen by 26.28%, 15.17% and 6.29% to that of the reference mix at aforementioned durations respectively. The microstructural studies on the optimum hardened SCC mix at 28 days revealed the presence of calcium silicate hydrate compounds of different crystalline structures and portlandite.
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