A Comparative Study of Normal and Self-compacting Concrete

Abstract

In this paper, the experimental results of both Normal Concrete (NC) and Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) are presented. Both the fresh and hardened properties were investigated. The SCC was developed by replacing 20% of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) by Fly ash (FA), so that the amount OPC is almost same in both NC and SCC. The workability of the mix increases with the inclusion of FA and the mix becomes cost-effective. For workability, the slump test was conducted on NC while for SCC, slump flow, T50 time, V-funnel, L-box, U-box and J-ring tests were conducted. The water/binder (w/b) ratio was kept constant for both the NC and SCC. For M25 grade concrete, cubes of size 100 mm, cylinders of size 100 mm × 200 mm and beams of size 100 mm × 100 mm × 500 mm were cast to find the compressive, split tensile and flexural strengths, respectively. The samples were tested after curing in tap water for 7, 28, 56 and 90 days. The water absorption of both NC and SCC was also studied up to 90 days. The XRD analysis of both the concrete samples was also carried out to investigate the microstructural changes.