Effect of silica fume on the hardened and durability properties of concrete

Abstract

AbstractThis paper involves the study on the hardened and durability properties of the concrete at two different grades containing silica fume (SF) with various replacement percentages. Investigation on the performance of the SF was performed for M25 and M40 grades concrete with 0, 5, 10, and 15 % replacement levels at 7, 14, 28, and 90 days. The behavior of SF on the autogenous shrinkage of the concrete was studied for both the grades of concrete in the sealed (SC) and unsealed conditions (USC). The workability of the SF concrete was examined at various levels of replacement by the slump cone test. The hardened properties of the SF concrete were investigated through the estimation of compressive strength (CS) and elastic modulus (EM) at 7, 14, 28, and 90 days, respectively. Acid attack was conducted at 28 days and autogenous shrinkage of the SF concrete was investigated using length comparator at 28 day in SC and USC. Results indicate that upon increase in the percentage of SF, the hardened properties of the concrete increases at higher ages of curing and the shrinkage of the concrete tends to increase for both the grades of concrete.