Fresh and hardened properties of self-compacting mortar containing limestone as fine aggregates

Abstract

An experimental attempt was presented in this work to reduce the weight of self-compacting concrete by replacing sand entirely with limestone. Therefore, three mixes were prepared, and the same constituent materials were used in these mixes, excluding the fine aggregate type. In the reference mix, conventional sand was employed, but the sand was entirely eliminated and replaced with limestone in the other two. One mix contained untreated limestone, while the remaining was with limestone treated by immersing in the alkaline solution for 24 h. The mixes were contrasted in the fresh and hardened cases. In a fresh situation, the mixes with both limestones' forms were less workable than the reference mix. In hardened case, the sand replacement with limestone reduced the mixes' weight, about 10.9–11.3%. According to the compressive and flexural strengths, the mixes with limestone showed different findings. While the untreated mix gave the smallest strengths, the mix with treated limestone exhibited the most significant enhancement in compressive and flexural strength, where it recorded strengths larger than the reference sand mix.