Maturity-Based Field Strength Predictions of Sustainable Concrete Using High-Volume Fly Ash as Supplementary Cementitious Material

Abstract

The use of fly ash in concrete has received significant attention during recent years, owing to environmental concerns regarding its disposal and to its potential use as a supplementary cementitious material owing to its ability to improve concrete performance. Although a fly ash content of less than 25% of the total cementitious content is routinely used in concrete, high-volume fly ash (HVFA) concrete is not commonly used because of perceived lower early age strengths. The objective of this research was to use maturity based modeling to demonstrate that the beneficial effects of high temperatures observed in structural elements such as slabs and concrete beams during the hydration process associated with the mass features of such elements may compensate for the slower rate of strength gain of fly ash concrete that is typically observed in standard laboratory cured cylinders. Match cured cylinders were used during this process to estimate the early age in-place strength of HVFA concrete and to confirm the predicted mature strengths. The results have shown that standard and field cured cylinder strengths underestimate the in-place concrete strength. High in-place temperatures owing to the mass characteristics of structural elements result in increased and satisfactory in-place early age strengths for construction, measured by match cured cylinders and pullout testing, and predicted by maturity modeling.