Mechanical and durability behaviour of concrete with granite waste dust as partial cement replacement under adverse exposure conditions

Abstract

In this research, the effect of granite waste dust (GWD) as partial replacement of cement (up to 20%) on the mechanical and durability behaviour of concrete mixes under adverse exposure conditions was investigated. The specimens were tested after 28 days of curing in lime-saturated water and 91 days of exposure to 5% by weight of NaCl and H2SO4 solutions. Compressive and splitting tensile strength, resistance to acid attack, water absorption, open circuit potential (OCP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis were performed. The compressive and tensile strength results showed that using up to 20% GWD as cement replacement does not significantly affect the mechanical properties of concrete mixes. However, the concrete mix with 10% GWD displayed the highest strength of all. It was also revealed that the concrete mix with 20% GWD showed a higher resistance to acid and chloride attack than the others. GWD did not have a significant effect on the water absorption of the concrete mixes. OCP and EIS measurements revealed that 10% and 20% GWD as cement replacement significantly improved the corrosion resistance of concrete.