Performance evaluation of ultra-high performance concrete designed with alccofine

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the development of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) by incorporating alccofine. Quartz powder and ground granulated blast furnace slag are used separately along with alccofine and silica fume to design UHPC mixtures. Coarse aggregates of 6 mm and 10 mm diameters are also introduced into UHPC in order to reduce the binder quantity. As part of the performance evaluation, mechanical strength properties of eight UHPC mixtures were investigated. The findings of the study indicate that UHPC containing alccofine produced improved mechanical performance relative to silica fume incorporated UHPC. The UHPC mixture containing alccofine and ground granulated blast furnace slag has produced cumulative values of 136.67 MPa, 15.2 MPa and 31.88 MPa for compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural strength, respectively, at 28 days of normal curing. The use of coarse aggregates in UHPC culminated in a gradual decline in mechanical performance and an increase in slump values of the concrete. Mathematical modeling and statistical analysis were carried out using response surface model to predict the compressive strength values, compare them to experimental outcomes and check their validity. The results of this study indicate that UHPC developed by blending alccofine has yielded an overall better performance.