Properties of high performance heavyweight concrete mixtures containing different types of coarse aggregates

Abstract

Heavyweight concrete having unit weight above 2600 kg/m3 has wide applications that include radiation shielding, offshore, and ballasting of pipelines, etc. In this study, high-performance heavyweight concrete mixtures were developed utilizing industrial byproducts as high-density coarse aggregates. These heavyweight coarse aggregates included steel slag, steel shots, and iron ore. Normal-weight limestone aggregate was also used in the control mixture and for partially replacing the heavyweight aggregates in some of the mixtures. Considering different combinations of coarse aggregates, a total of nineteen concrete mixtures with same water/cement ratio and cement content were prepared and tested for evaluating their performance in terms of different engineering properties. Except the control mixture containing normal-weight limestone aggregate, all eighteen heavyweight concrete mixtures considered in the present work, achieved unit weight (dry density) in the acceptable range of 2600 to 3563 kg/m3. Most of the heavyweight concrete mixtures attained compressive strength either close to or more than 40 MPa, splitting tensile strength and modulus of elasticity above the minimum acceptable limits, drying shrinkage below permissible value, and high resistance against reinforcement corrosion as indicated by their high electrical resistivity and low chloride diffusion coefficient. The experimental data generated under the present work can be utilized to select optimum mixtures of heavyweight concrete satisfying the service conditions.