Properties of steel fiber self-compacting concrete incorporating quarry dust fine powder

Abstract

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) has great potentials as it offers several environmental, economic and technical benefits. Moreover, the use of fibers extends its possibilities since fibers arrest cracks and retard their propagation. Incorporation of Quarry Dust (QD) in SCC help to reduce environmental hazards during the production of QD. This study evaluated the fresh and hardened properties of steel fiber self-compacting concrete (SFSCC) incorporating QD. The optimum fiber and QD contents with no adverse effects on fresh and hardened properties were determined. A comparative study on behavior of SCC and SFSCC mixtures in terms of workability, compressive strength, compressive strength development ratio, tensile, flexural and energy absorption capacity was carried out. Test results showed that compressive strength increased with increase in QD contents at fixed fiber content by mass of Portland cement (PC) and then decreased. Strength development ratio (C28/C7) for SCC was 1.13, while it was 1.06, 1.08, 1.10 and 1.01 after reinforcing with 0.10, 0.20 and 0.30 contents of fiber. The compressive, tensile, flexural and energy absorption capacity or Toughness of SFSCC increased with the inclusion of the aforementioned contents of steel fiber up to 0.20 % volume of total binder at constant QD content and then decreased when compared with control SCC values. From these results, optimum value for the variables studied was obtained from mix QD20 + 0.2fr. Hence, steel fiber and QD could be successfully used in SCC production not minding the slight draw back on workability of SCC caused by inclusion of steel fiber, but with a modified dosage of super-plasticizer (SP), fresh and hardened properties, in accordance with specifications in relevant code(s) can be achieved.