Study of the combined effect of different types of sand on the characteristics of high performance self-compacting concrete

Abstract

The characteristics of self-compacting concrete at high performance (SCCHP) made with different types of sand were investigated. Three types of sands were used separately and in binary combinations: river sand (RS), dune sand (DS) and crushed sand (CS). The introduction of CS and DS aims to valorize the by-products of crushing and local materials for the formulation of the SCCHP. Different compositions containing RS, CS, DS and their binary mixtures were experimentally studied. First we started by the measurement of loose compactness’s of different combinations of aggregates and concretes. Thereafter, the SCCHPs were characterized by different test methods such as (slump flow test, L-box test and sieve stability test). Finally, the SCCHPs are subjected to mechanical testing. The obtained results proved that the binary combinations of different sands have a positive effect on the compactness. However, they do not give the best results in rheological and mechanical characteristics of the SCCHP. The results obtained by studying SCCHPs formulated by the addition of CS to the RS with moderate contents (≤40%), and by the addition of DS to the RS at low contents (≤20%) were very interesting from an economic, environmental or technological point of view.