Study on the optimisation of cement and binder content to develop a sustainable high-performance concrete

Abstract

According to ACI concrete terminology, “High Performance concrete (HPC) is defined as a concrete meeting special combinations of performance and uniformity requirements that cannot always be achieved routinely using conventional constituents and normal mixing, placing, and curing practices”. It is a new generation of concrete that has been evolved recently and are well received for its exceptional performance of strength and durability. Due to these characteristics, HPC are utilized in the construction of bridges, hydropower structures, pavements, mass concrete projects etc. HPC is a cementitious composite material composed of an optimized gradation of granular constituents, a water-to-binder ratio of less than 0.3, a high percentage of discontinuous internal fiber reinforcement and HPC can hold compressive strength of more than 60 MPa. HPC considered in this study is made with high-strength steel fibers, fine sand, cement, mineral and chemical admixtures and water. The conventional mix design used for normal concrete cannot be adopted for HPC because of the high compressive strength to be achieved. The main objective is to develop a sustainable HPC mix with optimum particle packing density to achieve the desired strength with the lowest cement and binder content. As part of the investigation, the impact of different constituents of HPC such as cement content and binder content on the compressive strength were examined. Also, the optimum particle packing density of mixes with different amount of cement and binder content were studied using EMMA software. From the results it is observed that the increase in cement or binder content beyond a particular level will have minimal impact on the compressive strength.