Multiple blend supplementry cementitious materials (recovered mineral components), benefit sustainability through innovative concrete design

Abstract

Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs) have been utilized in commercial concrete production around the world for over three decades with ample project track record. While initially understood as cement replacements, often merely to improve concrete economy, these materials have developed into Sustainability design tools, extending the structural concrete Life Cycle, improving Resilience and substituting for Portland cement, thus reducing the Carbon Footprint of concrete. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recently re-designated Fly Ash, Slag Cement & Silica Fume as Recovered Mineral Components (RMCs) that increase concrete Strength and Durability; Utilization of RMCs reduces the amount of these materials that would otherwise be designated as waste and landfilled. Silica Fume is one of the smallest particles incorporated into concrete and its effect on concrete Rheology has been evident, when used in shotcrete, for some time. This has been exploited in Self Consolidating Concrete as well as Ultra High-Performance Concrete. The synergistic effect of combining silica fume and other SCMs into ternary or quaternary concrete mix designs has been shown to provide unique solutions to in-field challenges of high-performance concrete applications.