Compressive Strength Assessment using GGBS and Randomly Distributed Fibers in Concrete

Abstract

India is producing enormous amounts of industrial by-products out of which 150 million tonnes of GGBS itself. Apart from disposal of this solid waste, engineers strive for its value addition through its use as a construction material for achieving better economy, eco-friendliness without compromising on technical aspects. In this study, varieties of concrete are mixed with GGBS as a replacement material for cement to understand its compressive strength and long term behaviour. It is seen from literature that the fibers enhance the performance of concrete. Accordingly, six trials were made with GGBS replacement along with variation of cement content, water cement ratio and steel fibers with aspect ratio 60 and variation in reinforcing indices. The workability of concrete increased with increasing the GGBS content and also observed there is a reduction in workability in fiber reinforced concrete. The results indicated that the concrete made with GGBS indicates the strength comparable to the concrete made with OPC for all replacement levels. There is a substantial decrease in strength at 80% replacement. While there is a substantial increase in long-term strength. The compressive strength of GGBS concrete was increased up to 19% than that of OPC concrete and also observed 5 to 12% strength increased in fiber reinforced concrete than GGBS concrete. For this purpose studied the compressive strength of concrete at the ages of 3, 7,28,56,90 and 180 days.