Supplementary cementing materials in concrete: Part I. Efficiency and design

Abstract

Many solid industrial by-products such as siliceous and aluminous materials (fly ash, silica fume, slags, etc.) as well as some natural pozzolanic materials (volcanic tuffs, diatomaceous earth, etc.) may be characterized as supplementary cementing materials (SCM) as they exhibit cementitious and/or pozzolanic properties. Due to plenty of these materials and their large variations on physical and chemical composition, the development of a general design for their use in concrete is required. In this work, the concept of an efficiency factor is applied as a measure of the relative performance of SCM compared with Portland cement. Artificial materials of various compositions and some natural pozzolans were studied. Compressive strength and accelerated chloride penetration tests were performed. With regard to these characteristics, efficiency factors for these materials were calculated. A mix design strategy to fulfil any requirements for concrete strength and service lifetime was developed and it enables concrete performance to be accurately predicted. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.