Effect of ground blast furnace slag in replacement of cement in ternary binder on performance of sand concrete

Abstract

With plentiful material resources including dune sand from Central Coastal provinces and fly ash – a by-product of burning coal at electronic power plants, sand concrete is widely used in Vietnam in respond to both technical and economical requirements. In this research, with the proportion of 18% cement, 37% crushed sand, 33% dune sand, and 12% fly ash, the length change in alkali-silica reaction and strength development tests were conducted in order to evaluate the effect of ground (granulated) blast furnace slag (GBFS) in replacement of cement in 0%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%, respectively on performance of sand concrete. Besides, the relevant microstructural changes due to GBFS proportion and 02 different curing conditions were observed to support the assessment on potential alkali-silica reactions by conducting scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). As a result of these tests, it is confirmed that 30% GBFS in replacement of cement is suitable content in this sand concrete.