Greener and sustainable self-compaction concrete: A review on performance at elevated temperatures

Abstract

Self-compacting concrete (SCC), highly flow-able engineer-friendly concrete that have moderate viscosity, low yield stress, good segregation resistance, and high deformability. SCC is a composition of high amounts of cement, mineral admixtures, fine aggregate, water, superplasticizer, and coarse aggregate. Mineral admixtures obtained from agricultural and industrial by-products and or waste materials are primarily used as filler materials and or pozzolanic materials for increasing the slurry or cementitious paste in SCC. Many high-rise concrete structures or plain concrete structures and or reinforced concrete structures are nowadays constructed by using SCC. Hence, considering its fresh and hardened properties, materials used, and importance in the construction industry, understanding the behaviour of SCC after exposure to elevated or high temperatures is of utmost importance and gaining attention. In SCC, explosive spalling was mainly caused by the stress developed, water to binder ratio and cement binder ratio. Higher amounts of powder content in SCC reduced the porosity and made SCC more vulnerable and susceptible to spalling. The strain values of SCC are enhanced by the increase in temperature. Higher reduction in strength values are observed with nondestructive testing than destructive tests. The scanning electron microscope of SCC revealed that the stiffness ratio between aggregates and cement matrix reduced with elevated temperature, which results in reducing the interaction transition zone. Finally, from the literature review, it may be concluded that the degradation mechanism of SCC when subjected to elevated temperatures is similar to the conventional concrete.