Effect of limestone powder on self-compacting concrete

Abstract

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is an innovative construction material in the construction industry. It is a highly fluid and stable concrete that flows under its own weight and fills completely the formwork. The SCC requires high powder content (mainly of cement) up to 600kg/ to achieve its properties. This will be problematic because increasing the cement content is not feasible, and may cause high cost and some other technical problems such as higher heat of hydration and higher drying shrinkage. This paper investigates the effect of limestone powder (LSP) on fresh and hardened properties of SCC due to the use of LSP as a partial cement replacement. For comparison, a control sample of concrete was prepared without LSP to compare it with the various samples containing different percentages of LSP as a partial replacement of cement. Four mixes with a constant amount of (superplasticizer, sand, coarse aggregate, and water) at various replacement levels of 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% from the cement weight were prepared. The experimental results show that the LSP can be effectively used as a partial cement replacement on SCC to reduced cost and enhanced the performance of SCC in fresh and hardened stages.