Assessment of carbonation on strength properties of concrete made of mineral admixtures

Abstract

Concrete is one of the most suitable materials in the world which are used for construction. It becomes more versatile because of his suitability in almost all situations. Reinforced structures are subject to corrosion by various means. Carbonation is one of these means that causes corrosion of reinforced concrete structures. The service life of the structures has been reduced due to the deterioration of the structures because of the corrosion of the reinforced concrete due to carbonation. This paper focuses on the effect of carbonation on the mechanical properties of concrete composed of mineral admixtures, such as ground granulated blast furnace slag and silica fume, by partial replacement of the cement. In this experiment, silica fume replaced cement in 5%, 10%, 15% and ground granulated blast furnace slag replaced the cement in 10%, 20%, 30%. Samples such as cubes, cylinders and prisms were casted and cured. Certain number of these specimens were also placed in carbonation chamber and tested for compressive strength, tensile strength and flexural strength. Normal concrete samples are also tested and the results are compared.