Strength properties of HPC using binary, ternary and quaternary cementitious blends

Use of high-performance concrete for structural applications has grown substantially in recent years. This paper focuses on studying the effect of different supplementary cementitious materials (silica fume, fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag, and their combinations) on strength characteristics of high-performance concrete. An experimental test programme was conducted to study the effect of such admixtures on compressive strength at 7 days and 28 days, splitting tensile and flexural tensile strengths at 28 days for high-performance concrete. A set of 60 different concrete mixtures were cast and tested with different cement replacement levels (0, 10, 20 and 30% by weight of cement) by various combinations of fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag with silica fume as addition (0, 2·5, 5, 7·5, 10 and 12·5% by weight of cement) for each combination. Super plasticiser was added at different dosages to achieve a constant range of slump for desired workability with a constant water–binder (w/b) ratio. Based on the test results the influence of such admixtures on strength aspects were critically analysed and discussed. A regression analysis has been carried out to relate compressive strength to flexural and splitting tensile strengths.