Investigation of the effect of microsilica on compressive and tensile strength of self-compacting concrete by laboratory method

Self-compacting concrete was first used in Japan in the late ۱۹۸۰s for buildings in earthquake-prone areas with high reinforcement densities. Self-compacting concrete is a concrete that has high performance and can flow under its own weight without the need for vibration operations, and also has the ability to fill the spaces inside the molds, even when the distance between the reinforcements is very small. One of the common methods in improving the mechanical properties and reliability of concrete is to replace part of the cement with pozzolanic additives. In the present study, microsilica is used as pozzolans. In this research, the design of self-compacting concrete mixes with the control sample was made using microsilica pozzolans and fresh concrete tests including slump flow and T۵۰, L-box and V-shaped funnel test. Also, hardened concrete tests including compressive strength and tensile strength tests at ۷ and ۲۸ days of age were performed on the samples. From all the samples made for compressive strength test, the performance of pozzolanic samples was better than the control samples and among all the designs tested, the sample containing ۱۰% microsilica had a better performance.

Keywords:

Compressive strength , tensile strength , cement , microsilica , self-compacting , fresh concrete tests