A Comparative Study of the Durability of Ordinary Portland Cement Concrete and Concrete Containing (High) Percentages of Blast-Furnace Slag

Title: A Comparative Study of the Durability of Ordinary Portland Cement Concrete and Concrete Containing (High) Percentages of Blast-Furnace Slag
Author(s): E. Gruyaert, P. Van den Heede, M. Maes, N. De Belie
Paper category : conference
Book title: International RILEM Conference on Material Science
Editor(s): W. Brameshuber
Print-ISBN: 978-2-35158-110-0
e-ISBN: 978-2-35158-111-7
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Publication year: 2010
Pages: 241 - 251
Total Pages: 11
Nb references: 19
Language: English

Abstract: Blast-furnace slag, a by-product of the steel industry, shows latent-hydraulic properties and can therefore be added to a concrete mixture as cement replacing material. However, the durability of concrete containing blast-furnace slag differs from ordinary Portland cement concrete and thus requires investigation regarding different deterioration processes.

In this study, accelerated degradation tests were performed on Portland cement concrete and concrete in which a high percentage of the cement was replaced by blast-furnace slag. Firstly, the resistance to chloride penetration was determined according to the NT Build 492 method.
Furthermore, the apparatus for accelerated degradation testing (TAP) was used to investigate the acid resistance. The carbonation resistance was also tested by placing concrete specimens in a 10 % CO2 atmosphere and the susceptibility to the alkali-silica reaction was investigated based on the South-African NBRI-method. The test results indicate that concrete containing blast-furnace slag seems to be superior to ordinary Portland cement concrete, with the same amount of binder and water-to-binder ratio, for the majority of the deterioration processes.

Finally, to explain the varying durability of the concrete mixes depending on slag content and time, additional tests to monitor the microstructure development were performed.

Online publication: 2010-12-02
Publication type : full_text
Public price (Euros): 0.00