Production of high strength concrete by use of industrial by-products

Blast furnace slag aggregates (BFSA) were used to produce high-strength concretes (HSC). These concretes were made with total cementitious material content of 460–610 kg/m3. Different water/cement ratios (0.30, 0.35, 0.40, 0.45 and 0.50) were used to carry out 7- and 28-day compressive strength and other properties. Silica fume and a superplasticizer were used to improve BFSA concretes. Slump was kept constant throughout this study. Ten percent silica fume was added as a replacement for ordinary portland cement (OPC) in order to obtain HSC. The silica fume was used as highly effective micro-filler and pozzolanic admixture. Superplasticizer at dosages of 2%, 1.5%, 1%, 0.5% and 0% by OPC weight for 0.30, 0.35, 0.40, 0.45 and 0.50 w/c ratios, respectively, were adopted. Results showed that compressive strength of BFSA concretes were approximately 60–80% higher than traditional (control) concretes for different w/c ratios. These concretes also had low absorption and high splitting tensile strength values. It is concluded that BFSA, in combination with other supplementary cementitious materials, can be utilized in making high strength concretes.