Strength properties of roller compacted concrete containing a non-standard high calcium fly ash

Although roller compacted concrete (RCC) made with and without fly ash (FA) has enjoyed numerous application of dams, roads and large floors construction in Europe, Japan, Australia and Unites States since 1970s, it has not almost yet been used at all in Turkey despite abundant and economical sources of FA and cement. This reluctance has arised due to the lack of confidence and the lack of technical experience in the concrete engineering field. In order to build, to some extend, the confidence and gain technical experience about RCC made with and without FA, a series of laboratory work was undertaken. In the present work, the RCCs were produced with three different cement quantity including 200, 300 and 400 kg/m3 normal Portland cement (NPC). A FA, which is a local material, was also used in the concrete production with the replacement level of 0%, 15%, 30% and 45% by mass of NPC. The FA used was a non-standard and high calcium fly ash. Water-cementitious material ratios were determined using the vibrating slump test. Concrete cube, prism and cylinder specimens were prepared by vibration until complete compaction obtained. The compressive, flexural tensile and splitting tensile tests were carried out. Although the FA used was non-standard, the test results showed that it can replace the cement between 15% and 30% by mass, because FA concrete attained comparable or higher strength properties to the corresponding NPC concrete. From the strength properties of view, it was concluded that RCCs produced and tested could be an alternative material for road paving or large floors construction. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Firat University Scientific Research Projects Management Unit: FBE2002D179Authors thank to Çukurova University Scientific Research Project for financial support to this work (project number: FBE2002D179)