Properties and behavior of self-compacting concrete produced with GBFS and FA additives subjected to high temperatures

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the performance of self-compacting concrete (SCC) subjected to high temperatures. For this purpose, Portland cement was replaced with fly ash (FA) and granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) in various proportions with and without polypropylene (PP) fibers and the PP fiber content was 2 kg/m(3) for the mixtures that contained fibers. When the specimens were 56 days old, they were heated to elevated temperatures (200, 400, 600 or 800 degrees C). Afterword, tests were conducted to determine the weight loss and the compressive strength. Moreover, the change in the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) was determined, and observations for surface cracks were made after the specimens were exposed to elevated temperatures. A severe strength loss was observed for all of the concretes after 600 degrees C, particularly for the concretes that contained PP fibers; however, the fibers reduced and eliminated the risk of explosive spalling. Based on the test results, it can be concluded that the performance of FA concrete is better than that of the GBFS concrete. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved