Investigating the Influence of SCMs on Mechanical Performance through Experimental Feret's Coefficients in Low-carbon Concrete

Abstract

The focus on sustainable construction materials has prompted research into alternatives to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production of Portland cement. Several studies have attempted to minimise the use of Portland cement in structural concrete mixtures. However, traditional formulations and prediction models are not applicable to low-carbon concrete. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate low carbon concrete mortar matrices, focusing on cement replacement by supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), such as fly ash, natural pozzolans and electric arc furnace slag, increasing the compactness of the mixtures, and limiting the water-binder ratio. Different binder powder contents were studied (350 and 400 kg/m³) in two types of concrete for prefabrication: dry consistency and plastic consistency. The results showed that dry consistency mixtures with a higher fly ash content allow higher compactness. Higher compactness promotes an overall increase in Young's modulus, up to 16%, for all eco-mixtures. The analysis enabled the estimation of the Feret coefficients for each combination of cement with SCMs and their correlation with a power function, dependent on the water-cement ratio. This allows the future estimation of the strength for binder pastes of mixtures incorporating different percentages of these additions.