Influence of Mineral Admixtures on the Mechanical Properties of Fresh and Hardened Concrete

Abstract This research aims to investigate the effect of introducing different mineral admixtures on the mechanical properties of concrete. The research is focused on optimizing the properties of fresh and hardened concrete, looking in particular at how factors such as slump, unit weight, air entrancement, compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength and modulus of elasticity are affected by different mineral admixtures in a concrete mix. Different mineral admixtures are used, namely silica fume, limestone and ultra-fine gypsum, and for the tests each mineral admixture replaced 25 % of the cement. The paper also compares the performance of the fresh and hardened properties of concrete.