EFFECT OF ACIDIC ENVIRONMENT ON SELF COMPACTING CONCRETE

Inclusion of fly ash in concrete mixture improves the durability characteristics of concrete. A test programme was conducted to investigate the effect of fly ash inclusion on the acid resistance of self compacting concrete (SCC) and normally vibrated concrete (NVC). The test samples were immersed in sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid solution for 12 weeks after 28 days curing in tap water. The SCC samples were prepared by replacing of 10, 15 and 20 % Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) by fly ash. The NVC was prepared with OPC only. The parameters investigated include visual inspection, percentage loss of compressive strength and mass loss in 2% sulfuric acid and 2% hydrochloric acid solution, separately. It is found that the SCC performs better than NVC in sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid solutions.