An Experimental Study on the Behaviour of Concrete by Partial Replacement of Cement with GGBS

Concrete has occupied an important place in construction industry in the past few decades and it is used widely in all types of constructions ranging from small buildings to large infrastructural dams or reservoirs. It is the most widely used man-made construction material in the construction world. Ever since concrete has been accepted as material for construction, civil engineers have been trying to improve its quality, strength etc., against adverse conditions. The OPC is one of the main ingredients used for the production of concrete. However in the context of increased awareness regarding over exploitation of natural resources to manufacture cement, an eco-friendly technology has to be developed for the effective management of resources. The replacement of natural resources in the manufacture of cement is the present issue in the present construction scenario. With increase in demand of concrete, more and more new methods and new materials are being developed for production of concrete. Hence in the current study an attempt has been made to minimize the cost of cement with concrete mix grades M20 and M30 by studying the mechanical behaviour of these concrete mixes by replacing with advanced mineral admixture such as GGBS in concrete mixes as partial replacement of cement. GGBS is a waste industrial by-product from the blast furnaces used to make iron. Use of GGBS does not only reduce the cost of construction but also helps to reduce the impact on environment by consuming the material generally considered as waste product. Therefore an experimental study is conducted to evaluate the workability and strength characteristics of hardened concrete, by partially replacing the cement by various percentages of GGBS for M20 and M30 grades of concrete at different ages. The mixes were designed using IS Code method. In this project, properties of concrete have been assessed by partially replacing cement with GGBS. The cement has been replaced by GGBS accordingly in the range of 0% (without GGBS), 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% by weight of cement for M20 and M30 mix. Concrete mixtures were produced, tested and compared in terms of compressive, split tensile and flexural strength with the conventional concrete.