• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.85-95
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• 2023

Natural pozzolans are used as additives in cement to develop more durable and high-performance concrete. Pozzolanic activity index (PAI) is important for assessing the performance of a pozzolan as a binding material and has an important effect on the compressive strength, permeability, and chemical durability of concrete mixtures. However, the determining of the 28 days (short term) and 90 days (long term) PAI of concrete mixtures is a time-consuming process. In this study, to reduce extensive experimental work, it is aimed to predict the short term and long term PAIs as a function of the chemical compositions of various natural pozzolans. For this purpose, the chemical compositions of various natural pozzolans from Central Anatolia were determined with X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The mortar samples were prepared with the natural pozzolans and then, the short term and the long term PAIs were calculated based on compressive strength method. The effect of the natural pozzolans' chemical compositions on the short term and the long term PAIs were evaluated and the PAIs were predicted by using multiple linear regression (MLR) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) model. The prediction model results show that both reactive SiO₂ and SiO₂+Al₂O₃+Fe₂O₃ contents are the most effective parameters on PAI. According to the performance of prediction models determined with metrics such as root mean squared error (RMSE) and coefficient of correlation (R²), ANFIS models are more feasible than the multiple regression model in predicting the 28 days and 90 days pozzolanic activity. Estimation of PAIs based on the chemical component of natural pozzolana with high-performance prediction models is going to make an important contribution to material engineering applications in terms of selection of favorable natural pozzolana and saving time from tedious test processes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.149-165
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• 2011

In this paper, the effects of both pozzolans and (steel and poly-propylene) fibers on the mechanical properties of roller compacted concrete are studied. Specimens for the experiments were made using a soil-based approach; thus, the Kango's vibration hammer was used for compaction. The tests in the first stage were carried out to determine the optimal moisture requirements for mix designs using cubic $150{\times}150{\times}150$ mm specimens. In the tests of the second stage, the mechanical behaviors of the main specimens made using the optimal moisture obtained in the previous stage were evaluated using 28, 90, and 210 day cubic specimens. The mechanical properties of RCC pavements were evaluated using a soil-based compaction method and the optimum moisture content obtained from the pertaining experiments, and by adding different percentages of Iranian pozzolans as well as different amounts of steel fibers, each one accompanied by 0.1% of poly-propylene fibers. Using pozzolans, maximum increase in compressive strength was observed to occur between 28 and 90 days of age, rupture modulus was found to decrease, but toughness indices did not change considerably. The influence of steel fibers on compressive strength was often more significant than that of PP fibers, but neither steel nor PP fibers did contribute to increase in the rupture modulus independently. Also, the toughness indices increased when steel fibers were used.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.119-126
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• 2019

This paper reports an experimental investigation conducted to evaluate the durability performance of concrete mixtures prepared utilizing blends of Type I Portland cement (OPC) and natural pozzolans (NPs) obtained from three different sources in Saudi Arabia. The control concrete mixture containing OPC alone as the binder and three concrete mixtures incorporating NPs were prepared keeping water/binder ratio of 0.4 (by weight), binder content of $370kg/m^3$, and fine/total aggregate ratio of 0.38 (by weight) invariant. The compressive strength and durability properties that included depth of water penetration, depth of carbonation, chloride diffusion coefficient, and resistance to reinforcement corrosion and sulfate attack were determined. Results of this study indicate that at all ages, the compressive strength of NP-admixed concrete mixtures was slightly less than that of the concrete containing OPC alone. However, the concrete mixtures containing NP exhibited lower depth of water penetration and chloride diffusion coefficient and more resistance to reinforcement corrosion and sulfate attack as compared to OPC. NP-admixed concrete showed relatively more depth of carbonation than OPC when subjected to accelerated carbonation. The results of this investigation indicates the viability of utilizing of Saudi natural pozzolans for improving the durability characteristics of concrete subjected to chloride and sulfate exposures.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.477-478
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• 2010

Concretes with binary blends of Portland cement, silica fume, fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag were produce to investigate their effects on compressive strength and chloride transport in rapid chloride permeability. Ten different mix of concrete with 0.45 water/binder were produced. Portland cement was replacedby: (i) 10%, 20%, 30% Fly ash (ii) 3%, 5%, 10% Silica Fume (iii) 20%, 40%, 60% GGBS. Compressive strength of concrete with the pozzolans is higher compared to that of the Portland cement concrete. The test results indicate the fly ash, silica fume, and ground granulated furnace slag greatly reduce the rapid chloride permeability of concrete. It was concluded that pozzolans are more effective to reduce chloride permeability of concrete.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.183-195
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• 2020

Mineral admixtures have been widely used to produce concrete. Pozzolans have been utilized as partially replacement for Portland cement or blended cement in concrete based on the materials' properties and the concrete's desired effects. Several environmental problems associated with producing cement have led to partial replacement of cement with other pozzolans. Furnace slag and fly ash are two of the pozzolans which can be appropriately used as partial replacements for cement in concrete. However, replacing cement with these materials results in significant changes in the mechanical properties of concrete, more specifically, compressive strength. This paper aims to intelligently predict the compressive strength of concretes incorporating furnace slag and fly ash as partial replacements for cement. For this purpose, a database containing 1030 data sets with nine inputs (concrete mix design and age of concrete) and one output (the compressive strength) was collected. Instead of absolute values of inputs, their proportions were used. A hybrid artificial neural network-genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) was employed as a novel approach to conducting the study. The performance of the ANN-GA model is evaluated by another artificial neural network (ANN), which was developed and tuned via a conventional backpropagation (BP) algorithm. Results showed that not only an ANN-GA model can be developed and appropriately used for the compressive strength prediction of concrete but also it can lead to superior results in comparison with an ANN-BP model.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.243-257
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• 2017

Investigating the properties and durability of high-strength concrete exposed to sulfuric acid attack for the purpose of its application in structures exposed to this acid is of outmost importance. In this research, the resistance and durability of high-strength concrete containing macro-polymeric or steel fibers together with the pozzolans of silica fume or nano-silica against sulfuric acid attack are explored. To accomplish this goal, in total, 108 high-strength concrete specimens were made with 9 different mix designs containing macro-polymeric and steel fibers at the volume fractions of 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0%, as well as the pozzolans of silica fume and nano-silica with the replacement levels of 10 and 2%, respectively. After placing the specimens inside a 5% sulfuric acid solution in the periods of 7, 21, and 63 days of immersion, the effect of adding the fibers and pozzolans on the compressive properties, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), and weight loss of high-strength concrete was investigated and the respective results were compared with those of the reference specimens. The obtained results suggest the dependency of the resistance and durability loss of high-strength concrete against sulfuric acid attack to the properties of fibers as well as their fraction in concrete volume. Moreover, compared with using nano-silica, using silica fume in the fibrous concrete mix leads to more durable specimens against sulfuric acid attack. Finally, an optimum solution for the design parameters where the crushing load of high-strength fibrous concrete is maximized was found using response surface method (RSM).

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.72 no.3
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• pp.339-354
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• 2019

Reusing building materials and concrete of old buildings can be a promising strategy for sustained development. In buildings, the performance of materials under elevated temperatures is of particular interest for determining fire resistance. In this study, the effect of pozzolan and aggregate type on properties of concrete exposed to fire was investigated. In doing so, nanosilica with cement-replacement levels of 0, 2, and 4% as well as silica fume and ultrafine fly ash with cement-replacement levels of 0, 7.5, and 15% were used to study effect of pozzolan type, and recycled refractory brick (RRB) fine aggregate replacing natural fine aggregate by 0 and 100% was utilized to explore effect of aggregate type. A total of 126 cubic concrete specimens were manufactured and then investigated in terms of compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, and weight loss at $23^{\circ}C$ and immediately after exposure to 400 and $800^{\circ}C$. Results show that replacing 100% of natural fine aggregate with recycled refectory brick fine aggregate in the concretes exposed to heat was desirable, in that it led to a mean compressive strength increase of above 25% at $800^{\circ}C$. In general, among the pozzolans used here, silica fume demonstrated the best performance in terms of retaining the compressive strength of heated concretes. The higher replacement level of silica fume and ultrafine fly ash pozzolans in the mixes containing RRB fine aggregate led to a greater weight loss rate, while the higher replacement level of nanosilica reduced the weight loss rate.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.217-229
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• 2024

This paper presents results of visual analysis of cracks formation and propagation of concretes made of quaternary binders (QBC). A composition of the two most commonly used mineral additives, i.e. fly ash (FA) and silica fume (SF) in combination with nanosilica (nS), has been proposed as a partial replacement of the cement. The principal objective of the present study is to achieve information about the effect of simultaneous incorporation of three pozzolans as partial replacement to the OPC on the fracture processes in concretes made from quaternary binders (QBC). The modern and precise non-contact measurement method (NCMM) via digital image correlation (DIC) technique was used, during the studies. In the course of experiments it was established that the substitution of OPC with three pozzolans including the nanoadditive in FA+SF+nS FA+SF+nS combination causes a clear change of brittleness and behavior during fractures in QBCs. It was found that the shape of cracks in unmodified concrete was quasi-linear. Substitution of the binder by SCMs resulted in a slight heterogeneity of the structure of the QBC, including only SF and nS, and clear heterogeneity for concretes with the FA additive. In addition, as content of FA rises throughout each of QBC series, material becomes more ductile and shows less brittle failure. It means that an increase in the FA content in the concrete mix causes a significant change in fracture process in this composite in comparison to concrete with the addition of silica modifiers only.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.100-109
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• 2002

Significant damage to concrete results from the intrusion of corrosive solutions, for example, dissolved chlorides corrode reinforcing steel and cause spatting. Effectively blocks the penetration of these solutions will eliminate or greatly reduce this damage and lead to increased durability. This study is to investigate the effects of pozzolanic admixtures, fly ash and silica fume, and a blast furnace slag on the chloride ion penetration of concretes. The main experimental variables wore the water-cementitious material ratios, the types and amount of admixtures, and the curing time. And it is tested for the porosity and pore size distributions of cement paste, chloride ion permeability based on electrical conductance, and 180-day ponding test for chloride intrusion. The results show that the resistance of concrete to the penetration of chloride ions increases as the w/c was decreased, and the increasing of curing time. Also, concrete with pozzolans exhibited higher resistance to chloride ion penetration than the plain concrete. The significant reduction in chloride ion permeability(charge passed) of concrete with pozzolans due to formation of a discontinuous macro-pore system which inhibits flow. It is shown that there is a relationship between chloride ion permeability and depth of chloride ion penetration of concrete, based on the pore structure (porosity and pore size distributions) of cement paste.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.145-158
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• 2015

The consequence of sulfate attack on geopolymer concrete, made from an alkali activated natural pozzolan (AANP) has been studied in this paper. Changes in the compressive strength, expansion and capillary water absorption of specimens have been investigated combined with phases determination by means of X-ray diffraction. At the end of present investigation which was to evaluate the performance of natural alumina silica based geopolymer concrete in sodium and magnesium sulfate solution, the loss of compressive strength and percentage of expansion of AANP concrete was recorded up to 19.4 % and 0.074, respectively.