• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.5
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• pp.467-480
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• 2024

The mechanical properties and durability of concrete pavements may be degraded in extreme situations, resulting in the need for partial repair or total replacement. During the past few decades, there has been a growing body of research on substituting a portion of Portland cement with alternative cementitious materials for improving concrete properties. In this study, two different configurations of powdered and granulated blast furnace slag were implemented, replacing fine aggregates (by 12 wt.%) and Portland cement (by 0, 20, 40, and 60 wt.%) in the making of roller-compacted concrete (RCC) mixes. The specimens were fabricated to investigate the mechanical properties and durability specifications, involving freeze-thaw, salt-scaling, and water absorption resistance. The experimental results indicated that the optimum mechanical properties of RCC mixes could be achieved when 20-40 wt.% of powdered slag was added to concrete mixes containing slag aggregates. Accordingly, the increases in compressive, tensile, and flexural strengths were 45, 50, and 28%, in comparison to the control specimen at the age of 90 days. Also, incorporating 60 wt.% of powdered slag gave rise to the optimum mix plan in terms of freeze-thaw resistance such that a negligible strength degradation was experienced after 300 cycles. In addition, the optimal moisture content of the proposed RCC mixtures was measured to be in the range of 5 to 6.56%. Furthermore, the partial addition of granulated slag was found to be more advantageous than using entirely natural sand in the improvement of the mechanical and durability characteristics of all mixture plans.