Durability and Microstructure Characteristics of Concrete with Supplementary Cementitious Materials

Considering the environmental impact of cement manufacturing industries, this paper concerns the potential of using supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), like fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag, as being essential to replacing the existing Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). The objective of this paper is to study the microstructural characteristics of concrete with SCMs and improve the durability of the product to increase the lifespan of concrete structures. Replacement SCMs in OPC are 0, 40, 50, and 60 by percentage of cement weight, and we have taken a water-binder ratio of 0.40 for M40 grade and 0.28 for M60 grade concrete. The physical properties and chemical composition of OPC, Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Slag (GGBS), and fly ash were identified, and three different experiments were conducted to determine the resistance to penetration of chloride ions and corrosion processes. The rapid chloride permeability test, accelerated corrosion, and sorptivity tests were employed to measure concrete's resistance to the effects of aggressive environments and examine the durability properties. The most performed grade samples were analyzed as individual microspheres with Scanning Electron Microscopy ( SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy ( EDXS), and X-ray diffraction. Significant improvements in various concrete properties were achieved through the partial replacement of fly ash and GGBS with cement.