Effect of incorporating blast furnace slag and natural pozzolana on compressive strength and capillary water absorption of concrete

Blast furnace slag (BFS) and natural pozzolana (NP) have been widely used as a partial cement replacement in concrete construction due to their advantages including cost reduction and improvement of the ultimate mechanical and durability properties. Based on an ongoing experimental program, this research emphasizes on the effect of substituting cement with Blast furnace slag and natural pozzolana up to 40 % on compressive strength and capillary water absorption of concrete. The compressive strength was determined on prisms at the ages of 7, 28, and 90 days. Cylindrical specimens were employed for capillary water absorption test after 28 days of curing. The results show that it is possible to obtain the same or better strength grades by replacing cement with BFS up to 30% in concrete. However, the use of NP content reduced the compressive strength. Lower capillary water absorption for BFS or NP substitution is observed. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.