Development and analysis of highly workable high-strength heavyweight concrete using magnetite aggregates

Heavyweight concrete (HWC) is produced by replacing natural aggregates in a concrete mix design with heavyweight aggregates of a higher specific gravity. HWC is mainly used for the prevention of leakage from radioactive containing structures and is hence primarily used in the medical and nuclear energy industries where this property is of particular benefit and importance. Also, high-strength concrete (HSC) has been increasingly employed in both civil structures, such as high rise buildings and bridges and defense applications. This study makes attempt to develop and evaluate different concrete mixes, which are considered as high-strength, heavyweight and highly workable in nature. Such mixes use magnetite as the primary aggregate. The three-mentioned properties of these concrete types have been thoroughly investigated individually; however, there is a limited numbers of literature on the analysis of mix designs dealing with the three-mentioned properties simultaneously, in which the water/cement ratio variation, and/or variation of the magnetite content have been assessed. In this study, nine highly workable high-strength HWC mixes have been developed and fresh and hardened properties are discussed. The overall result indicates that the developed mixes satisfied the required high-strength, heavyweight and highly workable criteria, as well as, compressive strength would increase by increasing the heavyweight aggregate content.