Influence of silica fume and blast furnace slag on the dynamic and mechanical properties of concrete

The present paper focuses on the impact of additives, such as silica fume (SF) and blast furnace slag on the mechanical properties of ordinary concrete. Moreover, the modulus of elasticity, ultrasonic pulse velocity, compressive strength, and porosity are assessed with the objective of quantifying the consequences of the different additives. The dynamic modulus of elasticity and ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete are remarkably affected by age, as indicated by the results obtained. In additive, the incorporation of additives has a significant impact on the dynamic modulus of elasticity, the ultrasonic pulse velocity and the compressive strength. Concretes including additives have a larger dynamic modulus of elasticity and higher ultrasonic pulse velocity; Concretes with silica fume have significantly higher strengths than those of ordinary concretes and concretes containing blast furnace slag. Good correlations are observed between the dynamic modulus of elasticity and the compressive strength, between the ultrasonic pulse velocity and dynamic modulus of elasticity, between the ultrasonic pulse velocity and compressive strength. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.