PSI - Issue 70

Rupankar Chakraborti et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 70 (2025) 279–286

280

1. Introduction Concrete is the unsung hero of modern civilization, the backbone of infrastructure that supports and shapes the world around us. From towering skyscrapers and sprawling bridges to the roads beneath our feet, concrete is at the core of nearly every structure we encounter daily. This versatile material, composed of cement, water, and aggregates like sand or gravel, has revolutionized construction, offering durability, strength, and adaptability that few materials can match.Now this concrete can achieve more strength and durability by partially replacing cement with some other environment friendly compounds. GGBFS has turned out to be a great compound that can partially replace cement and increase the strength of the concrete. Along with that Silica fume can also be used that totally can be a great combination to bring a revolution in the constructional sector that uses concrete in its traditional form. Concrete production is a major contributor to global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, primarily due to the production of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), which involves energy-intensive processes and releases large amounts of CO2. GGBFS and Silica Fume offers a solution by reducing the amount of OPC required in concrete. By partially replacing cement with these industrial by-products, we reduce both the environmental footprint of the construction process and the carbon emissions associated with concrete production.

Nomenclature GGBFS Ground Grnulated Blast Furnace Slag SF Silica Fume sp Superplasticizer F ash fly ash content σ comp compressive strength obtained S xy standard error R 2 Correlation coefficient k cementing efficiency of fly ash P % of fly ash in binder

2. Literature Review Hence, Now-a-days, the majority of developing nations are focusing on the construction of infrastructures such as high-rise buildings, multiplexes, bridges, and dams, in all of which concrete shows great strength and durability. Bhanja and Sengupta (2002) deals with a mathematical model developed using statistical method to predict the 28 days compressive strength of silica fume concrete with water-to-cementitious material (w/cm) ratios ranging from 0.3 to 0.42 and silica fume replacement percentages from 5 to 30. Strength results of 26 concrete mixes, on more than 300 test specimens, have been analyzed for statistical modelling. On examining the validity of the model with the results of previous researchers, it was observed that for results on both cubes and cylinders, predictions were obtained within 7.5% of the experimentally obtained values. A modified relationship of Abrams’ Law, which was originally formulated for conventional concrete containing cement as the only cementitious material, is not directly applicable to these new-generation concretes have been proposed by Bhanja and Sengupta (2003) evaluate the strength of silica fume concrete. Extensive experimentation was carried out over water-binder ratios ranging from 0.26 to 0.42 and silica fume binder ratios from 0.0 to 0.3. For all the mixes compressive, flexural and split tensile strengths were determined at 28 days by Bhanja and Sengupta (2005). Gupta et al. (2022) reviewed M30 grade concrete by replacing cement with 20%, 30%, and 40% GGBFS and a fixed 10% silica fume. All relevant properties were investigated, and it was noted that the maximum strength was achieved with 30% GGBFS replacement.An experimental study by Jayseeliabitha et al. (2017) examined the possibility of using various materials as partial replacements for cement, using different percentages of GGBFS and silica fume. Compressive strength, flexural strength, and split tensile strength tests were carried out. Japathi et al. (2023) reported that in situations where compaction is difficult, self compacting concrete was prepared using GGBFS (10% – 30%) and silica fume (5% – 15%) as substitutes. At 28 days,