Early-Age Strength Development and Ultimate Mechanical Performance of Ternary Blended Self-Compacting Concrete
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56741/jnest.v5i03.2193Keywords:
Flexural Strength, Fly Ash, Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS), Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ), Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC), Ternary BlendAbstract
Portland cement production contributes significantly to global carbon emissions, encouraging the development of sustainable Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) incorporating Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs). This study investigated fresh properties, early-age strength development, and 28-day mechanical performance of ternary SCC blends containing Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS) and fly ash. Workability was evaluated using slump flow and flow-time tests, while mechanical performance was assessed through strength testing. Results showed that 40% GGBFS reduced flowability, whereas incorporating 10–20% fly ash improved workability within SF1–SF2 classes through its spherical particle morphology and ball-bearing effect, maintaining adequate viscosity (VS2) without segregation. The G20-F20 mixture, containing 20% GGBFS and 20% fly ash, achieved the highest 28-day compressive strength of 41.08 MPa, representing a 22.02% improvement over the control. However, SCM replacement exceeding 40% reduced binder efficiency and compressive strength. The highest flexural strength, 7.54 MPa, was obtained with the G20-F0 mixture, potentially reflecting improved interfacial transition zone characteristics through pozzolanic and latent hydraulic reactions. These findings suggest that conventional predictive models, including ACI 318, may underestimate flexural performance. Overall, the optimized ternary blend with 40% SCM replacement demonstrated a favorable balance between workability, mechanical performance, and reduced cement consumption. This study contributes to sustainable concrete development by identifying suitable GGBFS–fly ash combinations for high-performance construction applications.
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