Influence of the proportion of materials on the rheology and mechanical strength of ultrahigh-performance concrete
Bassam A. Tayeh, Mahmoud H. Akeed, Shaker Qaidi, B.H. Abu Bakar
Abstract
The present research investigates the influence of constituent material ratio on the fresh characteristics and compressive and flexural strengths of ultrahigh-performance concrete. In this regard, the influence of superplasticiser content of 1%, 1.3%, and 1.5%, microsilica substitution values of 20%, 25%, and 30%, and three water-to-binder ratios of 0.20, 0.22, and 0.24 on squeeze flow (SqF) characteristics and compressive and flexural strengths were evaluated. The findings revealed that increasing the superplasticiser dose enhanced compressive strength by up to 12% while increasing the water-to-binder ratio lowered it by up to 14%. Moreover, by increasing the amount of binder and/or decreasing the amount of sand, the concrete skeleton structure was broken down, which lowered the compressive strength.