Influence of Partial Replacement of Micro-Silica by Fly-Ash on Strength Properties of Reactive Powder Concrete

Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is the ultra-high strength concrete made by cementitious materials like silica fumes, cement etc. The coarse aggregates are completely replaced by quartz sand. Steel fibers which are optional are added to enhance the ductility. Market survey has shown that micro-silica is not so easily available and relatively costly. Therefore an attempt is made to experimentally investigate the reduction of micro-silica content by replacing it with fly-ash and mechanical properties of modified RPC are investigated. Experimental investigations show that compressive strength decreases gradually with addition of the fly ash. With 10 per cent replacement of micro silica, the flexural and tensile strength showed 40 and 46 per cent increase in the respective strength, though the decrease in the compressive strength was observed to be about 20 per cent. For further percentage of replacement, there was substantial drop in compressive, flexural as well as tensile strength. The experimental results thereby indicates that utilisation of fly-ash as a partial replacement to micro silica up to 10 per cent in RPC is feasible and shows quite acceptable mechanical performance with the advantage of utilisation of fly-ash in replacement of micro-silica.