Engineering Properties and Durability of Self-Consolidating Concretes Containing Volcanic Pumice Ash

Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) has been used increasingly over the last two decades,especially in the pre-cast concrete industry because of its ability to consolidate withoutvibration even in congested areas. The development of SCC mixture design has been driven mostly by private companies who desired to utilize SCC's advantages and consequently there exists limited public information regarding the performance of SCC mixtures.The present study has attempted to present an experimental study on fresh and hardened properties of SCCs containing Volcanic Pumice (VP) as natural pozzolans which was used for both cement and filler replacements, in comparison with ordinary SCC mixture, SCCs containing Silica Fume (SF) and conventionally vibrated concrete mixture. Properties such as slump-flow, J-ring, L-box, V-funnel and sieve segregation resistance were investigated for fresh concrete and tests such as compressive strength, water and chloride-ion permeability and capillary water absorption at various days were performed for hardened concrete. The results indicate that natural pozzolanic materials such as VP can be used to produce SCCs. In addition, the results prove that natural pozzolans have enhanced the mechanical properties and durability of SCC and reduced the chloride penetration, significantly.