Effect of volcanic pumice on properties of plain and silica fume based self compacting concretes

In this thesis, an experimental study conducted on the effects of volcanic pumice powder (VP) on the fresh and hardened properties of self compacting concretes (SCCs) with and without silica fume (SF) was investigated. In the first group, SCCs without SF were produced with 0%, 5%, 10%, and 20% replacement levels of VP. However, for the second group, SF incorporation was achieved by a constant SF replacement level of 8%. The investigated fresh properties of the concretes were slump flow diameter, T500 mm slump flow time, V-funnel flow time, and L-box height ratio. The hardened properties, on the other hand, were compressive strength development, gas permeability, water absorption, water sorptivity and rapid chloride permeability. The tests on the hardened properties of concretes were carried out at the end of 28 and 90 days of water curing. Moreover, statistical study, namely general linear model analysis of variance (GLM-ANOVA), was performed in order to see the significance of the critical parameters such as inclusion of SF and replacement level of VP on the properties of SCCs. The use of volcanic pumice powder resulted in increase in fluidity of SCCs in fresh state while SF increased the viscosity. The results have also revealed that SF incorporation compensated the deterioration of hardened properties of concretes due to increasing amounts of VP, at varying magnitudes.Keywords: Fresh properties, Hardened characteristics, Self compacting concrete, Silica fume, Volcanic pumice powder.