Experimental study of the mechanical properties and shrinkage of self-compacting concrete with binary and ternary mixes of fly ash and limestone filler

Self-compacting concrete’s (SCC’s) particular need for self-compacting, i.e. to achieve a high passing and filling ability, deformability capacities and a high resistance to segregation, necessarily requires the reduction of the volume of coarse aggregate and the increase of the volume of ultrafine materials and admixtures (mainly superplasticisers). The increase in the volume of ultrafine materials mentioned, achieved exclusively at the cost of the cement, would have, as main effects, the significant increase of the overall cost of SCC, of its hydration heat and potential effects on properties such as shrinkage and cracking. Consequently, significant amounts of mineral additions are usually incorporated, in replacement of part of the cement to improve the workability properties, reduce the production of hydration heat and reduce the overall cost. Mainly because it needs to incorporate significant quantities of ultrafine materials (cement and mineral additions), SCC has great potential for the use of thes...