Graduate Research and Discovery Symposium (GRADS)

Advisor

Prasad Rangaraju

Document Type

Poster

Department

Civil Engineering

Publication Date

Spring 2013

Abstract

High performance concrete (HPC) mixtures often contain multiple cementitious components. Optimizing the proportion of these individual components to achieve the desired properties is extremely tedious requiring a large number of trial batches. This process is expensive and time consuming. The use of statistical mixture design technique provides a useful approach where in multiple outcomes can be met with fewer number of test runs. This is particularly true when multiple cementitious components are used in concrete. The research in progress here uses a statistical design of experiments approach, simplex-centroid design, with three cementitious components and seven minimum design points that represent specific mixture proportions. In this study, a ternary mixture blend of portland cement, slag and Class F fly ash was used to prepare concrete mixtures. Fresh and hardened properties of concrete were evaluated, including mechanical properties such as compressive strength and split tensile strength and durability indicators such as rapid chloride-ion permeability and expansion due to alkali-silica reaction. Results from this study suggest that simplex-centroid design method is a valuable tool in minimizing the number of trial batches needed to identify the optimal concrete proportions for achieving the desired properties.

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