Mechanical and microstructural characterization of fly ash blended self-compacting concrete containing granite waste

This study examines the mechanical characteristics (compressive strength, split tensile and flexural strength) and microstructure characteristics (scanning electron microscopic (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared radiation (FTIR)) of fly ash blended self-compacting concrete (SCC) comprising of granite waste (GW). Mechanical performance of fly ash blended SCC augmented on the incorporation of up to 40% GW as a substitution of fine aggregate. SEM analysis revealed that the incorporation of GW densified the binder-aggregate matrix of resulting SCC. However, EDS, XRD and FTIR analysis revealed that there was a negligible effect of GW on the development of hydration products. It was thus concluded that the enhancement in the mechanical performance of the resulting SCC (prepared with GW) was mainly due to the filler efficacy of GW.