Flexural Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Beams with Different Mineral Admixtures as Cement Replacements

Pozzolonas are supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) which are finely ground solid materials that are naturally occurring, manufactured or man-made wastes that can be replaced for a portion of cement in the production process of concrete. In this paper, 5 different concrete mixes of M30 grade are prepared using silica fume, rice husk ash, copper slag and metakaolin which are industrial by-products that are to be used as mineral admixtures as a partial replacement of cement and a control mix. In this thesis, an attempt has been made to determine the flexural strength. The flexural strength properties of the reinforced beams are evaluated and compared under the four point static loading system to that of M30 grade reference mix specimens. The results show that when these mineral admixtures are replaced for cement increases the mechanical properties of the concrete as a result of increased load bearing capacity.