STRENGTH EFFICIENCY OF ZEOLITE CONCRETE WITH AGE

Abstract

The utilization of supplementary cementitious materials is well accepted, because of the several improvements possible in the concrete and due to the overall economy. One such supplementary cementitious material is natural zeolite. There are large variations in physical and chemical composition in supplementary cementitious materials; it requires mix design method for their effective use in concrete. In this work, the concept of strength efficiency is applied as a measure of the relative strength performance of natural zeolite with ordinary Portland cement (OPC), and to quantify the 7 day & 28 day strength efficiency of zeolite in concrete at the various replacement levels from literature. Experimental data from literature indicate that the contribution of zeolite to the strength of concrete is not a constant value determined entirely by its physical and/ or chemical characteristics like cementitious compounds, fineness etc., but can also vary depending on the type of cement, water cement ratio, percentage of replacement and curing conditions. The “overall strength efficiency”(k) of zeolite was established through a “general efficiency factor”(ke), depending upon the age and a “percentage efficiency factor”(kp), depending upon the percentage of replacement, as was the case with a few other cementitious materials like fly ash and silica fume reported earlier.