Application of Self-Compacting Concrete for Dam Construction
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Date
2017-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
SCC is mainly characterized by its flow ability to pass through and bond congested reinforcement under its own weight and high resistance to aggregate segregation. Now a day the use of this material in the construction industry is becoming common. However the use of SCC for mass concrete structures like dam construction is not common, because due to its high cement content, it can cause thermal cracking problems and increases the project cost significantly. But studies show that by increasing the maximum aggregate size in self-compacting concrete, and decreasing the unit cement content by partial substitution of cementations material, this problem can be minimized.
The aim of this thesis is to find alternative construction material for dam construction from SCC and preplaced aggregate and compare its performance and material cost with that of conventional concrete. the new material in this research is a combination of SCC and preplaced aggregate. The maximum aggregate size used for the SCC mix is 12.5mm and for the preplaced aggregate is 300mm. To study the required performance of this material, three different mixes were used. The first mix is C-25 conventional concrete which is used as a reference mix and the second mix SCC in which only cement is used as a powder material. In the third mix the SCC was prepared by partially replacing the cement with limestone powder. Finally, a dam model was prepared in the laboratory to test the combined performance of SCC and the preplaced aggregate when it is used for dam construction. All the cubic and the core samples from the dam model was tested for its compressive strength and permeability and compered with each other.
According to the test result, the SCCs are less permeable than the conventional concrete and the core sample from the dam model. The compressive strength of the core sample is much less than the conventional concrete. The cost analysis also shows that the material cost of conventional concrete is higher than the dam model.
Keywords: dam model, limestone powder, self-compacting concrete, super- plasticizer.
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Keywords
Dam Model, Limestone Powder, Self-Compacting Concrete, Super- Plasticizer