Effect of Partial Replacement of Cement by Silica Fume on Hardened Concrete

The use of Silica Fume (SF) in short period of time had one of the most dramatic impacts on the industry’s ability to routinely and commercially produce SF modified concrete of flowable in nature but yet remain cohesive, which in turn would develop both high early and high later-age strengths including resistant to aggressive environments. This paper features an experimental study on the nature of SF and its influences on the properties of fresh and hardened concrete. In the present study, an attempt has been made to investigate the strength parameters of concrete made with partial replacement of cement by SF. Very little or no work has been carried out using silica fume as a replacement of cement. Moreover, no such attempt has been made in substituting silica fume with cement for low/medium grade concretes (viz. M20, M25). Properties of hardened concrete viz Ultimate Compressive strength, Flexural strength, Splitting Tensile strength has been determined for different mix combinations of materials and these values are compared with the corresponding values of conventional concrete. The present investigation has been aimed at to bring awareness amongst the practicing civil engineers regarding advantages of these new concrete mixes.