Effect of Incorporating Supplementary Cementitious Materials on Properties of High-Performance Fine-Grained Cement Mortar

Abstract

Using supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) as partial cement replacement is a common practice in the construction industry to achieve more durable mortar and less CO2 emissions associated with producing mortar materials. This study investigated the properties of high-performance cement mortar (HPM) containing SCMs, which include fly ash (FA), silica fume (SF), palm oil fuel ash (POFA), and ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS). The examined properties include flowability, compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, porosity, and absorption for four replacement levels (5, 10, 15, and 20%). At replacement levels up to 20%, mortar containing SF and GGBS exhibits significantly better and enhanced properties than the control mix without any cement replacement material, while the incorporation of POFA and FA led to a decrease in all mortar properties. However, both of POFA and FA could be used at lower replacement ratios < 10%. The cementitious and pozzolanic properties of SF and GGBS permit higher cement replacement levels (> 10%) which can achieve equivalent or superior properties and durability performance than the conventional cement mortar. Based on the overall results, HPM containing SCMs can exhibit a similar effect and therefore reducing global warming potential of the cement-based materials.