Incorporation of finely divided particles into a concrete mixture tends to

improve the workability and reduce water requirement at a given consistency

(except silica fume).

Hence the mineral admixtures in optimum proportion improves the

quality of concrete by
1. Lowering the heat of hydration and thermal shrinkage
2. Increasing the water tightness
3. Reducing the alkali aggregate reaction
4. Improving the chemical resistance
5. Improving the corrosion resistance
6. Improving the early strength, workability and extensibility
7. Improving the rate of strength development
Use of fly ash in concrete results in reduction of water demand for a
desired slump. With the reduction of unit water content, bleeding and
drying shrinkage will also be reduced. Since fly ash is not highly reactive,
the heat of hydration can be reduced through replacement of part of the
cement with fly ash. Fly ash when used in concrete, contributes to the
strength of concrete due to its pozzolanic reactivity. However, since the
pozzolanic reaction proceeds slowly, the initial strength of fly ash
concrete tends to be lower than that of concrete without fly ash. Due to
the continued pozzolanic reactivity concrete develops greater strength at
later age, which may exceed that of the concrete without fly-ash.

The addition of GGBS in concrete generally reduces the water demand

and improves workability. In the case of GGBS, the improvement may not
be measurable in terms of slump. However, once vibration has started,
the concrete containing GGBS becomes mobile and compacts well.
GGBS present in the mix has the physical effect of modifying the
flocculation of cement, with a resulting reduction in the water demand

and heat of hydration. Similar to fly ash, the incorporation of GGBS in

concrete reduces the strength at early ages and enhances later. Since the
pozzolanic reaction is slow and depends on the calcium hydroxide
availability, the strength gain takes longer time.

The incorporation of silica fume in concrete leads to lower slump but

more cohesive mix. The water demand increases in proportion to the
amount of silica fume added and therefore, use of super plasticizers or
water reducing admixtures is mandatory. Silica fume is more reactive
than fly ash and GGBS at the initial stage of hydration due to the
presence of more silica content and hence it gives more strength at the
early ages. However, the rate of strength development is low at later
stages.

The slag is a mixture of lime, silica, and alumina, the same oxides that
make up Portland cement, but not in the same proportion. The
composition of blast-furnace slag is determined by the ores, fluxing stone
and impurities in the coke charged into the blast furnace. The Silicon,
Calcium, Aluminum, Magnesium, and Oxygen constitute 95% or more of
the blast-furnace slag. To maximize hydraulic (cementitious) properties,
the molten slag must be chilled rapidly as it leaves the blast furnace
GGBS exhibited greater workability due to the increased paste content
and increased cohesiveness of the paste
silica fume shows significantly reduced bleeding. This effect is caused
primarily by the high surface area of the silica fume to be wetted; there is
very little free water left in the mixture for bleeding. Additionally, the
silica fume reduces bleeding by physically blocking the pores in the fresh
concrete.
concrete containing silica fume is more cohesive and less prone to
segregation than concrete without silica fume.
water demand of concrete containing silica fume increases with
increasing amount of silica fume

percentage of GGBS is increased, the workability properties is reduced.

optimum benefit of the addition of silica fume is attained when it is used
in combination with superplasticizers. This combination increases the
cohesiveness of the fresh composites and reduces the water content.

reductions in cement content and increment in superplasticizer dosage

tend to retard setting, while increase in silica fume content tends to
accelerate setting.
addition of silica fume counteracts the retarding effect of the
superplasticizer on cement hydration
In the early ages, silica fume accelerates the rate of heat evolution. The
pozzolanic reaction takes place early and plays an important role in the
heat of hydration at the fresh stage.
when the silica fume content was up to 12 percent, plastic viscosity and
yield stress became the maximum, and concrete had lowest fluidity
The contribution of silica fume to the early strength development up to 7
days is probably through improvement in packing, that is, acting as filler
and improvement of the interface zone with the aggregate
silica fume tends to affect the pattern of crystallization and degree of
orientation of CH crystals at the aggregate surface during the first seven
days of cement hydration. The bond between cement paste and aggregate
is well developed by 28 days of hydration.
addition of silica fume enhances the rate of cement hydration at early
hours due to release of OH- ions and alkalis in the pore fluids. Silica
fume accelerates both C3S and C3A hydration during the first few
hours.\
ductility of normal concrete is more than that of fly ash M20 concrete.
in the case of fly ash there was a continuous increase of flow with
increase in the percentage, whereas in case of ground granulated blast

furnace slag and silica fume there was an optimum percentage beyond
which there was a decrease in the flow.
For both GGBS and silica fume the highest flowability that can be
achieved is around 45% and 10% respectively. Also, compressive strength
variation was also observed with water to binder ratio
flowability of SF based ternary blended fresh concrete decreased due to
more water demand of SF.
addition of FA improved the workability of concrete considerably due to
the ball bearing action of spherical shaped FA particles whereas the
addition of SF reduced the workability marginally due to the high specific
surface area and more water demand of SF particles.

shortcoming of setting time characteristics and early age strength of

GGBS based binary blended concrete was compensated by the addition
of SF due to the filler effect and fast pozzolanic reaction.

. If the silica fume percentage in the concrete is increased gradually,

it reaches a point called an optimum point, where silica fume
content is exactly what is required for reacting with the calcium
hydroxide present or it may be the reason because of more and
dense C-S-H gel acts as an impervious layer which prevents the
water to enter through it and thereby preventing further hydration.
Therefore excess silica fume added beyond this limit remains as it
is, since there would not be any calcium hydroxide to react with free
silica fume in concrete, does not act as binder, and hence will cause
a reduction in strength.