Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 326334

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Construction and Building Materials

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Viscosity and hardened properties of self-compacting mortars with binary

and ternary cementitious blends of y ash and silica fume
Kazim Turk
Harran University, Engineering Faculty, Department of Civil Engineering, Sanliurfa, Turkey

h i g h l i g h t s
" To provide greater sustainability in construction, use of mineral admixtures is inevitable.
" Thus, there will be pressures to maximize their effectiveness in many respects.
" Use of ternary blends improved the deciencies of SCMs with binary blends of y ash.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 23 March 2012
Received in revised form 9 July 2012
Accepted 22 July 2012
Available online 5 September 2012
Keywords:
Fly ash
Silica fume
Self-compacting mortar
Viscosity
Hardened properties

a b s t r a c t
The paper presented herein investigates the effects of using supplementary cementitious materials in binary and ternary blends on the fresh and hardened properties of self-compacting mortars (SCMs). For this
purpose, a total of 25 mortar mixtures were designed having a total binder content of 640 kg/m3 and
water/binder ratio between 0.41 and 0.50. The control mixture contained only Portland cement (PC) as
the binder while the remaining mixtures incorporated binary and ternary cementitious blends of PC, y
ash (FA) and silica fume (SF). After mixing, the fresh properties of the mortars were tested for slump ow,
V-funnel ow time and viscosity. Moreover, compressive and exural tensile strengths of the hardened
mortars were measured at 28 and 91 days whilst dry unit weight and the dynamic modulus of elasticity
tests were performed at 28 days. Test results have revealed that at high shear rates, the uidity of mortars
increased regardless of the dosage and type of mineral admixtures. Also, ternary mixtures generally predominated the respective binary mixtures in terms of viscosity. The compressive strength of the control
mortar performed better than binary blends of FA and all ternary mortars whilst the exural tensile
strength of the control mortar was in general higher than all binary and ternary mortars for all curing ages.
The ternary use of PC, SF and FA improved the deciencies of SCMs with binary blends of FA. Moreover,
increases in SF and FA contents caused a decrease in 28-day dynamic modulus of elasticity of the mortars
with binary and ternary blends.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Self-compacting mortars, as new technology products, are
especially preferred for the rehabilitation and repair of reinforced
concrete structures [1]. To place the fresh mortar without any external compaction and at the same time without causing any segregation, the water/cementitious materials ratio of mortar and the type
of chemical admixtures should be determined. In other words, the
paste phase rheology of repair mortar should possess suitable properties from the viewpoint of owability and segregation [25]. In
addition to these, the self-compactability of mortars may provide
considerable advantages such as reducing the construction time
and labor cost, enhancing the lling capacity of highly congested
Tel.: +90 4143440020x1473; fax: +90 4143440031.
E-mail addresses: kturk23@hotmail.com, kturk@harran.edu.tr
0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2012.07.081

structural members [6,7]. The use of the ne mineral admixtures

in SCMs is inevitable to enhance its self-compactibility characteristics and to reduce the material cost of the self-compacting concrete
(SCC). In general, the increase in ne-grounded materials content in
cements brings about the modication of rheological properties of
pastes and consequently inuences the workability of mortars and
concrete mixtures. The observed changes can be advantageous or
not. This is because of many factors inuencing the rheology of
cement pastes [8]. It is usually expected that, if the volume concentration of a solid is held constant, for a specic workability, the
replacement of cement with a ne powder will increase the water
demand due to the increase in surface area. This is valid for silica
fume [9]. Silica fume, for example, provide a marked early age
strength but imparts sharp fall in workability to fresh concrete
[10]. It is therefore important to note that the benecial assets of
one mineral admixture may compensate the shortcomings of the

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K. Turk / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 326334

other by interchanging them within ternary cementitious blends of

SF and FA. Lange et al. [11] concluded that for a specic workability,
the inclusion of specied amount of y ash reduced the water content and improved the workability. The workability enhancement
is explained by the spherical shape of y ash which causes the particle to easily roll over one another, reducing the interparticle friction [12]. The spherical shape also minimizes the particles
surface-to-volume ratio, resulting in low uid demands. The use of
such powder may also provide greater cohesiveness by improving
the grain-size distribution and particle packing [13]. Alternatively,
a viscosity modifying admixture (VMA) along with a superplasticizer (SP) may be used to impart high uidity accompanied by the adequate viscosity [1417]. Using of chemical admixtures, however,
may increase the material cost such that the savings in labour cost
might offset the increased cost. But the use of mineral admixtures
not only reduced the material cost but also improved the fresh and
hardened properties of SCC [18,19].
Furthermore, SCC rheology can be optimized if the ne part of
the concrete is designed properly. Self-compacting mortar (SCM)
may serve as a basis for the design of concrete and properties of
SCMs highlight the workability of SCC mixtures [20,21]. According
to Domone and Jin [21] mortars are being tested for the following
reasons: (i) SCC has a lower coarse aggregate content than that of
normal concrete (typically 3135% by volume), and therefore the
properties of the mortar are dominant. (ii) Assessing the properties
of the mortar is an integral part of many SCC mix design processes,
and therefore knowledge of the mortar properties is itself useful.
(iii) The combination of powder materials is also used to control
the hardened properties, such as strength. (iv) Testing mortar is
more convenient than testing concrete.
To provide greater sustainability in construction, use of mineral
admixtures will inevitably increase, hence, there will be pressures
to maximize their effectiveness with regard to cost, environmental
impact, durability, and performance. The objective of this study is
to investigate the inuence of mineral admixtures used as a partial
replacement of Portland cement on the rheological and hardened
properties of SCM mixtures.
2. Experimental program
The experimental programs consist of two stages. In the rst
stage, the fresh mortar ow diameter, V-funnel ow time and
viscosity measurements were conducted; in the second stage,
compressive strength and exural tensile strength of the specimens prepared from the mortar mixtures were determined after
28 and 91 days of curing in water whilst the dry unit weight and
the dynamic modulus of elasticity of mortars were determined at
28 days of curing in water.
2.1. Materials
In this study, the cementitious materials used were an ordinary
Portland cement (CEM I 42.5) conforming to the ASTM C 150 [22],
y ash and silica fume from set cement factory in Elazig, Tuncbilek
Thermal Power Plant in Kutahya and Electro Metallurgy Enterprise
in Antalya, Turkey, respectively. PC, FA and SF were used as cementitious materials in all mixes. The chemical composition and
physical properties of Portland cement and mineral admixtures
are given in Table 1. As ne aggregate, natural river sand obtained
from Murat River in Elazig was used with a maximum size of
2 mm. The relative density value for sand was 2.63 g/cm3 and
water absorption rate was 1.96%. Furthermore, a different content
of FA and SF as pozzolanic material, as well as a polycarboxylates
type new generation high-range water reducing admixture
(HRWRA) conforming to ASTM C 494 [23] were employed to

Table 1
Chemical composition and physical properties of PC, FA and SF.
Component

PC

FA

SF

SiO2
Al2O3
Fe2O3
CaO
MgO
SO3
Chloride (Cl)
LOI
Specic gravity
Specic surface area (cm2/g)

20.2
5.8
3.23
64.1

2.66
0.006
2.58
3.1
3484

58.82
19.65
10.67
2.18
3.92
0.48

0.91
2.08
3812

91
0.58
0.24
0.71
0.33

1.84
2.2
96.5% < 45 lm

achieve the desired workability in all mortar mixtures. Modied

polycarboxylates based polymer having specic gravity of 1.06
was used as the chemical admixtures.
2.2. Mixture proportions
A total of 25 mortar mixtures were designed having water/
binder ratio between 0.41 and 0.50 and total cementitious materials
content of 640 kg/m3. The control mixture included only ordinary
Portland cement as the binder while the remaining mixtures
incorporated binary (PC + FA, PC + SF) and ternary (PC + FA + SF)
cementitious blends in which a proportion of Portland cement was
replaced with the mineral admixtures. The replacement levels for
FA were 25%, 30%, 35% and 40% while the percentages of SF replacements were 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% by weight of cement. Mortar
mixture proportions are summarized in Table 2 in which the
mixtures were designated according to the type and the amount of
cementitious materials included.
2.3. Preparation and casting of test specimens
In the production of SCMs, the mixing process was kept
constant to achieve the same homogeneity and uniformity in all
mixtures. First, cement, mineral admixture and sand were dry
mixed for 1 min using a standard mixer described by ASTM C
109/C 109M-99 [24]. Then, HRWRA chemical admixture with
water was added and mixed for an additional 4 min. The compatibility of fresh mortar mixtures was investigated by using the
mini slump and V-funnel tests in conformity with EFNARC [20]
standards.
After the mixing process was completed, tests were carried out
on fresh mortar to assess mini slump ow diameter, mini V-funnel
ow time and viscosity. Segregation and bleeding were visually observed during the slump ow test. The 160  40  40 mm prisms
were used to determine the exural tensile and compressive
strengths after 28 and 91 days of curing in water. Moreover,
75  150 mm cylinder type specimens at the age of 28 days were
prepared for the evaluation of the dry unit weight and the dynamic
modulus of elasticity of mortars. The modulus of elasticity was
calculated using the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) determined
on mortar specimens at an age of 28 days as per the following
equation:

E V 2 q=g  102

where E is the modulus of elasticity (GPa), V is the ultrasonic velocity (km/s), q is the density of mortar secimens (kg/m3) and g is the
acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m/s2) [25]. After demolding, all
specimens were cured in water at room temperature (21 2 C)
until testing.

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K. Turk / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 326334

Table 2
Weights of constituents of the mixtures.
Mixture codes

W/CM (%)

PC (%)

FA (%)

SF (%)

Binder (kg/m3)

Sand 02 mm (kg/m3)

HRWR (kg/m3)

Control
FA25
FA30
FA35
FA40
SF5
SF10
SF15
SF20
SF5FA25
SF5FA30
SF5FA35
SF5FA40
SF10FA25
SF10FA30
SF10FA35
SF10FA40
SF15FA25
SF15FA30
SF15FA35
SF15FA40
SF20FA25
SF20FA30
SF20FA35
SF20FA40

0.45
0.43
0.43
0.43
0.43
0.44
0.45
0.47
0.50
0.43
0.41
0.41
0.41
0.43
0.42
0.41
0.41
0.44
0.43
0.43
0.42
0.48
0.47
0.47
0.46

100
75
70
65
60
95
90
85
80
70
65
60
55
65
60
55
50
60
55
50
45
55
50
45
40

0
25
30
35
40
0
0
0
0
25
30
35
40
25
30
35
40
25
30
35
40
25
30
35
40

0
0
0
0
0
5
10
15
20
5
5
5
5
10
10
10
10
15
15
15
15
20
20
20
20

640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640
640

1227
1194
1181
1168
1155
1230
1203
1159
1106
1174
1193
1185
1180
1169
1174
1166
1164
1148
1143
1140
1143
1072
1069
1061
1056

6.75
6.75
6.75
6.75
6.75
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8

Table 3
Fresh properties and dry unit weight of SCMs.
Mixture codes

Slump ow diameter (cm)

V-funnel ow time (s)

Unit weight (kg/m3)

Control
FA25
FA30
FA35
FA40
SF5
SF10
SF15
SF20
SF5FA25
SF5FA30
SF5FA35
SF5FA40
SF10FA25
SF10FA30
SF10FA35
SF10FA40
SF15FA25
SF15FA30
SF15FA35
SF15FA40
SF20FA25
SF20FA30
SF20FA35
SF20FA40

24.7
24.1
24.2
24.7
25.0
24.2
24.4
24.1
24.4
25.0
24.2
24.4
24.1
24.3
24.2
24.3
24.9
24.3
24.0
24.2
24.7
24.5
24.2
24.9
24.4

7.1
11.0
12.0
12.0
14.8
7.0
5.5
4.0
3.5
7.5
8.0
10.0
10.0
6.0
6.5
7.0
9.0
4.0
4.0
4.2
5.0
1.9
2.3
3.0
3.5

2129
2043
2023
2005
1999
2118
2107
2088
2071
2063
2047
2033
2032
2066
2030
2015
1999
2035
2016
2014
2005
1992
1932
1930
1896

711

Acceptance criteria of SCM suggested by EFNARC

Range
2426

2.4. Test methods

The mini slump ow test for SCM is described by EFNARC [20].
In this test, a truncated cone mould was placed on a smooth plate,
lled with mortar, and lifted upwards. The subsequent diameter of
the mortar was measured in two perpendicular dimensions and
the average was reported as the nal diameter. The mini
V-funnel ow test for SCM is also described by EFNARC [20]. In this
test, the funnel was lled completely with mortar and the bottom
outlet is opened, allowing the mortar to ow out. V-funnel ow
time of mortar was the elapsed time (t) in seconds between the

opening of the bottom outlet and the time when the light becomes
visible from the bottom, when observed from the top. Deformability and viscosity of the mixtures was evaluated through the measurement of mini slump ow diameter and mini V-funnel ow
time. The workability values and unit weight of fresh mortar mixtures and EFNARC [20] limits are summarized in Table 3.
Viscosity measurements were performed using a Brookeld DVE model viscometer. It is a rotational viscometer with a smoothwalled concentric cylinder so that at low stress values, wall slip
(nearly yield stress) occurs resulting in inaccurately low yield
stress measurements. Slip appeared to be more inuential at low

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K. Turk / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 326334

16

y = -0.004x + 24.36
2
R = 0.65

V-funnel flow time (sec)

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2750

3000

3250

3500

3750

4000

4250

4500

4750

5000

5250

Viscosity (cP) - rotational speed: 10rpm

Fig. 1. Correlation between V-funnel ow time and viscosity values measured at rotational speed of 10 rpm.

strain rates, thus resulting unusual low viscosity. However, a

decreasing in the inuence of slip was observed at higher rotational speeds. Therefore, the viscosity measurements were conducted at different rotational speeds. The measurements based
on the plastic viscosity were realized at the seven rotational speeds
(1, 2.5, 5, 10, 20, 50, 60 and 100 rpm) immediately after mixing.
The hardened mortar specimens were also tested for the compressive strength, the exural strength, the dry unit weight and
the dynamic modulus of elasticity. The measurements for the compressive and exural strengths were performed at 28 and 91 days
of curing in water whilst the dry unit weight and the dynamic
modulus of elasticity tests were carried out at 28 days of curing
in water as per relevant ASTM standards. The average of three test
specimens was calculated for each property.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Fresh mortar properties
The test results relevant to the slump ow diameter, V-funnel
ow time and the unit weight are presented in Table 3. All of the
SCMs were designed to give a slump ow diameter of 25 1 cm
which was acquired by adjusting the dosage of HRWR chemical
admixture used. Thus, all of the fresh mixtures had slump ow
diameter conforming EFNARC [20] recommendation. SCMs with
binary blends of FA showed highest V-funnel ow times followed
by mixtures incorporating SF5FA40, SF5FA35, SF10FA40, SF5FA30,
SF5FA25 and control mixtures. That is, it can clearly be said from
this result that the owability of mortars reduced with increasing
the amount of cement replaced by FA. However, the use of ternary
cementitious blends of SF and FA reduced this effect; moreover,
lower ow time was noted in the control mix except for mixtures
incorporated ternary cementitious blends of SF5FA25-30-35-40
and SF10FA40. Even, the V-funnel ow times of mixtures with ternary cementitious blends of SF20FA25, 30, 35 and 40 could be
measured hardly due to the high owability nature of mixtures.
This may be attributed to the increasing of the smaller particle size
due to SF and thus, water required for the surface covering increases. Finally, the incorporation of SF with FA in ternary blends
in general improved the V-funnel time of the mortars with binary
cementitious blends according to acceptance criteria of SCM suggested by EFNARC. This nding is consistent with that of Sahmaran
et al. [26] who found the ternary mixtures increased the workability of the mortars.

The relationships between the V-funnel ow time and viscosity

measurements at different rotational speeds for SCMs with binary
and ternary cementitious blends of SF and FA were investigated.
The results obtained in this study are similar to those reported
by Felekoglu et al. [27] which indicated that the best correlated results were derived from 10 rpm as shown in Fig. 1. In certain cases,
there is a correlation between the V-funnel ow time measurements and the viscosity. However, the coefcient of correlation
may only reect the general tendency because it does not seem
very strong. In V-funnel test, the ow time of a constant volume
of paste owing from a denite opening is measured. In viscosimeter measurements, the resistances of fresh paste against the viscosimeter mill rotating at a set of constant rotational speeds are
measured. The above mentioned two methods may be alternatively used in optimization of paste viscosity for comparison purpose if the viscosity is in the range of viscosimeter employed.
However, at low viscosity changes, the V-funnel test can also be
insufcient to measure the magnitude of change.
Apparent plastic viscosity changes of mixes were measured
only at the beginning after mixing. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the
viscosity of all mixes at all measurements has a similar tendency.
This similar tendency was noticed by Felekoglu et al. [27] who
found that Eq. (2) was well tted with the measurements.

l a  cb

where, l is the viscosity in centipoise, and c is the rotational speed

in revolutions per minute. The constants a and b were calculated by
the help of the best t equations. Viscosity changes of all mixtures
at different rotational speeds are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The behaviour of all mortar mixtures is viscous at low deformation rates,
while at high deformation rates, owable behaviour is dominant
regardless of the dosage and type of mineral admixtures. From this
point of view, it can be said that if mortar is mixed with an efcient
liquidizer with a high shear rate, self-compactibility and lling ability of mixture may be improved due to its much higher uidity.
Thereby, the increasing of the shear rate applied on mixture by
pumping at the placement stage may be an alternative way, and
thus, it may be also reduced the effect of wall slip problem [27].
The development of plastic viscosity of SCMs with binary and
ternary blends of FA and SF measured at different rotational speeds
is graphically shown in Figs. 2 and 3, respectively. It was observed
that the high rotational speed reduced the viscosity of all of the
mixtures. As it is shown in Fig. 2, at one rotational speed, the effects
of using FA in binary blends increased the viscosity of the mortar,

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K. Turk / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 326334

30000

Control
FA25
FA30
FA35
FA40
SF5
SF10
SF15
SF20

25000

Viscosity (cP)

20000

15000

10000

5000

0
1

2.5

10

20

50

60

100

Rotational speed (rpm)

Fig. 2. Viscosity change of SCMs with binary blends of SF and FA at different rotational speeds.

(a)

30000

Control
SF5FA25
SF5FA30
SF5FA35
SF5FA40
SF10FA25
SF10FA30
SF10FA35
SF10FA40

Viscosity (cP)

25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
1

2.5

10

20

50

60

100

Rotational speed (rpm)

(b)

30000

Control
SF15FA25
SF15FA30
SF15FA35
SF15FA40
SF20FA25
SF20FA30
SF20FA35
SF20FA40

Viscosity (cP)

25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
1

2.5

10

20

50

60

100

Rotational speed (rpm)

Fig. 3. Viscosity change of SCMs with ternary blends of SF and FA at different rotational speeds.

especially the effect being more pronounced with increasing the

replacement level whilst the mortars with binary blends of SF displayed less viscous behaviour when the SF content in mixture increased. Indeed, SCMs with binary blends of FA40 had the highest
viscosity at the lowest rotational speed whilst SCMs with binary
blends of SF had lower viscosity compared to control and SCMs with
binary blends of FA. However, when the rotational speed increased,
the viscosity of SCMs with binary blends of SF was higher than
those of control and SCM with FA mixtures though there was not
an important difference between the viscosity behaviour of SCMs
with binary blends of FA and SF. It can be said that the energy

needed to reach a owable consistency should be lower for FA

rather than SF incorporated mortars with binary blends, especially
at high rotational speeds.
In Fig. 3, a reconciling could be found by combining the decreasing effect of FA and increasing effect of SF at all rotational speed
except for 1 rpm when the mortars were made with ternary blends
of SF and FA. Even though the viscosity of binary FA mortars was
less than that of the control mixture except for FA40 at 1 rpm, all
SCMs with ternary cementitious blends had higher viscosity than
that of the control mixture at all rotational speed except for
1 rpm. Finally, it can be said that the ternary mixtures generally

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K. Turk / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 326334

with binary blends of SF, because y ash had lower unit weight
with 2.08 gr/cm3 compared to that of silica fume (i.e., density or
specic gravity).

Table 4
Compressive and exural tensile strength of all SCMs at 28 and 91 days.
Compressive strength (MPa)
28 days

91 days

28 days

91 days

55.9
52.2
46.3
44.1
41.6
52.6
57.6
56.8
56.5
48.3
46.2
40.4
43.7
46.2
44.0
46.5
46.2
48.7
47.4
49.8
49.2
48.5
48.7
38.1
38.0

60.6
56.9
56.1
47.5
48.9
60.3
62.6
63.5
65.2
53.0
51.5
54.0
53.7
56.1
54.9
51.9
54.8
50.0
49.7
53.0
56.0
57.2
52.7
49.7
46.4

10.3
7.5
7.3
7.1
6.8
7.5
8.4
8.7
9.2
8.4
7.6
7.7
7.3
8.8
8.5
7.9
7.7
8.7
8.6
8.0
7.5
8.9
7.9
7.1
7.4

11.2
9.0
8.7
8.6
8.3
9.8
10.1
10.6
11.4
9.0
8.8
8.9
8.5
9.5
8.7
8.2
8.2
8.9
9.1
9.1
9.9
9.9
9.3
7.9
8.4

3.2.2. Compressive strength

The compressive and exural tensile strength development of
SCMs with binary and ternary blends of FA and SF was presented
in Table 4 and the percent difference in the compressive strengths
of SCMs with binary or ternary blends of mineral admixtures with
respect to that of the control mixture were shown in Fig. 4. The
compressive strength of the control mixture at 28 days was measured to be 55.9 MPa which increased to 60.6 MPa with an increase
of about 8% at 91 days. It can be clearly seen from Fig. 4 that the
compressive strength of the control mortar performed better than
those of mortars with binary blends of FA and all ternary mortars.
However, SCMs with binary blends of SF except for SF5 had the
highest the compressive strength compared to all SCMs tested at
the ages of 28 and 91 days. Results obtained from many studies
have shown that the rate of hardening slows due to FA replacement [2931]. As shown in Fig. 4, replacing PC with SF contributed
to strength gain of the mortars with SF10, SF15 and SF20 at the rate
of 3%, 5% and 8%, respectively, at 91 days whilst an increase in compressive strength at 28-day ages was 3%, 2% and 1% for SF10, SF15
and SF20, respectively. This development in the compressive
strength can be attributed to the fact that increase in the SF content tends basically to consume the calcium hydroxide crystals released from the hydration process leading to the formation of
further calciumsilicatehydrate (secondary CSH) and contributing to the interfacial bond strength between aggregate particles
and matrix [32,33]. The ternary use of mineral admixtures improved by decreasing the deciencies of SCMs with binary blends
of FA. Indeed, 40% FA replacement in binary blends induced a decrease of 26% and 19% for 28- and 91-day compressive strength
of the mortars, respectively whilst the compressive strength of
mortars with ternary blends of SF15FA40 exhibited a decrease of
12% for 28 days and 8% for 91 days.
This is consistent with the previous studies which have shown
that the ternary use of mineral admixtures helped in decreasing
the shortcoming of the mixtures with binary blends of FA [34,35].

predominated the respective binary mixtures in terms of viscosity.

Because the properties of the SCMs can be characterized by a relatively low yield value for high owability and a moderate viscosity
to resist segregation and bleeding [19,28].
3.2. Hardened mortar properties

3.2.3. Flexural tensile strength

Fig. 5 shows the percent difference in the exural tensile
strengths of SCMs with binary and ternary blends of mineral
admixtures with respect to that of the control mixture. As
shown in Fig. 5, the exural tensile strength of the control

10

28 days
91 days

5
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25

SF20FA40

SF20FA30

SF20FA35

SF20FA25

SF15FA40

SF15FA30

SF15FA35

SF15FA25

SF10FA35

SF10FA40

SF10FA30

SF10FA25

SF5FA35

SF5FA30

SF20

SF5FA25

SF15

SF5

FA35

FA40

FA30

-35

SF10

-30
FA25

Difference in compressive strength (%)

3.2.1. Dry unit weight

The unit weights of SCMs with binary and ternary blends of FA
and SF were measured at 28 days (see Table 3). As expected, the
unit weight of the mortars with binary and ternary blends decreased with an increase in FA and SF content due to their low unit
weight compared to that of cement. The unit weight of mortars
with binary blends of FA/SF varied between 1999 and 2118 kg/
m3 whilst the unit weight of SCMs with ternary blends of FA and
SF ranged between 1896 and 2063 kg/m3, depending on total mineral admixture content. In general, decrease in the unit weight of
mortars with binary blends of FA was more than that of mortars

SF5FA40

Control
FA25
FA30
FA35
FA40
SF5
SF10
SF15
SF20
SF5FA25
SF5FA30
SF5FA35
SF5FA40
SF10FA25
SF10FA30
SF10FA35
SF10FA40
SF15FA25
SF15FA30
SF15FA35
SF15FA40
SF20FA25
SF20FA30
SF20FA35
SF20FA40

Tensile strength (MPa)

Mixture code
Fig. 4. Percent difference in compressive strength of SCMs with binary and ternary blends of FA and SF at 28 and 91 days.

K. Turk / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 326334

28 days
91 days

0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25

SF20FA35

SF20FA40

SF20FA25

SF20FA30

SF15FA40

SF15FA35

SF15FA30

SF10FA40

SF15FA25

SF10FA35

SF10FA30

SF5FA40

SF10FA25

SF5FA30

SF5FA35

SF5FA25

SF15

SF20

SF5

SF10

FA35

FA25

-35

FA40

-30
FA30

Difference in tensile strength(%)

332

Mixture codes
Fig. 5. Percent difference in exural tensile strength of SCMs with binary and ternary blends of FA and SF at 28 and 91 days.

Difference in dynamic modulus

of elasticity (%)

-5

-10

-15

SF20FA35

SF20FA40

SF20FA30

SF20FA25

SF15FA40

SF15FA35

SF15FA30

SF15FA25

SF10FA40

SF10FA35

SF10FA30

SF5FA40

SF10FA25

SF5FA35

SF5FA30

SF5FA25

SF20

SF15

SF5

SF10

FA35

FA30

FA25

-25

FA40

-20

Mixture codes
Fig. 6. Dynamic elasticity of SCMs with binary and ternary blends of FA and SF at 28 days.

Compressive strength (MPa)

60

55

50

45

Binary blends
40

Ternary blends

35
25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

Dynamic modulus of elasticity (GPa)

Fig. 7. Correlation between compressive strength and dynamic elasticity of SCMs with binary and ternary blends of FA and SF at 28 days.

mortar performed better than all of binary mortars for all curing
ages except for SF20 mixture at the ages of 91-day. With
increasing amount of FA content, difference in the exural tensile strength of the mortar with binary blends of FA increased.
However, for the mortar with binary blends of SF this nding
is not valid. Because, the FA is somewhat coarser so it is a little

slower to react [36]. It can clearly be seen from Fig. 5 that the
ternary use of mineral admixtures improved the deciencies of
SCMs with binary blends of FA. Indeed, the incorporation of SF
with FA in ternary blends in general decreased the difference
in the exural tensile strength compared to the mortar with
binary blends of FA.

K. Turk / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 326334

3.2.4. Dynamic modulus of elasticity

The percent difference in 28-day dynamic modulus of elasticity
of SCMs with binary and ternary blends of FA and SF was shown
with respect to that of the control mixture in Fig. 6. As shown in
Fig. 6, the dynamic modulus of elasticity of the control mortar performed better than all mortars with mineral admixtures. Moreover,
the dynamic modulus of elasticity of SCMs with binary blends of FA
remarkably decreased when FA content in mortars increased from
25% to 40%. However, the dynamic modulus of elasticity of mortars
with binary blends of SF exhibited slightly a decrease with the
average of 3% when SF content in mortars increased from 5% to
20%. It is clear from Fig. 6 that the dynamic modulus of elasticity
of the mortar mixtures with ternary blends except for SF15FA40,
SF20FA25, SF20FA30, SF20FA35 and SF20FA40 was in general higher than that of the mortar mixtures with binary blends of FA. Finally, it was observed that there was generally a decrease in the
dynamic modulus of elasticity whilst the percentage of total mineral admixture content in mortars with ternary blends increased. It
should especially be pointed out that if this test was performed
more than 28 days age (for instance, at 56 or 90 days), including
mineral additives, might be expected higher dynamic modulus of
elasticity than control mixture.
Fig. 7 shows the correlation between compressive strength and
dynamic elasticity of SCMs with binary and ternary blends of FA
and SF at 28 days. It is clear from this gure that there is a very
good correlation between the dynamic modulus of elasticity and
the compressive strength of SCMs with binary blends of both SF
and FA, however, for the mortar mixtures with ternary blends of
SF and FA this nding is not valid.

4. Conclusions
Based on the data developed and results in this study the following conclusions may be drawn:
1. V-funnel time reduced with increase in SF content in binary
mixtures whilst the owability of mortars reduced when the
amount of cement replaced by FA increased. However, the use
of ternary cementitious blends of SF and FA reduced this effect.
2. It can be emphasized that at high deformation rates, owable
behaviour was dominant regardless of the dosage and type of
mineral admixtures. Moreover, the energy needed to reach a
owable consistency should be lower for FA rather than SF
incorporated mortars with binary blends, especially at high
rotational speeds.
3. The ternary mixtures generally predominated the respective
binary mixtures in terms of viscosity. Because, all SCMs with
ternary cementitious blends had higher viscosity than that of
the control mixture at all rotational speed except for 1 rpm
although the viscosity of binary FA mortars was less than that
of the control mixture except for FA40 at 1 rpm.
4. Dry unit weight of the mortar decreased with an increase in the
mineral admixtures content due to their low unit weight compared to that of cement.
5. The compressive strength of the control mortar performed better than binary blends of FA and all ternary mortars whilst the
exural tensile strength of the control mortar was in general
higher than all binary and ternary mortars for all curing ages.
Moreover, the ternary use of PC, SF and FA improved the deciencies of SCMs with binary blends of FA.
6. Increase in SF and FA contents caused a decrease in the dynamic
modulus of elasticity of the mortars with binary and ternary
blends whilst the dynamic modulus of elasticity of the control
mortar performed better than all mortars with SF and FA. Moreover, there is a very good correlation between the dynamic

333

modulus of elasticity and the compressive strength of SCMs

with binary blends whilst this nding is not valid for the mortars with ternary blends.
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