Development and assessment of fly ash blended semi-flowable - self-consolidating pavement quality concrete

This paper presents the laboratory evaluation of a special kind of self-consolidating concrete (SCC), called Semi-flowable SCC (SF-SCC), for use in slip-form pavement construction using fly ash (FA) as a partial replacement for ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The laboratory investigation included the proportioning of SF-SCC by achieving fresh properties such as slump, flow, compaction factor and green strength; rheology using the direct shear test method followed by evaluation of the mixes for mechanical, durability and microstructural properties. A multi-objective decision-making method called the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is adopted for ranking the mixes. The results indicate that FA up to 10% is optimum. The viability of such SF-SCC mixes is assessed for pavement construction as per the specifications of the Indian Road Congress (IRC). All the SF-SCC mixes are effectively suitable as the road-making material either in rural or urban areas.