Study of the Effects of Marble Powder Amount on the Self-Compacting Concretes Properties by Microstructure Analysis on Cement-Marble Powder Pastes

Abstract

The marble powder (MP), obtained from waste sludge marble processing, has a high specific surface area; this could mean that it can be used as filler added to self-compacting concrete (SCC). The aim of this experimental work is to study the effects of the cement-MP paste volume on the rheology in the fresh state and the hardened properties (compressive strength) of SCC by a microstructure analysis on paste samples with different amounts of MP. For all pastes, the morphological forms and the chemical composition of the main mineral components were analyzed by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The hydration, microstructure, and mineralogical changes has been studied. Experimental results show that the cement-MP paste volume has significant effects on the self-compacting and the self-leveling properties in the fresh state of SCC. In addition, the paste volume has a significant contribution on the compressive strength of SCC. Results indicate also that the difference in chemical composition between MP and cement have not any contribution on the paste volume effects.