Effect of Binary and Ternary Binders on Flow and Strength of Cement Mortar

This paper reports the results of laboratory work on the flow and strength of cement mortars containing binary and ternary blends of portland cement, silica fume (SF), Class C fly ash (CFA) and Class F fly ash (FFA). The cement was partially replaced with 20 and 40 wt.% of fly ash (FA) and 5 wt.% of SF as binary mixtures. Besides, the ternary mixtures contained 15%FA+5%SF and 35%FA+5%SF in place of 20% and 40% cement respectively. Both fly ashes were used in the ternary mixtures, thus, 4 mixtures containing ternary binders were prepared. Two sets of mortar mixtures having either same flow or same water/binder (W/B) ratio as those of the control mixture (containing no mineral admixture) were investigated. In total, 15 mortar mixtures were taken into constitution in the present study. The flow of mixtures was measured immediately after casting. In addition, the 7-and 28-day flexural and compressive strength of the mortar mixtures were determined. The use of SF in binary mixtures with constant W/B ratio provided the highest compressive strength (68 MPa). In ternary mixtures the use of 20%FA+5%SF mixture with constant W/B ratio showed the highest 28-day compressive strength (65 MPa). Among the mixtures with constant W/B ratio, ternary mixtures showed the lowest flow values. Besides, in the mixtures with constant flow, once again, the ternary mixtures had the highest W/B ratio. Both in binary and ternary specimens, the mixtures prepared with FFA had a higher flow than that of the CFA mixtures.