Abstract:
In the concrete industry, billions of tons of freshwater are used annually. If seawater can be used instead of freshwater, it can save freshwater and construction costs. Hence, there is a need for research studies to make the use of seawater in the concrete industry to be acceptable.
This study aimed to investigate the effects of seawater as mixing water on cementitious properties, autogenous shrinkage, and drying shrinkage of the paste/mortar/concrete, by partially replacing Portland Cement Type I with fly ash, ground granulated bottom ash, and limestone powder. The cementitious properties of the paste/mortar/concrete, the autogenous shrinkage of the mortar and the drying shrinkage of the mortar were examined. The cementitious properties, the autogenous shrinkage and the drying shrinkage of the paste/mortar/concrete mixed and cured with freshwater were compared with the ones mixed and cured with seawater.
The research results showed that the optimal water quantity of seawater mixed in the paste was greater than that of freshwater, while the setting time of the mixed seawater paste was shorter than that of the freshwater paste. The autoclave expansion of the mixed seawater paste was greater than that of the freshwater paste. In addition, the result of flow table test of the mixed seawater mortar was less than that of the freshwater mortar. The slump of the mixed seawater concrete was less than that of the freshwater concrete. In addition, it was found that the compressive strength and the splitting tensile strength of the concrete mixed and cured with seawater at an early age (less than 28 days) seemed to give the same values as that mixed and cured with freshwater. In other words, it was developing with increasing age. However, once the age of the concrete was longer (91 days), the compressive strength and the splitting tensile strength of the concrete mixed and cured with seawater were lower than that mixed and cured with freshwater. Finally, the autogenous shrinkage and the drying shrinkage of the mixed seawater mortar were greater than that of the freshwater mixed mortar.