Effect of Metakaolin and Iron Ore Tailings on The Properties if High Strength Concrete

Abstract

This study presents the effect of incorporating metakaolin (MK) and iron ore tailings on the mechanical and durability properties of high strength concrete for a constant water/binder ratio of 0.33 .Metakaolin mixtures with cement replacement of 0,8, 10 and 12 % and iron ore tailing with sand at constant percentage i.e., optimum percentage of 30%, ,were designed for target strength and slump of 50 mm. From the results, it was observed that 10 % replacement level was the optimum level in terms of compressive strength. Beyond 10 %replacement levels, the strength was decreased but remained higher than the control mixture. Compressive strength was achieved optimum at 10 %replacement. Splitting tensile strength, flexural strength and modulus of elasticity values have also followed the same trend. In durability tests metakaolin and iron ore tailings concretes have exhibited high resistance compared to control and the resistance increases as the metakaolin percentage increases. This investigation has shown that the metakaolin and iron ore tailings has the potential to produce high strength and high-performance concretes.