Flexural and fatigue behavior of prestressed concrete beams made with portland pozzolana cement

Abstract

There is rapid growth of Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) production over the last few years. The use of PPC has been included by Indian and international standards/specifications in the past. But in India, the use of PPC for prestressed concrete (PSC) is generally not recommended in different specifications due to apprehension of late strength development and a lack of data on other critical properties of PSC like creep, shrinkage, and fatigue. The critical properties affecting PSC structures such as strength, modulus of elasticity, drying shrinkage, and creep as studied in the past by NCB are at par in case of available PPC when compared with ordinary portland cement (OPC). The present study is carried out to evaluate the flexural and fatigue behavior of PSC beams made with OPC and PPC. The study was conducted on M40 grade concrete using two locally available Indian cements, i.e. OPC and PPC. The test results of flexural strength test conducted on PSC beams indicate that flexural behavior for both OPC and PPC made PSC beams are similar. Based on fatigue studies, it is seen that the fatigue effects are also similar in case of both OPC and PPC made concrete. During flexure testing without fatigue, it was observed that the first cracking load is slightly lower in case of PPC but ultimate load is almost equal in PPC and OPC. Fatigue test results of PSC beams are similar for both OPC and PPC made concrete.