Characterization of cement-based spacers for high performance concretes

Abstract

Due to the increasing trend towards high-performance concretes in recent years, cement-based spacers are becoming increasingly important instead of plastic-made ones in buildings. Cement-based concrete spacers with high resistance and durability have been produced, and their performance has been assessed in this study. Fly ash and blast furnace slag have been preferred as aggregate in this study due to their positive contributions to mechanical characteristics and to provide an environmental-friendly production. Seven different mixtures, including the reference mixture, were prepared. Flow diameter and density tests were applied on the freshly prepared mixtures, while unit weight, porosity, compressive strength, and loading tests were performed on the hardened samples. In conclusion, produced concrete spacers have met the requirements of standards, and the best performance in terms of compressive strength has been obtained by using a binary combination of fly ash and blast furnace slag.