Effects of fly ash, slag pozzolans, and polycarboxylate on mechanical properties of concretes and economical evaluation

In this research, steel furnace slag, fly ash and new synthesized polycarboxylate was used to replace cement in concrete composition. Concrete was made in three grades of 400, 450 and 500 using steel furnace slag, fly ash and polymer with different percentages of dry weight. Also, the amount of water to cement was selected as one of the effective parameters in concrete strength and production costs. The results showed that slag percent had a positive effect on improving samples strength. Also, increasing the percentage of polycarboxylate and decreasing the amount of water per cement ratio increased the strength of concretes. Finally, by examining the effect of several parameters on the strength of concrete, an economic evaluation was performed to manage the cost of increasing the strength of concrete. The results also indicated that with increasing percentage of resistance, the amount of costs increased in all three grades; 400, 450 and 500.