Ground granulated blast furnace slag in self-consolidating concrete for sustainable pavements: A state-of-the-art review with data-driven design windows

Information from the abstract

Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) is the most promising supplementary cementitious material (SCM) for self-consolidating concrete (SCC), a low-vibration concrete valued for its flowability, surface finish and durability, but constrained by high paste and cement contents that raise cost and environmental impact. Despite the extensive use of GGBS in structural concrete, no focused review has consolidated its behaviour in SCC and semiflowable self-consolidating concrete (SFSCC) for pavement applications. This article reviews the physical, chemical, mineralogical and morphological characteristics of GGBS and their influence on the fresh, mechanical, durability and microstructural properties of SCC. A structured database of reported mixes is further analysed using response-surface modelling (RSM), locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS), and interquartile-range (IQR) filtering to derive quantitative design windows. A moderate replacement of 20–40%, with a low water-to-binder (w/b) ratio and balanced aggregate proportions, gives the best balance of workability, strength and durability; the optimum 28-day windows are 15-42.5% for compressive strength and 10-22.5% for flexural strength. The smooth texture and fine particle size of GGBS improve flowability, passing ability and cohesiveness while lowering superplasticiser (SP) demand. Additionally, GGBS lowers the early-age strength, but secondary hydration densifies the microstructure through pore refinement to deliver comparable or higher later-age strength while improving most durability properties and offering a favourable strength-to-cost ratio. Beyond consolidating fragmented and often inconsistent data into ready-to-use quantitative design windows, this review establishes GGBS-based SFSCC for slip-form paving as a promising yet unexplored route and outlines the research gaps toward durable, sustainable, low-carbon concrete pavements.

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Related topics: Concrete and Cement Materials Research · Materials Engineering and Processing · Innovative concrete reinforcement materials