THE INFLUENCE OF AIR ENTRAINMENT ON THE PROPERTIES OF SILICA FUME CONCRETE

An experimental study on fresh and hardened properties of silica fume concrete containing air-entraining agent was performed Silica fume con tent ranged from 0 to 20% by mass of the cementitious materials (cemen t plus silica fume). Air content in fresh mix concrete ranged between 2 and 15%. Fresh mix properties were characterized by determining the slump and air content. Hardened material properties such as compressiv e and flexural strength and permeability were investigated. Test resul ts showed that air entrainment reduces the mechanical properties of si lica fume concrete. Tt was also shown that air entrainment has a minim al effect on the permeability of concrete with high silica fume conten t.