Open Journal of Civil Engineering, 2013, 3, 119-125 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojce.2013.32014 Published Online June 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojce) Self Compacting Concrete under Local Conditions Abderahmane Seddik 1 , Ahmed Beroual 2 , Abdesselam Zergua 2 , Mohamed Nacer Guetteche 2 1 Department of Civil Engineering, Ferhat Abbas University, Setif, Algeria 2 Department of Civil Engineering, Constantine 1 University, Constantine, Algeria Email: mnguetteche@yahoo.fr Received April 7, 2013; revised May 10, 2013; accepted May 17, 2013 Copyright © 2013 Abderahmane Seddik et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of experimental investigations on mechanical properties of self compacting concrete made with local materials. The used materials were cement, aggregate and super plasticizer. Limestone powder, silica fume and blast furnace slag have been used as adjuvant in self compacting concrete (SCC). Self compacting concrete properties in fresh and hardened state are characterized and analyzed. The test results indicate the possibility to manu- facture SCC with good rheological and mechanical properties using local materials. Keywords: Self Compacting Concrete (SCC); Mineral Additions; Super Plasticizer; Workability; Compressive Strength and Tensile Strength 1. Introduction In recent years, there has been an important increase in the use of self-compacting concrete (SCC) [1-6]. Since its emergence, SCC is widely used all over the world. SCC was developed in Japan to improve the uniformity and reliability of concrete [7]; it doesn’t require any consolidation work at site. The characterization and for- mulation of this material have been the subject of nu- merous investigations [8-11]. Using SCC in structures would result in both technical and economical advantages. One of the most important differences between SCC and conventional concrete is the incorporation of a mineral admixture. This concrete is characterized by a high amount of fines, an amount of water, a relatively low use of super plasticizers, a high deformability and good uniformity in such a way that it can flow under its own weight to completely fill the formwork and passes through the congested reinforce- ment without any mechanical vibration. Many studies show the advantage of mineral admixture usage in SCC; and it enables to improve the workability with a reduc- tion of cement content [12-14]. The mineral admixtures enable to improve particle packing, to decrease the per- meability and to increase the durability of concrete [15]. The waste materials such as limestone powder, fly ash and granulated blast furnace slag are generally used as mineral admixtures in SCC [16-19] These add a positive impact on the timeliness and quality of concrete [7], at the same time the environmental pollution will be re- duced [20]. The aim of the present work is to highlight the influ- ence of local constituents in the composition of a SCC from the viewpoint of fresh and hardened state behavior and therefore to develop optimized formulations with good rheological and mechanical properties. This paper deals with the investigation of the effect of LP, BFS and SF as mineral admixtures on the fresh and hardened properties of SCC. Therefore, the saturation point with the cone Marsh, the slump flow, the compres- sive strength, the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and the dynamic elastic modulus tests were conducted to achieve this objective and determine the appropriateness of using these different material admixtures in SCC. The experimental work began with the characteriza- tion of various local materials from Algeria. 2. Experimental Program 2.1. Materials The materials used in this study were locally sourced and they satisfied the requirements of Algerian Standards. 2.1.1. Cements Portland cement (CPA CEM I 42.5) is supplied by the cement—Ain Kebira—Algeria, according to EN 197/1 (European Committee for Standardization—2000) [10]. Its mineralogical composition is C3S = 61.3%, C2S = 15.9%, C3A = 8% and C4AF = 9.6%. Copyright © 2013 SciRes. OJCE