Volume 87, Issue 09 (2026), Pages: 35-58;
Received: 27 June 2026 / Revised: 01 September 2026/ Accepted: 05 September 2026 / Published: 12 September 2026
Research article
Evaluating the Structural Viability of Sustainable High-Strength Concrete using Industrial By-product
Ankita Singh1, Amit Kumar Sinha2, Hariom Shankar1, Akansha Jaiswal3, Shweta Rawat3, Suket Kumar4, Vaishnav Patil5, *
1Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Bakhtiyarpur College of Engineering, Bihar, India
2Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Government Engineering college, Munger, Bihar, India
3Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Government Engineering college Bhojpur, Bihar, India
4Assistant Professor, Department of civil Engineering, Government Engineering College, Buxar, Bihar, India
5Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Tamil Nadu, India
Abstract: The rapid escalation of global infrastructure development drives an unprecedented demand for High-Strength Concrete (HSC), inadvertently accelerating anthropogenic carbon dioxide Co2 emissions through conventional Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) production. This study presents a systematic evaluation of the structural viability, durability, and environmental lifecycle benefits of sustainable HSC engineered by partially replacing OPC with industrial by-products. A ternary binder matrix was designed using Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBS) and Silica Fume (SF) to optimize particle packing density and pozzolanic-hydraulic synergy. Six distinct concrete mixtures were synthesized: a control mixture (M0: 100% OPC) and five experimental variations (M1 to M4 representing incremental GGBS/SF replacements, and M5 as the multi-criteria optimized mix). Comprehensive testing evaluated fresh rheology, mechanical properties across a 90-day curing horizon, durability indices, microstructural densification via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and full-scale structural beam performance. Experimental data revealed that the optimized mixture (M5: 30% GGBS, 7.5% SF) achieved a 28-day compressive strength of 86.3 MPa, surpassing the control mix (82.4 MPa) while concurrently reducing embodied carbon by 37.5%. Full-scale structural load testing of reinforced beams confirmed that sustainable HSC exhibits equivalent initial stiffness, superior ultimate load-carrying capacity (+4.2%), and enhanced displacement ductility compared to conventional HSC. The results validate that technical structural reliability and deep-decarbonization objectives can be balanced through multi-criteria material optimization.
Keywords: Sustainable Concrete; High-Strength Concrete; Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBS); Silica Fume; Microstructural Matrix; Structural Beam Testing; Multi-Criteria Optimization; Deep Decarbonization
* Corresponding Author: vaishnavp22@vit.ac.in
Doi (Journal): 10.1045/2026.Bauingenieur/108804-VDI_088
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