experimental studies in ultrasonic pulse velocity of roller compacted concrete containing ground granulated blast furnace slag in cold region

The present study mainly aimed to evaluate the possibility of making a roller-compacted concrete (r.c.c.) to build environmentally friendly road pavements in freezing conditions and using the results of non-destructive ultrasonic pulse wave velocity test to evaluate the behavior of r.c.c. due to the high volume of environmental pollutions in the cement production process, ground granulated blast furnace slag (ggbs) has replaced cement. in this study, ggbs was added at the rate of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60% to r.c.c. samples by cement weight, and then its mechanical properties were evaluated in cold regions. next, several laboratory tests were performed in this regard, including compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, durability (thaw and freezing cycles), water absorption, and ultrasonic pulse wave velocity (u.p.v.). based on the findings, adding 30% ggbs improved the mechanical properties of r.c.c. samples. this value of ggbs caused the compressive strength of r.c.c. specimen's increase 18%, splitting strength almost 43%, and flexural capacity approximately 56% during all resistance curing times. moreover, 30% ggbs prepared the lowest percentage of weight loss in roller concrete samples in thaw and freezing cycles, and the ultrasonic speed of roller concrete samples has decreased with an increasing number of thaw and freezing cycles due to increasing weight loss percentage. eventually, there was a good correlation between the findings of u.p.v. values and other tests, and it was possible to predict the behavior of r.c.c. samples using this test