The cement being used in the construction industry is the result of a chemical process<p>linked to the decarbonation of limestone conducted at high temperature and results in a<p>significant release of CO2. This thesis is part of the project EcoBéton (Green concrete) funded<p>by the French National Research Agency (ANR), with a purpose to show the feasibility of<p>high substitution of cement by mineral additions such as blast furnaces slag, fly ash and<p>limestone fillers. Generally for high percentages of replacements, the early age strength is<p>lower than Portland cement concrete. To cope with this problem, an optimisation method for<p>mix design of concrete using Bolomey’s law has been proposed. Following the encouraging<p>results obtained from mortar, a series of tests on concretes with different substitution<p>percentages were carried out to validate the optimisation method. To meet the requirements of<p>the construction industry related to performance of concrete at early age, which determine<p>their durability, a complete experimental study was carried out. Standard tests for the<p>characterization of the mechanical properties (compressive strength, tensile strength, and<p>setting) allowed to validate the choice of mix design on the basis of equivalent performance.<p>We focused on the hydration process to understand the evolution of the mechanical<p>properties. Setting time measurement by ultrasound device at different temperatures (10°C,<p>20°C and 30°C) showed that ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and fly ash<p>delayed the setting process, while use of limestone filler may accelerate this process.<p>Calorimetric studies over mortars and concretes made possible to calculate the activation<p>energy of the different mixtures and a decrease in heat of hydration of concretes with mineral<p>additions was observed which is beneficial for use in mega projects of concrete. Scanning<p>Electron Microscopy observations and thermal analysis have given enough information about<p>the hydration process. It was observed that the hydration products are similar for different<p>concrete mixtures, but the time of their appearance and quantity in the cement matrix varies<p>for each concrete mix.<p>Last part of the thesis was dedicated to the study of main types of shrinkage. First of all,<p>deformations measured were correlated to hydration, capillary depression and porosity<p>evolution. Results allowed concluding that the use of mineral additions has an actual effect on<p>the plastic shrinkage behaviour, but its impact is not proportional to the percentage of<p>additions. Substitution of cement by the additions seems to have a marked influence on the<p>kinetics of the shrinkage without any effect on its long term amplitude. The study of<p>restrained shrinkage under drying conditions by means of ring tests showed that concretes<p>with high percentage of slag addition seem more prone to cracking than the Portland cement<p>concretes. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The modern, contemporarily used cement composite types make use of various additives. This diploma thesis is focused on designs of mortars that have been enriched with micro and nano additives, which lead to higher mechanical strength through optimized grading of mortar mixes. This thesis also evaluates the influence of material properties on resulting properties of mortars in fresh and hardened state.