Mechanical Performance of High-Strength Sustainable Concrete under Fire Incorporating Locally Available Volcanic Ash in Central Harrat Rahat, Saudi Arabia

This study investigated the effect of elevated temperatures on the mechanical properties of high-strength sustainable concrete incorporating volcanic ash (VA). For comparison, control and reference concrete specimens with fly ash (FA) were also cast along with additional specimens of VA and FA containing electric arc furnace slag (EAFS). Before thermal exposure, initial tests were performed to evaluate the mechanical properties (compressive strength, tensile strength, and elastic modulus) of cylindrical concrete specimens with aging. Additionally, 91 day moist-cured concrete specimens, after measuring their initial weight and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), were exposed up to 800 °C and cooled to air temperature. Subsequently, the weight loss, residual UPV, and mechanical properties of concrete were measured with respect to exposure temperature. For all concrete specimens, test results demonstrated a higher loss of weight, UPV, and other mechanical properties under exposure to higher elevated temperature. Moreover, all the results of concrete specimens incorporating VA were observed before and after exposure to elevated temperature as either comparable to or slightly better than those of control and reference concrete with FA. According to the experimental results, a correlation was developed between residual UPV and residual compressive strength (RCS), which can be used to assess the RCS of fire-damaged concrete (up to 800 °C) incorporating VA and EAFS.