Investigation of Metakaolin Utilization as a Supplement to Cement in Sustainable High-performance Concrete Production

The research on the use of supplementary cementitious materials in enhancing the behavior of high-performance concrete (HPC) has increased. This paper investigates the influence of metakaolin (MK) on the properties of the HPC; cement was substituted with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30% of MK by weight to manufacture HPC at lower and higher w/b ratios. The concrete mixtures were evaluated for their fresh properties through compaction factor test and mechanical properties such as compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, and elastic modulus at 7, 14, 28, and 90 days. The morphological investigations through SEM were performed for HPC with MK and compared with the control mix. It was observed that the inclusion of MK resulted in lower workability owing to its finer particle sizes. The optimized inclusion of 10% MK has shown improvement in the properties of HPC; however, increased curing enhanced the properties of HPC even at lower w/b ratios.