For the present study, we looked at ordinary Portland cement (OPC-43 grade) with Blain fineness of 390 m²/kg confirm IS 8112:1989 (IS-8112, 1989). FA was used in the present study and was of class F type with a fineness 410 m²/kg confirming IS 3812 (part 2): 2003 (IS-3812, 2013). SNPs were synthesized in a laboratory using water glass (sodium silicate solution) as a precursor, as reported elsewhere in further detail (Singh et al., 2015). The synthesized SNPs were amorphous and well dispersed, having a specific surface area of 116 m²/g. SF was procured from Elkem Ltd. and had a particle size <1 µm (Holland, 2005). The physiochemical properties of cement, FA, SNPs, and SF are given in Table 1.

For casting the concrete specimens, river sand with a fineness modulus of 2.72 and specific gravity 2.64 was used as fine aggregates. Meanwhile, angular crushed siliceous aggregates of a maximum size ∼12.5 mm were used as coarse aggregates, and they had a specific gravity of 2.63 and fineness modulus 7.49. The aggregates were found to be satisfying the specifications of IS:383:1970 (IS-383, 1970). Particle size distribution curve of fine sand and coarse aggregates are presented in Figures 1,2. Fourth-generation superplasticizer (SP) polycarboxylic ether (Glenium 51 of BASF, India) was used to achieve the desired workability of concrete confirming to IS 9130:1999 (IS-9130-1999IS-9130-1999).

The compressive strength tests of concrete samples were carried out on 100 × 100 × 100 mm cubes as per IS 516:1959 (IS-456, 2000). The split tensile strength test was performed on 100 × 200 mm cylinders according to ASTM C 496–11 (ASTM C496-11, 2003) and the flexural strength test performed on 100 × 100 × 500 mm prism samples as per IS 516: 1959 (IS-456, 2000). The split tensile strength is also estimated from the compressive strength of concrete by using standards like ACI 318–14 (ACI Committee 318, 2014) and Chinese Code GB 50010–2002 using the following equation (Xiao et al., 2007): f s p = 0.49 f c u 0.50 (1) f s p = 0.19 f c u 0.75 (2)

The compressive strength of concrete is also frequently used to calculate the flexural strength of concrete and is given by the following equation: f f = 0.81 f c u (3)   f f = 0.54 f c u (4)

Porosity

The porosity of exposed (in carbonation and sulphate environment) and non-exposed concrete samples were evaluated using ASTM C642 (ASTM-C642, 2015). The test was carried out on exposed samples (carbonation and sulphate) having size 100 × 200 mm cylinders after 365 days. The porosity was determined by using the following equation (Chindaprasirt and Rukzon, 2008): p = W a − W d W a − W w (5)

where.

P is the vacuum-saturated porosity.

W _a is the weight of the sample when air saturated (gm).

W _d is the weight of the sample after oven drying (gm).

W _w is the sample weight in water (gm).

The carbonation depth was investigated as per RILEM CPC-18 (Gehlen, 2011) after 365 days of exposure. The exposure condition for carbonation was 2% CO₂, 65% RH and 20°C. From exposed samples of concrete, a slice of size 50 × 100 × 100 mm cut from the prism, the carbonation depth was determined by using phenolphthalein solution.

The sulphate attack was investigated as per ASTM C1012 (El-Hachem et al., 2012) after 365 days of exposure. The exposure conditions for the sulphate attack were 5% solution of magnesium sulphate maintained at a pH between 6–8 at room temperature. For the determination of sulphate ion concentration in concrete specimens, a powder sample was taken from the exposed samples and determined through chemical analysis as per IS 4032 (IS-4032, 1985).

The compressive, tensile, and flexural strength test was carried out using universal Testing Machine (UTM) (make: Shimadzu, model: UH-1000knI) of capacity 1000 KN at loading rate 0.5 mm/min was used with ±1% potential error. XRD pattern was composed at an X-ray diffractometer (make: Rigaku; model: DMax-2200). Concrete powder samples were examined at 3°/min from 5° to 80° (2Theta) with CuKα radiation produced at 40 mA and 20 kV for the identity of hydration products. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) (make: Perkin Elmer; model: Diamond) was performed with 0.225 g of concrete powder sample with 10 C/min heating rate from 50 to 1000°C. The precise observation of mass loss over the temperature ranges for the compositional analysis of the concrete sample provides the estimates of the mass fraction of constituents. The microstructure analysis of concrete samples was observed by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) (make: TESCAN; model: MIRA 3).

Table 3 represents the effect of SNPs or SF on compressive strength of exposed (carbonation and sulphate environment) and non-exposed FA concrete specimens after 365 days of hydration. The results reveal that exposed specimens in the carbonation environment show higher compressive strength as compare to non-exposed specimens due to the formation of calcite. However, SNPs incorporated 30FA concrete specimens exhibit negligible enhancement in compressive strength showing that in presence of SNPs, the carbonation rate of concrete decreases significantly. While in the case of control specimens, the strength enhancement was around 7% and in SF incorporated specimens the strength enhancement was ∼4%. Furthermore, 40 FA and 50 FA concrete specimens exhibit higher compressive strength enhancement as compare to 30 FA specimens, showing more carbonation as the porosity increases with the higher dosages of FA, and, thus, accelerated carbonation occurred. Concrete samples exposed in sulphate solution show strength reduction since, during the sulphate attack, sulphate ions react with the CH and AFm phases, which leads to the formation of ettringite and gypsum, resulting in expending in pressure and cracks. Furthermore, during the sulphate attack, brucite also formed, and its low solubility reduces the alkalinity of concrete and low alkalinity lead to the deterioration of the C-S-H (Neville, 2011). Reduction in strength due to sulphate was also reported by Taha, 2019. Further, the results show that in presence of SNPs, 11% reduction was observed, whereas, SF and control samples show ∼13 and ∼21%, respectively, after 365 days of exposure. SNP-incorporated specimens show low porosity due to their additional hydration products formation; because of this, sulphate ions and CO₂ molecules cannot penetrate the concrete through the pores (Hou et al., 2014). SNPs containing 40 and 50% FA concrete specimens also show reduction and enhancement in compressive strength after exposure to sulphate and carbonation. In general, admixture SNPs and SF have accelerated the strength at an early age due to its pozzolanic nature and reactivity but, at later ages, strength enhancement is accountable due to the mortar matrix in concrete, which contains additional hydration products.

Flexural and split tensile strength of non-exposed and exposed (carbonation and sulphate environment) FA concrete specimens were determined experimentally and theoretically after 365 days of hydration. Table 4 Table 5 show the theoretical and experimental results of split and tensile strength of concrete specimens of the mixes and the results reveal that the theoretically evaluate values are in linear relation with the experimental value by a determination coefficient of 93 ± 5. Further, the results reveal that the split tensile strength and flexural strength of SNP-incorporated FA concrete is higher than the control and SF incorporated specimens in the non-exposed condition. However, exposed specimens in the carbonation environment show a different trend, as the control and SF incorporated specimens exhibit higher split and tensile strength than the SNPs incorporated specimens. In the case of sulphate attack, however, SNP-incorporated specimens exhibit higher split tensile and flexural strength than the control and SF incorporated specimens (Figures 3A–C and 4A–C). The reason behind this phenomenon is that, in presence of SNPs, low-density C-S-H converted to high-density C-S-H (Simatupang et al., 2019), which led to the formation of compact microstructure, and, thus, low carbonation and sulphate attack occurred in the SNPs incorporated specimens. The lower effect of both carbonation and sulphate ions confirm that additionally formed hydration products reduce the porosity and significantly improve microstructure (El-Hachem et al., 2012).

The carbonation depth of concrete specimens was experimentally determined by using phenolphthalein and theoretically by using a meta model. Further, diffusion coefficient was also determined using compressive strength data at 28 days and other parameters of mix design (Table 6) because carbonation is a phenomenon of diffusion of carbon dioxide into concrete, which depends on the compressive strength of concrete mix (Ohga and Nagataki, 1989). The results reveal that the carbonation depth increases with the higher dosages of FA due to higher porosity. It was observed that the carbonation depth increased by ∼39% in 40FA and ∼48% in 50FA than the 30FA concrete mix. In the presence of SNPs, the carbonation depth was decreased by 30–60%, while in presence of SF, the reduction was in the range of 24–28% only. Further, diffusion coefficient results show that SNPs reduce the diffusion coefficient by 95% in the 30FA3SNPs mix, while SF reduces ∼66% only. These results reveal that SNPs significantly reduce the carbonation attack, due to the formation of additional C-S-H and dense microstructure.

Sulphate attack on concrete specimens was determined after 365 days of exposure in magnesium sulphate solution and sulphate ion concentration was determined by gravimetric analysis as per IS 4032:1985. Results reveal that the concentration of sulphate ions in concrete specimens increases with the higher dosages of FA, as it was observed that, in 40FA and 50FA mixes, the sulphate ion concentration was above the limit reported in IS 456. In presence of SF, all the mixes have sulphate concentration below the limit except for the 50FA6SF mix, while, in the presence of SNPs, the sulphate ion concentration was below the limit in all the mixes, showing the higher durability of SNPs incorporated concrete specimens in sulphate environment (Figure 5). The percentage reductions in sulphate ion concentration in 30FA3SNPs, 40FA3SNPs, and 50FA3SNPs mixes were ∼22, ∼40, and 39%, respectively, while in the SF-incorporated mixes, i.e., 30FA6SF, 40FA6SF, and 50FA6SF, the percentage reductions observed ere ∼5, ∼28, and ∼26%, respectively.

The porosity of unexposed and exposed concrete specimens was determined by using equation 5 and the results given in Figures 6A–C. Results show that, in the presence of SNPs, porosity decreases from 22 to 25%, while, in presence of SF, it was from 11 to 16% compared to control in unexposed specimens. However, in the case of carbonated specimens, the porosity reduces significantly in control and SF-incorporated specimens compared to unexposed samples. The results show that the reduction in porosity in carbonated control samples was in the range of 57–73%, showing a very high rate of carbonation compare to unexposed control specimens. In cases of SF-incorporated specimens exposed to carbonation, the reduction in porosity was in the range of 27–62%; however, in the case SNPs, the reduction in porosity was almost negligible in the 30FA mix, 20% in 40FA, and 38% in the 50FA mix, exhibiting a slower rate of carbonation. Furthermore, the effect of sulphate attack on porosity was measured and results show that porosity increases in this case. In the case of control specimens, porosity increases in the range of 19–29%, while in presence of SF, the reduction was in the range of 12–20% and with SNPs, it was only in the range of 7–20% as compared to respective unexposed specimens.

The quantitative data acquired from TGA gives the information of unhydrated and hydrated products. Figure 7 represents the CH and CaCO₃ content in the concrete samples exposed to a carbonated environment. The results show that as the FA content increases in the cementitious system, CH content reduced because CH is only produced by cement hydration. From the results, it is also observed that SNP- and SF-incorporated specimens show higher amounts of CH than that the control, which indicates that concrete samples containing SNPs and SF have less carbonation attack. It is well known that, during carbonation, CH react with carbonic acid and forms CaCO₃; the CH content was thus higher in the SF- and SNP-incorporated mix. However, the CaCO₃ content was significantly higher in the control and SF-incorporated mix as compare to the SNP-incorporated mix, showing a lower rate of carbonation in the presence of SNPs. It was observed that in the 30FA mix, the reduction carbonation rate was ∼26%; with SF, it was ∼22%. Similarly, in the 40FA and 50FA mix, the reduction in carbonation in presence of SNPs was ∼27 and 25%, while, in presence of SF, it was ∼11 and 16% only. This higher rate of carbonation is responsible for the lower porosity; however, the service life of the building may be adversely affected. Furthermore, XRD results also show a similar trend of results. The intensity of calcium carbonate at 2Ɵ = 29.54° and 39.54° was higher in control and SF incorporated specimens as compare to SNPs incorporated specimens (Figure 8).

Backscattered electron (BSE) images and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis of 30FA, 30FA3SNPs, and 30FA6SF mixes are shown in Figures 9A–C. It is a very useful technique used to perform the hydration products, and it gives perfect information of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) in concrete microstructures. The hydration products can be recognized because of descending brightness of hydrated and unhydrated cement particles in the concrete system. In the BSE image, the dark black part considers as voids and damages, whereas the light gray part to dark gray part can be recognized as the hydration products, i.e., CH and C-S-H (Sun et al., 2018) and color mapping, which is done by EDX and also gives a lot of information about concrete samples due to the color elements as shown in Figure 9. The BSE image of 30FA mix after 365 days of exposure in sulphate solution can be seen in Figure 9A. The image clearly shows that the black pits near the ITZ in the 30FA mix are demonstrating the destruction due to the sulphate attack, which is destroying the ITZ, and it is clearly seen to break the hydration product near ITZ. The color mapping is also supported to the BSE image, in which it is being cleared that the concentration of sulphate is more visible in the black pit, which shows that the pits are being caused due to the sulphate attack, while the SNPs sample has a lot of dance microstructure as compared to the control sample (Figure 9B). However, in the presence of SF, significant destruction is observed (Figure 9C). It has already been established that in the presence of SNPs, there is a dance microstructure of concrete and after 365 days exposed in sulphate solution, signs of breakdown of the concrete microstructure have started. TGA results are also supporting these results in which it is clear that after exposure to a sulphate solution, the CH and C-S-H start to break down. Similarly, the 30FA6SF mix image is also doing the same show that the hydration products are gradually breaking down due to the sulphate attack; because of this, cracks come appear in the concrete, and ITZ becomes weak (Tang et al., 2015).