By incorporating materials such as fly ash, silica fume, limestone powder, and ground granulated blast-furnace types, the carbon footprint of concrete is reduced, but its durability might be compromised. The thesis aims to explore how these SCMs affect the properties of fresh and hardened concrete with a focus on durability, particularly freeze-thaw resistance. One important aspect of this work is the alternation of a curing condition of samples for the freeze-thaw test according to EN12390-9 (Borås method) to evaluate the performance of concrete with various SCM in terms of freeze-thaw resistance. These alternative curing conditions are prolonged curing, as well as curing in 1% CO ₂ concentration.The results of this thesis will extend knowledge in the area of ​​low-carbon concrete behavior in cold climate conditions, and lead to a potential increase in low-carbon concrete utilization in Northern Norway.

This thesis is conducted within the Ar2CorD project that started in January 2023 and is led by Iveta Novakova , who is also the supervisor of the described thesis. The Ar2CorD project is an innovative contribution to the concrete industry's efforts to become more sustainable, and this thesis lays an important foundation for further research. Stay tuned for further updates on this and other projects in the future, follow the project website, and DeTeA research group from UiT, Narvik.