Influence of locally available fine aggregate types on the performance of self -compacting concrete has not been sufficiently studied. There is also a reluctance to use offshore sand and quarry dust as an alternative to river sand in concrete. High Cl- concentration of offshore sand seems not be the only reason not to use offshore sand for concrete. Users have no confidence in some of the important properties of concrete, like
strength development and shrinkage characteristics, when alternative aggregate types are used. Research on the influence of fine aggregate on the properties of normal concrete reveals that in term of strength both offshore sand and quarry dust perform better than river sand. It is considered that both aggregate packing and particle size distribution is the main explanation for the higher strength in the offshore sand mixes for normal concrete (Alluthwatta AGHAD et. al. 2011). Extending this study to selfcompacted concrete is important as SCC uses more fine aggregate than normal concrete and therefore
the influence of fine aggregate can be even more significant. From the results of normal concrete;offshore sand recorded the highest strength while quarry dust came second (Alluthwatta AGHAD et. al.2011). However, in SCC the highest compressive strength was recorded in quarry dust mixes while offshore sand and river sand recorded almost similar compressive strengths lower than the quarry dust mixes. This is a strong suggestion that aggregate influence attributed to packing of aggregate has only secondary influences in SCC. In normal concrete quarry dust recorded the highest water demand for all workability ranges tested. However this was not to be case for SCC. In SCC river sand has recorded the highest water demand. However similar to normal concrete, quarry dust mixes recorded the highest shrinkage. Larger shrinkage under relatively lower water content suggests clear influence of quarry dust on shrinkage characteristics of concrete. Differences in the results in the normal concrete compared with SCC in many ways suggest that particle size distribution has only secondary influences on the properties of SCC. Almost similar results obtained between the mixes with natural particle distribution and particle size distribution manipulated to have identical particle size distribution provide further evidence for lesser influence of particle size distribution on the properties of SCC.