Influence of dry and wet curing conditions on compressive strength of silica fume concrete

This paper reports a part of an ongoing laboratory investigation in which the compressive strength of silica fume concrete is studied under dry and wet curing conditions. In the study, a total of 48 concretes, including control Portland cement concrete and silica fume concrete, were produced with four different water–cement ratios (0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6), three different cement dosages (350, 400, 450 kg/m³) and three partial silica fume replacement ratios (10%, 15%, 20%). A hyperplastisizer was used in concrete at various quantities to provide and keep a constant workability. Three cubic samples produced from fresh concrete were demoulded after a day; then, they were cured at 20±2 °C with 65% relative humidity (RH), and three other cubic samples were cured at 20±2 °C with 100% RH until the samples were used for compressive strength measurement at 28 days. The comparison was made on the basis of compressive strength between silica fume concrete and control Portland cement concrete. Silica fume concretes were also compared among themselves. The comparisons showed that compressive strength of silica fume concrete cured at 65% RH was influenced more than that of Portland cement concrete. It was found that the compressive strength of silica fume concrete cured at 65% RH was, at average, 13% lower than that of silica fume concrete cured at 100% RH. The increase in the water–cementitious material ratios makes the concrete more sensitive to dry curing conditions. The influence of dry curing conditions on silica fume concrete was marked as the replacement ratio of silica fume increased.     

RPC混凝土力学性能的试验研究

以抗折强度和抗压强度为指标,研究活性混合材、钢纤维掺量、粗细集料类别及养护方式对RPC混凝土抗折强度和抗压强度的变化情况。结果表明,当硅灰和粉煤灰掺量相等时,RPC混凝土拌合物流动性好,抗压强度和抗折强度最高,分别达到124.2MPa和19.2MPa。钢纤维掺量的增加可有效提高RPC的抗折强度和抗压强度,但RPC混凝土抗压强度提高的幅度小于抗折强度。钢纤维体积掺量在1.0%-2.0%之间较合适。通过三种不同的养护制度发现,采用标准养护方式时,抗压强度值最小,采用高温养护方式时,抗压强度值最大,热水养护的抗压强度值介于二者之间。     

Effect of silica fume on cement hydration and temperature rise of concrete in tropical environment

Investigated herein is the effect of temperature on heat development in cement pastes and concretes with and without silica fume cured at relatively high temperatures often encountered in tropical environment. With an initial temperature of 30°C, adiabatic temperature rise of the concrete with 8% silica fume as cement replacement was similar to that of the control Portland cement concrete up to about 18 h. After 24 h, however, the temperature of the silica fume concrete was lower than that of the control concrete. Since the concrete with 8% silica fume had a higher 28-day compressive strength (72.5 MPa) than the control concrete without silica fume (59.2 MPa), the concrete with silica fume is likely to have a lower temperature rise as compared with the control concrete of equivalent 28-day strength by reducing cementitious materials content with the same water content. The extent of heat evolution in the silica fume pastes was generally greater at lower temperatures of 20-50°C, but less at 65°C than in the control paste. At the relatively high curing temperatures, the degree of cement hydration in the paste with silica fume was lower than that in the control cement paste at early ages. However, the pozzolanic reaction started even before 24 h after water was added.     

Effect of silica fume on cement hydration and temperature rise of concrete in tropical environment

Investigated herein is the effect of temperature on heat development in cement pastes and concretes with and without silica fume cured at relatively high temperatures often encountered in tropical environment. With an initial temperature of 30°C, adiabatic temperature rise of the concrete with 8% silica fume as cement replacement was similar to that of the control Portland cement concrete up to about 18 h. After 24 h, however, the temperature of the silica fume concrete was lower than that of the control concrete. Since the concrete with 8% silica fume had a higher 28-day compressive strength (72.5 MPa) than the control concrete without silica fume (59.2 MPa), the concrete with silica fume is likely to have a lower temperature rise as compared with the control concrete of equivalent 28-day strength by reducing cementitious materials content with the same water content. The extent of heat evolution in the silica fume pastes was generally greater at lower temperatures of 20–50°C, but less at 65°C than in the control paste. At the relatively high curing temperatures, the degree of cement hydration in the paste with silica fume was lower than that in the control cement paste at early ages. However, the pozzolanic reaction started even before 24 h after water was added.     

Effect of concrete mixing parameters on propagation of ultrasonic waves

An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effect of concrete aggregate gradation, water–cement ratio, and curing time on measured ultrasonic wave velocity (UPV). 30 × 30 × 10 cm Portland cement concrete slabs were cast for ultrasonic evaluation, while 10 cm diameter by 20 cm height cylinders were cast for compressive strength evaluation The slabs and cylinders were prepared using Portland cement and limestone aggregate. Two slabs were cast from each combination of coarse aggregate gradations and water cement ratio (0.40, 0.45, 0.50, and 0.55). Four ASTM gradations were considered, ASTM No: 8, 67, 56, and 4. These gradations have nominal maximum aggregate size 25, 4.75, 19.3, and 12.5 mm, respectively.The ultrasonic equipment used in this study was the portable ultrasonic non-destructive digital indicating tester (PUNDIT) with a generator having an amplitude of 500 V producing 54 kHz waves. The time needed to transfer the signal between the transducers was recorded and used to calculate the signal velocity, which was used as a parameter in the evaluation. Ultrasonic measurements were performed at 3, 7, 28, and 90 days after concrete casting.The results of the analysis indicated that water–cement ratio was found to have a significant effect on UPV. The UPV was found to decrease with the increase of water cement ratio. Aggregate gradation was also found to have significant effect on UPV. In general, the larger the aggregate size used in preparing Portland cement concrete, the higher the measured velocity of ultrasonic waves. Also, UPV was found to be increased as concrete curing time increased. Concrete compressive strength was found to be significantly affected by water–cement ratio and coarse aggregate gradation. Lower water–cement ratio produced higher concrete strength. Also, the concrete compressive strength increased as maximum aggregate size decreased.     

The effect of post-fire-curing on strength-velocity relationship for nondestructive assessment of fire-damaged concrete strength

This paper investigates the residual compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) of concrete, which has been water-cured after exposure to high temperatures. The relationship between the residual strength ratio and the residual UPV ratio was developed. Cylindrical specimens were made of concrete with water-cement ratios of 0.58 and 0.68 and, after 90 days, the specimens were heated in an electric furnace to temperatures ranging from 400 to 1000 °C. The concrete specimens exposed to elevated temperatures were cured in a water tank for 72 h and tested after 4, 27, 87 and 177 days. The ultrasonic pulse velocity and compressive strength of each post-fire-curing specimen were measured. Experimental results show that water curing of the concrete specimens after exposure to high temperatures has noticeable effects on the residual strength and UPV recovery. It is also shown that a change in the mixture proportion of concrete does not have a significant effect on the residual strength ratio and the residual UPV ratio of concrete subjected to elevated temperatures. The relationship between the residual strength ratio and the residual UPV ratio was developed and a general equation is proposed for predicting the residual strength of post-fire-curing concrete. Finally, this paper verifies the validity of the proposed equation for predicting the residual strength ratios of post-fire-curing concrete with the measured residual UPV ratios.     

硅粉对纤维橡胶再生混凝土抗压性能影响试验

以普通混凝土和橡胶再生混凝土为研究对象,通过掺入硅粉和纤维材料研究强化环保型混凝土抗压性能的方法。用再生混凝土100%等体积代替粗骨料,用橡胶颗粒20%等体积代替细骨料,内掺10%（质量分数）或外掺3%（质量分数）硅粉以及掺入聚丙烯纤维或钢纤维,制备了4组12个混凝土立方体试件,通过轴压试验研究了混凝土试件的破坏模式、抗压强度和工作性能。结果表明:与单一掺入硅粉相比,硅粉和聚丙烯纤维的复合掺入能进一步强化混凝土的抗压性能;硅粉的掺入可以强化浆体与橡胶颗粒间的界面性能,提高钢纤维橡胶再生混凝土的抗压强度;硅粉和纤维材料对混凝土的工作性能有负作用,其复合掺入时建议采用适量的减水剂。     

青藏高原低气压环境下钢管混凝土的核心混凝土密实性评估方法研究

为研究高海拔低气压条件对混凝土抗压强度与超声波速相关性的影响,分别在高海拔地区(西藏山南)与低海拔地区(广西南宁)进行了不同水灰比混凝土试件的制备与强度、超声波速测试,研究表明,低气压条件下7～56d龄期混凝土的抗压强度比标准气压条件下相同配合比混凝土高出约5.8%～38.2%;低气压条件下混凝土的超声波速低于标准气压条件下相同强度混凝土,不同气压下混凝土超声波速与强度存在不同的线性关系,并在此基础上提出了不同气压下混凝土超声波速与强度的相关关系模型。通过压汞试验(MIP)及数值模拟分析,揭示了混凝土超声波速受微观结构中固体超声波速及孔隙率两因素共同影响的机理,建立了不同气压下混凝土固体超声波速的计算模型。基于混凝土超声波速与强度的相关性及不同灌注工艺的密实程度,提出了不同气压条件下钢管混凝土的核心混凝土密实性评估方法。     

影响混凝土断裂性能若干因素的试验研究

采用RILEM推荐的双参数：临界应力强度因子(KIC^S)和临界裂缝尖端张开位移(CTODC),同时还采用了特征长度lch研究了不同粗骨料粒径、不同硅灰掺量以及不同养护条件下这3个因素对混凝土断裂特性的影响。试验结果表明,粗骨料粒径增大,高强混凝土的抗压强度、弹性模量、劈拉强度和临界应力强度因子增大,脆性减小;标准养护时间越长,高强混凝土的抗压强度、弹性模量、劈拉强度以及临界应力强度因子的值越大,混凝土的脆性越小;掺加硅灰提高了混凝土的抗压强度、弹性模量、劈拉强度和临界应力强度因子,但却增大了混凝土的脆性。     

Deep learning model for estimating the mechanical properties of concrete containing silica fume exposed to high temperatures

In this study, the deep learning models for estimating the mechanical properties of concrete containing silica fume subjected to high temperatures were devised. Silica fume was used at concentrations of 0%, 5%, 10%, and 20%. Cube specimens (100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm) were prepared for testing the compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity. They were cured at 20°C±2°C in a standard cure for 7, 28, and 90 d. After curing, they were subjected to temperatures of 20°C, 200°C, 400°C, 600°C, and 800°C. Two well-known deep learning approaches, i.e., stacked autoencoders and long short-term memory (LSTM) networks, were used for forecasting the compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete containing silica fume subjected to high temperatures. The forecasting experiments were carried out using MATLAB deep learning and neural network tools, respectively. Various statistical measures were used to validate the prediction performances of both the approaches. This study found that the LSTM network achieved better results than the stacked autoencoders. In addition, this study found that deep learning, which has a very good prediction ability with little experimental data, was a convenient method for civil engineering.     

硅灰对混凝土耐硫酸腐蚀性能试验研究

为了探究硅灰掺量对酸性环境下混凝土耐久性的影响,以一定浓度的硫酸溶液作为腐蚀介质,研究了硅灰掺量分别为0、5％、10％和15％的混凝土试样随腐蚀时间的变化规律.结果表明:随着腐蚀时间的延长,试样均经历从"返霜"到严重破坏的过程,但硅灰的掺入能较好地保持腐蚀过程中试样的完整性;硅灰的掺入可有效减小腐蚀过程中抗压强度的损失...     

掺稻壳灰/硅灰混凝土的性能研究

研究了稻壳灰、硅灰、稻壳灰+粉煤灰、硅灰+粉煤灰对混凝土抗压强度、抗折强度、抗硫酸侵蚀能力和抗碳化能力的影响.结果表明:掺加5％～10％稻壳灰或硅灰有助于提升混凝土的抗压强度和抗折强度,且稻壳灰、硅灰掺量越高抗压强度越高,掺硅灰混凝土相对于掺稻壳灰混凝土的抗压和抗折强度更高,掺稻壳灰+粉煤灰、硅灰+粉煤灰试件的抗压和抗...     

C50再生骨料混凝土的试验

试验采用正交设计的方法,利用再生骨料配制高强(C50)混凝土,同时研究水胶比、再生骨料取代量、硅粉和粉煤灰掺量对再生骨料混凝土和易性和抗压强度的影响。试验结果表明:坍落度随着水胶比的增大、再生骨料取代量和硅粉掺量的减小而增大;粉煤灰掺量对坍落度的影响较小;再生骨料混凝土的抗压强度随着水胶比和再生骨料取代量的降低、硅粉掺量的增加而提高,粉煤灰对抗压强度的影响较小。随着水化的发展,再生骨料对混凝土抗压强度的不利影响将逐渐减小。     

Compressive strength and stability of sustainable self-consolidating concrete containing fly ash,silica fume,and GGBS

This paper presents the findings of an experimental program seeking to understand the effect of mineral admixtures on fresh and hardened properties of sustainable self-consolidating concrete (SCC) mixes where up to 80% of Portland cement was replaced with fly ash, silica fume, or ground granulated blast furnace slag. Compressive strength of SCC mixes was measured after 3, 7, and 28 days of moist curing. It was concluded in this study that increasing the dosage of fly ash increases concrete flow but also decreases segregation resistance. In addition, for the water-to-cement ratio of 0.36 used in this study, it was observed that the compressive strength decreases compared to control mix after 28 days of curing when cement was partially replaced by 10%, 30%, and 40%of fly ash. However, a fly ash replacement ratio of 20% increased the compressive strength by a small margin compared to the control mix. Replacing cement with silica fume at 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% was found to increase compressive strength of SCC mixes compared to the control mix. However, the highest 28 day compressive strength of 95.3 MPa occurred with SCC mixes in which 15% of the cement was replaced with silica fume.     

Effect of elevated temperature on the mechanical properties of concrete produced with finely ground pumice and silica fume

This study investigated the effect of elevated temperature on the mechanical and physical properties of concrete specimens obtained by substituting cement with finely ground pumice (FGP) at proportions of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% by weight. To determine the effect of silica fume (SF) additive on the mechanical and physical properties of concrete containing FGP, SF has been added to all series except for the control specimen, which contained 10% cement by weight instead. The specimens were heated in an electric furnace up to 400, 600 and 800 °C and kept at these temperatures for one hour. After the specimens were cooled in the furnace, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), compressive strength and weight loss values were determined. The results demonstrated that adding the mineral admixtures to concrete decreased both unit weight and compressive strength. Additionally, elevating the temperature above 600 °C affected the compressive strength such that the weight loss of concrete was more pronounced for concrete mixtures containing both FGP and SF. These results were also supported by scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies.     

掺超细粉煤灰活性粉末混凝土的研究

采用525普能硅酸盐水泥、硅灰、超细粉煤灰、高效减水剂和标准砂等原材料及湿热养护工艺,可配制出抗压强度达200MPa的活性粉末混凝土,在掺入一定量的钢纤维后,活性粉末混凝土的抗压强度近250MPa,抗折强度达45MPa,对超细粉煤灰掺量、水胶比、砂胶比和钢纤维掺量等因素于掺超细粉煤灰活性粉末混凝土抗折、抗压强度的影响进行了详细的讨论。     

高早强自密实混凝土试验研究

本试验研究首先分析了高早强自密实混凝土的配制机理,通过调整水灰比、硅粉和高效减水剂FDN的掺量,配制出24小时抗压强度为25MPa的高早强自密实混凝土,同时得出坍落度和24小时抗压强度与水灰比、硅粉和高效减水剂FDN的掺量之间的相互关系式。     

Study on silica fume modified mortar with various Indian cements cured at different temperatures

The compressive strength of silica fume modified mortars, made with various Indian cements conforming to Indian Standard codes (IS codes), are studied. The maximum increase in strength, due to addition of silica fume and the corresponding optimum silica fume content is found to be considerably less than the same reported in the studies using cements conforming to ASTM standards. This may perhaps be due to the lesser content of tri-calcium silicate (C₃S) in Indian cements, as observed in the present study. The variation in strength of silica fume modified mortar of various ages at high, medium and low curing temperatures are also reported. The guidelines obtained from these results may be useful for site application of silica fume modified mortar/concrete in countries with a wide variation of climatic temperatures, like India.     

Effect of silica fume and steel fibers on some properties of high-strength concrete

The main disadvantage of high-strength concrete is its highly brittle behavior and this can beovercome by adding fibers to the concrete. This would also improve some other mechanical properties of high-strength concrete such as tensile strength and compressive strength. These properties are not very well established for high-strength steel-fiber reinforced concrete (HSFRC) yet. In this study the influence of silica fume on the properties of HSFRC were investigated by using silica fume of two different percentages and three different hooked-end fibers namely, 30/0.50, 60/0.80 and 50/0.60 length/diameter (mm/mm). Fibers were added to concrete in three different volume percentages of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 by volume of concrete. The results indicated that there is a linear function between splitting tensile strength (F_splt) and volume percentage of fibers (V_f) [i.e. F_plt = A(V_f) + B, where A and B are correlation coefficients] as well as between splitting tensile strength (F_splt) and compressive strength (F_c) of plain series A concrete [i.e. F_splt = C (√F_c) + D, where C and D are correlation coefficients]. These relations can describe the development of splitting tensile strength of HSFRC containing no silica fume, 5% silica fume and 10% silica fume by weight of cement. On the other hand, although silica fume has an effect on compressive strength, volume percentage and aspect ratio of steel fibers has little effect.     

Evaluation of rubbercrete based on ultrasonic pulse velocity and rebound hammer tests

Several research works have been carried out to study the fresh and hardened properties of concrete containing crumb rubber (rubbercrete) as a replacement of fine aggregate. The outcomes of these studies have highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of rubbercrete compared with conventional concrete mixtures. In view of the fact that rubbercrete is being used in the construction industry for a variety of purposes, evaluations of the rubbercrete mixtures using non-destructive tests such as rebound hammer (RH) and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) to establish valid relationships is worthwhile. Fifteen mixtures with different w/c ratios (ratios of weight of water to weight of cement) and crumb rubber content percentages were prepared, cast and tested using RH and UPV at different curing ages. Models were proposed and statistically validated to predict the relationship between compressive strength with UPV and rebound number (RN) for rubbercrete mixtures at 3, 7 and 28 days.