Properties of high performance concrete containing fine-ground ceramics as supplementary cementitious material

This paper presents experimental work regarding the basic physical characteristics, mechanical and fracture-mechanics properties, durability characteristics, hydric and thermal properties of high performance concrete (HPC) with up to 60% of Portland cement replaced by fine-ground ceramics. Experimental results show that the amount of the ceramics in the mix is limited mainly by the resistance against de-icing salts which is found satisfactory only up to the cement replacement level of 10%. The mechanical and water transport properties are not significantly impaired by ceramic additions of up to 20%, whereas the effective fracture toughness, specific fracture energy, and chemical resistance (to MgCl₂, NH₄Cl, Na₂SO₄, HCl) are effectively maintained up to 40%. The frost resistance, water vapor transport and storage parameters and thermal properties are not significantly impaired even up to a 60% replacement level.     

Tensile and Fatigue Properties of Free-Standing Cu Foils

Tensile and fatigue properties of free-standing as-rolled Cu foils were investigated by means of uniaxial tensile and dynamic bending tests. A special testing system was established to evaluate fatigue behavior of a mi-croscale material subjected to dynamic bending load. The experimental results show that the yield strength increases, but the fracture strain and fatigue resistance decrease with decreasing foil thickness. Deformation and fatigue damage behavior was characterized. The size effect on tensile a...     

Influence of the size effect on work hardening behaviour in stage II of Ni20wt.%Cr

Uniaxial tensile tests were carried out on Ni20wt.%Cr polycrystals with various thicknesses and grain diameters. Work hardening behaviour in stage II was then investigated. The experimental results show grain size dependence for each thickness. However, these results also exhibit grain per thickness dependence which could mean a transition from polycrystal work hardening behaviour in stage II to monocrystal behaviour by decreasing the grain per thickness number.     

Novel in situ coordinated cerium salt/acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber composite

A novel rubber composite of acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) filled with cerium salt particles was vulcanized via in situ coordination for the first time. The resulting materials exhibit good mechanical properties. Curing characteristics analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, tensile testing, and an equilibrium swelling method were used for the characterization of the composite. The results in this paper indicate that the composite is a kind of elastomer based on the in situ coordination crosslinking interactions between the nitrile groups (–CN) of NBR and cerium ions. The mechanical properties of vulcanized cerium salt/ NBR rubber are altered when changing the sorts of cerium salt. Moreover, these materials show good irradiation resistance because of the introduction of the cerium salt.     

Thermo-mechanical properties of fiber reinforced raw perlite concrete

The effect of hooked steel, wavy steel and polypropylene fibers on the thermo-mechanical properties of raw perlite aggregate concrete was investigated. In order to determine the effect of fiber ratio on the thermo-mechanical properties of 100% raw perlite concrete, 0.25%, 0.75%, 1.25%, and 1.75% fiber ratios were used by volume of the sample and also, 350 kg/m³ cement dosage and 3 ± 1 cm slump were used. When compared to the control sample that contains no fiber, (1) with the increase of steel fiber ratio in the mixtures thermal conductivity (TC), unit weight, splitting-tensile strength, and flexural strength of concretes increased, (2) with the increase of steel fiber ratio in the mixtures compressive strength of concretes decreased, and (3) with the increase of polypropylene fiber ratio in the mixtures TC, unit weight, compressive strength, splitting-tensile strength, and flexural strength of concretes decreased.     

Creep of UHPC in tension and compression: Effect of thermal treatment

Steel fiber-reinforced ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is of increasing interest for use in precast prestressed concrete highway bridge girders due to its superior durability and the potential for reducing or eliminating shear reinforcement, due to the presence of steel fibers. However, the contributions of creep, and especially tensile creep, to long-term performance must be better understood to develop appropriate design specifications. Due to practical considerations, it is also of interest to investigate the influence of varying thermal treatment, including temperatures lower than those recommended by the manufacturer (i.e. 90 °C), on the creep of UHPC. In this 1-year study, the effects of three different thermal treatment regimes on tensile and compressive creep performance of UHPC are examined, with complementary characterization by nanoindentation and scanning electron microscopy. Results show that UHPC creeps phenomenologically differently in tension and compression. Both thermal treatments examined resulted in similar tensile creep behavior, suggesting that a lower temperature applied over a longer period could effectively cure UHPC. For the non-thermally cured UHPC, a 10 μm wide region observed at the fiber/matrix interface was characterized by reductions in elastic modulus as well as greater porosity and microcracking than the bulk paste. It is suggested that the quality of the fiber/matrix interface is a major contributor to the measured increased creep of non-thermally treated UHPC as compared to UHPC treated at 60 °C or 90 °C.     

Effect of High Temperatures on the Properties of Alkali Activated Aluminosilicate with Electrical Porcelain Filler

The effect of thermal pre-treatment up to 1,200°C on the structure and properties of alkali-activated aluminosilicate material containing electrical porcelain filler is analyzed in this article. The material is found to have very good high-temperature resistance. The reasons for its positive response to high-temperature exposure are, on one hand, the formation and subsequent crystallization of akermanite, and on the another hand, melting of electrical porcelain filler in the alkali environment at about 1,150°C and its subsequent reaction with the porous matrix resulting in formation of ceramic bonds. The combination of these two positive effects complementing each other in the formation of a new structure is responsible for the structure compaction indicated by the sudden decrease in porosity and is manifested in quite remarkable improvement of mechanical properties.     

Facile preparation of poly(vinyl alcohol) nanocomposites with pristine layered double hydroxides

In this paper, nano-sized Mg–Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) was synthesized by a fast nucleation and slow aging method. The structures of LDH were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS). Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposites with different LDH loadings were prepared by water solution casting method. TEM observations show that the LDH nanoplatelets are uniformly dispersed in the PVA matrix. Tensile tests indicate that the elastic modulus and the tensile strength of PVA are improved by about 15% and 54%, respectively, when incorporating with 2 wt% LDH. The improvement of mechanical properties of PVA can be attributed to fine dispersion of LDH, good compatibility and strong interaction between PVA and LDH. In addition, the presence of LDH decreases the decomposition rates at the second stage and improves the amount of residues of PVA. Meanwhile, the transparency of the nanocomposite films is maintained compared with neat PVA.     

Mechanical properties of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete: A review

A comprehensive investigation into the mechanical properties of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC), considering various influential factors, is imperative in order to obtain fundamental information for its practical utilization. Therefore, this paper reviewed the early-age strength (or setting) development and mechanical properties of hardened UHPFRC. In connection with the latter, the effects of the curing conditions, coarse aggregate, mineral admixtures, fiber properties, specimen size, and strain-rate on the mechanical performance of UHPFRC were specifically investigated. It was obvious that (1) heat treatment accelerates the hydration process, leading to higher strength; (2) a portion of the silica fume can be replaced by fly ash, slag, and rice husk ash in mechanical perspective; (3) the use of deformed (hooked and twisted) or long straight steel fibers improves the mechanical properties at a static rate; and (4) high rate loading provides a noticeable increase in the mechanical properties. Alternatively, there are some disagreements between the results from various ‘size effect’ tests and the effectiveness of using twisted steel fibers at static and high rate loadings. Further research to reduce the production cost of UHPFRC is also addressed in an attempt to make its widespread use more practical.     

Solvent exfoliated graphene for reinforcement of PMMA composites prepared by in situ polymerization

Graphene (GP)-based polymer nanocomposites have attracted considerable scientific attention due to its pronounced improvement in mechanical, thermal and electrical properties compared with pure polymers. However, the preparation of well-dispersed and high-quality GP reinforced polymer composites remains a challenge. In this paper, a simple and facile approach for preparation of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) functionalized GP (GPMMA) via in situ free radical polymerization is reported. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), Raman, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) are used to confirm the successful grafting of PMMA chains onto the GP sheets. Composite films are prepared by incorporating different amounts of GPMMA into the PMMA matrix through solution-casting method. Compared with pure PMMA, PMMA/GPMMA composites show simultaneously improved Young's modulus, tensile stress, elongation at break and thermal stability by addition of only 0.5 wt% GPMMA. The excellent reinforcement is attributed to good dispersion of high-quality GPMMA and strong interfacial adhesion between GPMMA and PMMA matrix as evidenced by scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the fracture surfaces. Consequently, this simple protocol has great potential in the preparation of various high-performance polymer composites.     

Influence of calcination temperature of kaolin on the structure and properties of final geopolymer

In this paper, the structure of two types of metakaolins from kaolin calcined at 800 and 900 °C, respectively, and the obtained geopolymer were systematically characterized. It was found that calcination temperature had little effect on the environment of silicon atoms but had great effect on that of aluminum ones. ²⁷Al NMR analysis showed that tetrahedral aluminums in the metakaolin from kaolin calcined at 800 and 900 °C were in different environment, of the type AlQ₃(3Si) and AlQ₄(4Si), respectively, leading to different environment of aluminum atoms in the resulted geopolymer. Aluminum atoms in the geopolymer based on metakaolin from kaolin calcined at 800 °C were in the types of tetrahedral and octahedral, and silicon atoms were in the types of tetrahedral Q₄(3Al) together with a small amount of Q₄(0Al). However, geopolymer based on metakaolin from kaolin calcined at 900 °C consisted of Q₄(4Si) unit aluminum and Q₄(3Al) unit silicon. The results revealed that the calcination temperature had a great effect on environment of the aluminum atoms of the metakaolin, thus led to the different structure and properties including mechanical strength and thermal conductivity of the post obtained geopolymer.