Behavior of High Performance Concrete Under High Temperature (60-450°C) for Surface Long-Term Storage: Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Residual Properties

ABSTRACTAfter various thermal treatments (up to 450°C), residual thermo-hydro-mechanical (T-H-M) properties of two OPC high performance concretes (HPC) were analyzed in the context of surface long-term storage. Materials were prepared with silico-calcareous aggregates (standard HPC) and hematite aggregates (heavy HPC). The initial microstructural (porosity ≈10%) and transport (gas permeability ≈10-19 m2) properties are similar for both concretes. As far as the mechanical aspect is concerned, heavy HPC shows a higher compressive strength and elastic modulus than standard HPC (78 and 63 MPa, 81 and 49 GPa, respectively). Heavy HPC is also characterized by a higher thermal conductivity (7.3 W m-1 K-1 compared to 2.7 W m-1 K-1 for standard concrete). Results analysis show that thermo-hydro-mechanical damages are smaller for heavy HPC. Between 60 and 250°C, the elastic modulus and the compressive strength of standard HPC decrease by 40% and 16%, respectively. For heavy HPC, these parameters respectively decrease by 10% and 4%. A similar trend was observed for thermal conductivity evolution. Gas permeability and porosity data confirm the good behavior of heavy HPC. As a conclusion, hematite HPC seems to provide more interesting T-H-M residual properties than standard HPC. Limited thermal expansion and thermal gradients induced by hematite are probably responsible of this behavior.