2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengyao Qu ◽  
Shuaiqi Guo ◽  
Christian C. M. Sproncken ◽  
Romà Surís-Valls ◽  
qingliang yu ◽  
...  

Frost weathering of porous materials caused by seasonal temperature changes is a major source of damage to the world’s infrastructure and cultural heritage. Here we investigate poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) addition as a means to enhance the freeze-thaw durability of concrete without compromising its structural or mechanical integrity. We evaluate the ice recrystallization inhibition activity of PVA in a cementitious environment and the impact of PVA on key structural and mechanical properties, such as cement hydration (products), microstructure, strength, as well as freeze‑thaw resistance. We find that a low amount of PVA significantly reduces the surface scaling of concrete and displays excellent ice recrystallization inhibition in the saturated Ca(OH)<sub>2 </sub>solution which has a similar pH value as cement pore solution, while it does not affect cement hydration, microstructure, nor its mechanical properties. These findings contribute to new insights on freeze-thaw damage mechanism and more importantly we disclose a new direction for the design of concrete with excellent freeze‑thaw resistance.


2013 ◽  
Vol 438-439 ◽  
pp. 102-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Kang Guo ◽  
Li Wang ◽  
Shu Yin Wang ◽  
Dao Yin Lan ◽  
Sheng Ping Li

This paper selected two kinds of alkali-free liquid concrete accelerators and tested their compatibility with ordinary Portland cement, Portland cement and moderate heat Portland cement by measuring the setting times, compressive strength and compressive strength ratio of samples. The results showed that the compatibility is good between alkali-free accelerators and two types of cement: ordinary Portland cement and moderate heat Portland cement. However, the compatibility of two accelerators and Portland cement are quite different, the compatibility of AFA-2 accelerator is excellent, but AFA-1 accelerator is very poor. The setting times of alkali-free accelerators is mainly influenced by the mixing materials content, gypsum content, C3A and C3S content. In order to ensure the mechanical properties and durability of concrete, the setting times of new concrete accelerator is not the shorter the better, the appropriate initial and final setting times are 1min30s~5min and 4min~ 12min respectively.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1395-1409
Author(s):  
Changjiang Liu ◽  
Xin Su ◽  
Yuyou Wu ◽  
Zhoulian Zheng ◽  
Bo Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Nano-silica (NS) is one of the most important nanomaterials in recent years. It is used as a new cement-based composite reinforcement in building materials because of its high volcanic ash activity. In order to achieve the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutralization, combined with the research idea of cementitious materials-reducing admixture for concrete, under the condition of reducing the amount of cement in concrete by 20%, the influence of different dosages of NS on the setting time and mechanical properties of concrete was analyzed. In addition, the shrinkage performance, impermeability, and resistance to chloride-ion permeability of concrete were also studied. The results show that under the same curing conditions and ages, when the NS dosage is 2.5%, the compressive strength and splitting tensile strength of the specimen after 28 days of curing are the highest, reaching 40.87 and 3.8 MPa, which show an increase by 6.6 and 15.15%. The shrinkage performance of concrete increases with the increase in NS dosage. In addition, when the NS dosage is 2.0%, the durability of concrete has also been greatly improved. The impermeability of concrete increased by 18.7% and the resistance to chloride-ion permeability increased by 14.7%. Through microscopic analysis it was found that NS can promote the hydration reaction, generate more hydration products such as calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H), enhance the interfacial adhesion between the matrix and the aggregate, and form a closer interfacial transition zone. Moreover, the addition of NS also reduces the cumulative pore volume in concrete, refines the pore size, and makes the internal structure of concrete denser.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Essam Mossalam ◽  
Nivin M. Ahmed ◽  
Eglal M.R. Souaya ◽  
Basil El-Sabbagh

Purpose The purpose of this research is to study the physical and mechanical properties beside the durability of concrete as well as corrosion resistance of reinforced concrete by replacing Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with different ratios of silica fume and meta-kaolin and applying two paint formulations to enhance corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. In this work, modified concrete mixes containing pozzolanic materials of industrial wastes such as silica fume (SF) with ratios ranging between (0, 10 and 15%) and calcined raw material such as meta-kaolin (MK) with ratios (0, 3, 5 and 10%), were introduced using water binder ratio (w/b) 0.45 to study their effect on the physico-mechanical properties and durability of concrete as well as corrosion protection performance of reinforced concrete. Two paint formulations containing the same ingredients except that one of them is free from talc (G1) and the other contains talc (G2) were applied on the rebars embedded in these modified mixes. Talc is known to offer high pH to the surrounding media. Design/methodology/approach Modified concrete mixes containing the coated reinforced concrete steel with the different paint formulations in presence and absence of talc were tested, and the corrosion behavior was studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 3.5% NaCl, and the concrete mixes were also tested through their compressive strength, chloride permeability, scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray analysis and bond strength. Findings The results revealed that the hardened reinforced concrete mix containing 10% SF with 5% MK with embedded rebars coated with G2 (paint containing talc) was the best concrete system which offers concrete sustainability besides high corrosion protection performance, i.e. presence of talc in the paints combined with the effect of cement blended with SF and MK showed positive effect on the reinforced concrete properties that leads to more durability and workability. Originality/value The integrity of using two efficient methods of corrosion protection beside the effect of the different replacements in concrete mixes containing coated reinforced concrete steel with paint formulations free from talc (G1) and others containing talc (G2), which lead to fatal changes in the pH of the surrounding media (i.e. concrete which has high alkaline pH) to achieve good concrete properties aside with convenient paint formulations together.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yanqun Sun ◽  
Peng Zhang ◽  
Weina Guo ◽  
Jiuwen Bao ◽  
Chengping Qu

Concrete mixtures consisting of nanomaterials and fly ash have been shown to be effective for improving the performance of concrete. This study investigates the combined effects of nano-CaCO3 and fly ash on the mechanical properties and durability of concrete; the mix proportion is optimized through orthogonal experiments. In the first phase, nine concrete mixtures were prepared with three water-to-binder ratios (0.4, 0.5, and 0.6), three fly ash contents (15%, 20%, and 25% replacement of the cement weight), and three nano-CaCO3 contents (1%, 2%, and 3% replacement of the cement weight). Based on the orthogonal analysis, the optimal concrete mix proportion was determined as a water-to-binder ratio of 0.4, 20% fly ash, and 1% nano-CaCO3. In the second phase, further investigations were carried out to examine the superiority of the optimal concrete and evaluate the synergistic effect of nano-CaCO3 and fly ash. The results showed that nano-CaCO3 contributed to increasing the compressive strength of fly ash concrete at the early ages, but its effect was quite limited at later ages. Furthermore, the scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that the seeding effect, filling effect, and pozzolanic effect were the primary mechanisms for the improvement of concrete performance.


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