• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.405-417
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• 2023

While ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is commonly reinforced with micro straight steel fibers in existing applications, studies have indicated that the use of deformed steel macro-fibers leads to enhanced ductility and post-peak responses for UHPC structural elements, which is of particular importance for earthquake-resistant structures. However, there are potential concerns regarding the use of UHPC reinforced with macro-fibers due to the issues of workability and fiber distribution. The objective of this study was to address these issues by extensively investigating the restricted and non-restricted deformability, filling ability, horizontal and vertical velocities, and passing ability of UHPC containing macro hooked-end steel fibers. A new approach is suggested to examine the homogeneity of fiber distribution in UHPC. The influences of ultra-fine fillers and steel macro-fibers on the workability of fresh UHPC and the mechanics of hardened UHPC were examined. It was found that although increasing the ratio of quartz powder to cement led to an improvement in the workability and tensile strain hardening behavior of UHPC, it reduced the fiber distribution homogeneity. The addition of 1% volume fraction of macro-fibers in UHPC improved workability, but reduced its compressive strength, which is contrary to the effect of micro-fiber inclusion in UHPC.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.431-440
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• 2011

Concrete structures exposed to fire produce changes in their internal structure, resulting in their service life reduction due to the deterioration of its strength and performance capacity. The deterioration level are dependent on the temperature, exposure time, concrete mix proportions, aggregate property, and material properties. This study was performed to evaluate the thermal behavior of ultra-high strength concrete for the parameters of water to cement ratio (compressive strength), fine to total aggregate ratio, and maximum coarse aggregate size. At room temperature and $500^{\circ}C$, tests of ultrasonic pulse velocity, resonance frequency, static modulus of elasticity, and compressive strength are performed using ${\varnothing}100{\times}200\;mm$ cylindrical concrete specimens. The results showed that the residual mechanical properties of ultra-high strength concrete heated to $500^{\circ}C$ is influenced by variation of a water to binder ratio, fine to total aggregate ratio, and maximum coarse aggregate size.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.43-44
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• 2023

This study evaluated the mechanical and electrical properties of low-cement mortar using a large amount of industrial by-products to reduce carbon emissions from the cement industry. As types of industrial by-products, blast furnace slag and fly ash, which are representative materials, were used, and ultra-high fly ash was mixed and evaluated to solve the problem of initial strength loss. In addition, in order to evaluate the electrical properties, 1% of MWCNT was incorporated relative to the powder mass. As experimental items, the compressive strength was measured on the 1st, 3rd, 7th and 28th days of age, and the rate of change in electrical resistance was measured on the 28th day of age. As a result of the experiment, the initial strength of the test specimen mixed with blast furnace slag and fly ash was significantly lower than that of 100% cement, and the specimen mixed with blast furnace slag showed strength equal to that of cement at 28 days of age. As an electrical characteristic, the electrical resistance was reduced when the load was loaded, and this reason is judged to be the effect of improving the conductivity as the connection between CNTs is narrowed by the compressive load.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.113-124
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• 2016

This paper presents the effect of silica fume and nano silica, used individually and in combination with the set accelerator and/or hydrated lime, on the properties of class F high volume ultra fine fly ash (HV-UFFA) cement composites, replacing 80 % of cement (OPC). Compressive strength test along with thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were undertaken to study the effect of various elements on the physico-chemical behaviour of the blended composites. The results show that silica fume when used in combination with the set accelerator and hydrated lime in HV-UFFA cement mortar, improves its 7 and 28 day strength by 273 and 413 %, respectively, compared to the binary blended cement fly ash mortar. On the contrary, when nano silica is used in combination with set accelerator and hydrated lime in HV-UFFA cement mortar, the disjoining pressure in conjunction with the self-desiccation effect induces high early age micro cracking, resulting in hindering the development of compressive strength. However, when nano silica is used without the additives, it improves the 7 and 28 day strengths of HV-UFFA cement mortar by 918 and 567 %, respectively and the compressive strengths are comparable to that of OPC.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.183-196
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• 2018

The rheological behaviour of high strength self compacting concrete (HS-SCC) studied through an experimental investigation is presented in this paper. The effect of variation in supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) $vis-{\grave{a}}-vis$ four different types of processed crushed sand as fine aggregates is studied. Apart from the ordinary Portland cement (OPC), the SCMs such as fly ash (FA), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) ultrafine slag (UFS) and micro-silica (MS) are used in different percentages keeping the mix -paste volume and flow of concrete, constant. The combinations of rheology, strength and durability are equally important for selection of mixes in respect of high-rise building constructions. These combinations are referred to as the rheo-strength and rheo-durability which is scientifically linked to performance based rating. The findings show that the fineness of the sands and types of SCM affects the rheo-strength and rheo-durability performance of HS-SCC. The high amount of fines often seen in fine aggregates contributes to the higher yield stress. Further, the mixes with processed sand is found to offer better rheology as compared to that of mixes made using unwashed crushed sand, washed plaster sand, washed fine natural sand. The micro silica and ultra-fine slag conjunction with washed crushed sand can be a good solution for high rise construction in terms of rheo-strength and rheo-durability performance.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.453-458
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• 2019

Today, concrete remains the most important, durable, and reliable material that has been used in the construction sector, making it the most commonly used material after water. However, cement continues to exert many negative effects on the environment, including the production of carbon dioxide (CO2), which pollutes the atmosphere. Cement production is costly, and it also consumes energy and natural non- renewable resources, which are critical for sustainability. These factors represent the motivation for researchers to examine the various alternatives that can reduce the effects on the environment, natural resources, and energy consumption and enhance the mechanical properties of concrete. Geopolymer is one alternative that has been investigated; this can be produced using aluminosilicate materials such as low calcium (class F) FA, Ultra-Fine GGBS, and high calcium FA (class C, which are available worldwide as industrial, agricultural byproducts.). It has a high percentage of silica and alumina, which react with alkaline solution (activators). Aluminosilicate gel, which forms as a result of this reaction, is an effective binding material for the concrete. This paper presents an up-to-date review regarding the important engineering properties of geopolymer formed by FA and slag binders; the findings demonstrate that this type of geopolymer could be an adequate alternative to ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Due to the significant positive mechanical properties of slag-FA geopolymer cements and their positive effects on the environment, it represents a material that could potentially be used in the construction industry.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.335-345
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• 2021

It is known from the literature that there are relatively few studies on the engineering properties of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) in early age. In fact, in order to ensure the safety of UHPC during construction and sufficient durability and long-term performance, it is necessary to explore the early behavior of UHPC. The test parameters (test control factors) investigated included the percentage of cement replaced by silica fume (SF), the percentage of cement replaced by ultra-fine silica powder (SFP), the amount of steel fiber (volume percent), and the amount of polypropylene fiber (volume percentage). The engineering properties of UHPC in the fresh mixing stage and at the age of 7 days were investigated. These properties include freshly mixed properties (slump, slump flow, and unit weight) and hardened mechanical properties (compressive strength, elastic modulus, flexural strength, and splitting tensile strength). Moreover, the effects of the experimental factors on the performance of the tested UHPC were evaluated by range analysis and variance analysis. The experiment results showed that the compressive strength of the C8 mix at the age of 7 days was highest of 111.5 MPa, and the compressive strength of the C1 mix at the age of 28 days was the highest of 128.1 MPa. In addition, the 28-day compressive strength in each experimental group increased by 13%-34% compared to the 7-day compressive strength. In terms of hardened mechanical properties, the performance of each experimental group was superior to that of the control group (without fiber and without additional binder materials), with considerable improvement, and the experimental group did not produce explosive or brittle damage after the test. Further, the flexural test process found that all test specimens exhibited deflection-hardening behavior, resulting in continued to increase carrying capacity after the first crack.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2019.11a
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• pp.70-71
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• 2019

Interest in indoor air quality is increasing day by day due to various reasons such as industrial development. Because redmud, an industrial subsidiary, contains titanium dioxide, this study evaluated self-consolidation performance with Slump Flow Test, J-Ring Test, and L-Box Test by mixing redmud in a mixture of ultra-high performance concrete, and sought the optimal combination with high flowability. In addition, the UHPC mixing experiment with photocatalyst was conducted, and the photocatalyst was replaced by the weight ratio of cement and the redmud by the weight ratio of fine aggregate and mixed with the concrete mixture.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.345-354
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• 2020

Cement is the most significant component in concrete. Large scale manufacturing of cement consumes more energy and release harmful products (Carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere that adversely affect the environment and depletes the natural resources. A lot of research is going on in globally concentrating on the recycling and reuse of waste materials from many industries. A major share of research is focused on finding cementitious materials alternatives to ordinary Portland cement. Many industrial waste by-products such as quartz powder, metakaolin, ground granulated blast furnace slag, silica fume, and fly ash etc. are under investigations for replacement of cement in concrete to minimize greenhouse gases and improve the sustainable construction. In current research, the effects of a new generation, ultra-fine material i.e., alccofine which is obtained from ground granulated blast furnace slag are studied as partial replacement by 25% and with varying amounts of sulfonated naphthalene formaldehyde (i.e., 0.3%, 0.35% and 0.40%) on mechanical, water absorption, thermal and microstructural properties of concrete. The results showed moderate improvement in all concrete properties. Addition of SNF with combination of alccofine showed a significant enhancement in fresh, hardened properties and water absorption test as well as thermal and microstructural properties of concrete.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1991.04a
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• pp.23-28
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• 1991

Silica-Fume, an industrial by product, has an extremely small average partical size of 0.1${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ and when used as a concrete admixture fills the fine voids which exist in concrete. The purpose of this study is to investigate material properties of the high-strength concrete using Silica-Fume and Fly-Ash. The main variables studied are; a) water-cement ratio. b) Silica-Fume, Fly-Ash content. The maximum compressive strength of 1000Kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ is achieved with a mix using 18% water-cement ratio, 20% Silica-Fume and 10% Fly-Ash ratio.