• 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.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.229-238
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• 2014

Typical high-performance concrete (HPC) mixtures are characterized by low water-cementitious material ratios, high cement contents, and the incorporation of admixtures. In spite of its superior properties in the hardened state, HPC suffers from many practical difficulties such as its sensitivity to early-age cracking (which is associated with self-desiccation and autogenous shrinkage). In this context, conventional curing procedures are not sufficiently effective to address these limitations. In order to overcome this issue, two strategies,which are based on the use of internal reservoirs of water, have been recently developed.One of these strategies is based on the use of lightweight aggregates (LWA), while the other is based on the use of superabsorbent polymers (SAP). This paper studies and compares the efficiency of the LWA and SAP approaches.Moreover, some of the theoretical aspects that should be taken into account to optimize their application for internal curing of HPC are also discussed. Two fine LWA's and one SAP are studied in terms of autogenous deformation and compressive strength. Increasing the amounts of LWAor SAP can lead to a reduction of the autogenous deformation and compressive strength (especially when adding large amounts). By selecting appropriate materials and controlling their amount, size, and porosity, highly efficient internal water curing can be ensured.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.497-503
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• 2003

Supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) such as fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag and silica fume are now being extensively used in concrete to control expansion due to alkali-silica reactivity (ASR). However, the replacement level of a single SCM needed to deleterious ASR expansion and cracking may create other problem and concerns. For example, incorporating silica fume at levels greater than 10％ by mass of cement may lead to dispersion and workability concerns, while fly ash can lead to poor strength development at early age, The combination of silica fume and fly ash in ternary cementitious system may alleviate this and other concerns, and result in a number of synergistic effects. The aim of the study was to enable evaluation of more realistic suitability of a silica fume-fly ash combination system for ASR resistance based on an in-house modification of ASTM C 1260 test method. The modification can be more closely identified with actual field conditions. In this study three different strengths of NaOH test solution(1N, 0.5N, and 0.25N) were used to measure the expansion characteristics of mortar bar made with a reactive aggregate. The other variable included longer testing period of 28 days instead of a conventional 14 days.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1041-1051
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• 2016

In this study, the construction of a reinforced concrete bridge pier was analyzed from durability point of view. The goal of the study is to analyze the crack iniation condition due to construction and present some recommendations for construction conditions of the reinforced concrete bridge pier. The bridge is located at the western port area of Shenzhen, where the climate is high temperature and humidity. To control the cracking of concrete, a construction simulation was carried out for a heat transfer problem as well as a thermal stress problem. A shrinkage model for heat produced due to cement hydration and a Burger constitutive model to simulate the creep effect are used. The modelling based on Femmasse(C) is verified by comparing with the testing results of a real underground abutment. For the bridge pier, the temperature and stress distribution, as well as their evolution with time are shown. To simulate the construction condition, four initial concrete temperatures ($5^{\circ}C$, $10^{\circ}C$, $15^{\circ}C$, $20^{\circ}C$) and three demoulding time tips (48h, 72h, 96h) are investigated. From the results, it is concluded that a high initial concrete temperature could result in a high extreme internal temperature, which causes the early peak temperature and the larger principle stresses. The demoulding time seems to be less important for the chosen study cases. Currently used 72 hours in the construction practice may be a reasonable choice.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.83-90
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• 2017

Concrete structure for nuclear power plant is mass concrete structure with large wall depth and easily permits cracking in early age due to hydration heat and drying shrinkage. It always needs cooling water so that usually located near to sea shore. The crack on concrete surface permits rapid chloride intrusion and also causes more rapid corrosion in the steel. In the study, the effect of age and crack width on chloride diffusion is evaluated for the concrete for nuclear power plant with 6000 psi strength. For the work, various crack widths with 0.0~1.4 mm are induced and accelerated diffusion test is performed for concrete with 56 days, 180days, and 365 days. With increasing crack width over 1.0mm, diffusion coefficient is enlarged to 2.7~3.1 times and significant reduction of diffusion is evaluated due to age effect. Furthermore, apparent diffusion coefficient and surface chloride content are evaluated for the concrete with various crack width exposed to atmospheric zone with salt spraying at the age of 180 days. The results are also analyzed with those from accelerated diffusion test.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.295-301
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• 2011

Recently, the use of UHPC made of superplasticizers, silica fume, and steel fibers has been increasing worldwide. Although UHPC has a very high strength as well as an excellent durability performance due to its dense microstructures, earlyage cracks may occur due to the high heat of hydration and autogenous shrinkage caused by low W/B and high unit cement content. The early-age shrinkage cracking of UHPC can be controlled by using the shrinkage reducers and expansive admixtures having autogenous shrinkage compensation effect. In this paper, ultrasonic pulse velocity of UHPC containing shrinkage reducers and expansive agents was measured to predict its stiffness change. Also, the effect of shrinkage reducers and expansive agents on the autogenous shinkage of UHPC was investigated through the shrinkage test of UHPC specimens. Furthermore, the material coefficients of autogenous shrinkage prediction model were determined using the autogenous shrinkage values of UHPC with age. Consequently, the test results showed that, by adding shrinkage reducers and expansive agents, the stiffness of UHPC was rapidly developed at early-ages and the autogenous shrinkage was considerably reduced.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.650-661
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• 2003

During construction of reinforced concrete building, construction load two times as much as the self weight of a slab, is imposed on the slab, and strength and stiffness of the early-age concrete are not fully developed. As the result, the construction load frequently causes excessive deflection and cracking in the flat plate. The minimum thickness of flat plate specified by the current design codes does not properly address such effect of the construction load. In the present study, a simplified method was developed to calculate the deflection of flat plate affected by the construction load. The proposed method can consider the effects of a variety of design parameters such as the aspect ratio of plate, boundary condition, concrete strength, and construction load. A design equation for the minimum thickness was developed based on the proposed method.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.7 no.1 s.23
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• pp.31-38
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• 2005

Concrete has higher vapor pressure than its surrounding ambient air immediately after placement. Moisture at concrete surface evaporates to the ambient air to adjust equilibrium of the vapor pressure between them. The moisture inside the concrete moves to the surface because the evaporation at the surface causes gradient of vapor pressure inside the concrete. Plastic cracking, degree of hydration, strength development, and others caused by velocity of the moisture movement significantly influences quality of concrete. In this paper, the moisture diffusivity of early-age concrete was back-calculated using governing equation of the moisture diffusion, and temperature and relative humidity of concrete measured in a laboratory. The moisture diffusivity of the concrete was modeled using the back-calculated moisture diffusivity. The relative humidity of the concrete calculated by finite element method (FEM) using the modeled moisture diffusivity as Input data coincided with the measured relative humidity well.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.10-18
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• 2016

RC(Reinfored Concrete) structures exposed to carbonation in urban city have durability degradation with extended service life and cracks in concrete causes a local accelerated carbonation. In the present work, crack effect on carbonation depth is investigated and the service life of RC structure is evaluated considering cracks from early age and time-dependent cracks based on the previous field investigation. DFP(Durability Failure Probability), safety index, and the related service life are calculated considering the time to crack width reaches to maximum crack width(0.3mm). The results with time effect on crack width show lower DFP and longer service life, which seems to be reasonable compared with conservative results from crack effect from initial stage. Furthermore, crack effect is evaluated to be insignificant on DFP and service life. The technique with time-dependent crack effect on carbonation can be effectively used for RC structure containing cracking in use.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.76-83
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• 2022

Since the 3D printing mortar is exposed to the atmosphere immediately after printing, moisture is largely evaporated from the surface of the layer. The evaporation of moisture on the surface of the layer greatly causes drying shrinkage and increases the risk of cracking and damage to the structure due to drying shrinkage. This study experimentally evaluated the shrinkage behavior of the initial age using the mortar used for 3D printing. The change in shrinkage was evaluated by comparing the shrinkage of the specimen cured by the sealing method and the atmospheric exposure method. In addition, compared with the case where type 1 cement was used 100%, the shrinkage amount was evaluated when 20% of fly ash was replaced and 10% of silica fume was used. In particular, the effect of three chemical admixtures applied using 3D printing on shrinkage was evaluated experimentally. When fly ash and silica fume were used, the shrinkage amount increased by 60 - 110% compared to the case when type 1 cement was used. The application of viscosity modifiers and shrinkage reducers reduced the shrinkage by at least 18% and at most 70% depending on the curing conditions. The temperature of the specimen temporarily decreased to 15 ℃ at the beginning of curing, and the correlation between the internal temperature of the specimen and the shrinkage behavior was observed.