Assessment of the effect of nanosilica on the mechanical performance and durability of cementitious materials

Gerlinde Lefever,Dimitrios G Aggelis,Didier Snoeck,Nele De Belie,Danny Van Hemelrijck

doi:10.1051/matecconf/201819902018

Gerlinde Lefever, Dimitrios G Aggelis + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201819902018

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Abstract

Over the last years, nanotechnology is getting more attractive and nanomaterials are being used more commonly in construction industry. One of these materials is nanosilica: the nano-sized, engineered form of silica fume. The replacement of cement by these nanoparticles is said to enhance both the mechanical performance and the durability of the concrete material. In this paper colloidal silica will be used, which is nanosilica in solution. A characterization of mortar mixtures containing different amounts of silica is done and a comparison is made with respect to a reference mixture.

Highlights

Over the last years, nanotechnology is getting more attractive and nanomaterials are being used more commonly in construction industry
This paper studies the replacement of cement by colloidal e-mail: gerlinde.lefever@vub.be-silica in mortar mixtures
The workability decreases as more cement is replaced by colloidal silica, which means that the mixture becomes drier despite the fact that the water-to-binder ratio was constant

Summary

Introduction

Nanotechnology is getting more attractive and nanomaterials are being used more commonly in construction industry. One of these materials is nanosilica: the nano-sized, engineered form of silica fume. The replacement of cement by these nanoparticles is said to enhance both the mechanical performance and the durability of the concrete material. A characterization of mortar mixtures containing different amounts of silica is done and a comparison is made with respect to a reference mixture. A characterization of the different mortar mixtures is done by measuring the workability, the flexural and compressive strength and the heat of hydration. Differences in the behaviour upon bending are identified by comparing acoustic emission data received while performing three-point-bending tests

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