Bonding of nano-modified concrete with steel under freezing temperatures using different protection methods

Abstract

Concrete bond strength with steel re-bars depends on multiple factors including concrete-steel interface and mechanical properties of concrete. However, the hydration development of cementitious paste, and in turn the mechanical properties of concrete, are negatively affected by cold weather. This study aimed at exploring the concrete-steel bonding behavior in concrete cast and cured under freezing temperatures. Three concrete mixtures were cast and cured at -10 and -20oC. The mixtures were protected using conventional insulation blankets and a hybrid system consisting of insulation blankets and phase change materials. The mixtures comprised General Use cement, fly ash (20%), nano-silica (6%) and calcium nitrate-nitrite as a cold weather admixture system. The mixtures were tested in terms of internal temperature, compressive, tensile strengths, and modulus of elasticity. In addition, the bond strength between concrete and steel re-bars were evaluated by a pull-out test, while the quality of the interface between concrete and steel was assessed by thermal and microscopy studies. In addition, the internal heat evolution and force-slip relationship were modeled based on energy conservation and stress-strain relationships, respectively using three-dimensional (3D) finite-element software. The results showed the reliability of the proposed models to accurately predict concrete heat evolution as well as bond strength relative to experimental data. The hybrid protection system and nano-modified concrete mixtures produced good quality concrete-steel interface with adequate bond strength, without need for heating operations before casting and during curing under freezing temperatures down to -20oC.