Compressive strength ratios of concretes containing pozzolans under elevated temperatures

Abstract

Cement production is one of the major pollution contributors owing to its large rates of energy consumption and gas emission. Moreover, high temperatures could detrimentally impact the concrete infrastructure and thus, it would be essential to study performance of such structures under exposure to the elevated temperatures. In this paper, post-heat performance of the concrete whose cement has been added by zeolite and bentonite at ratios of 6 and 10% (by cement weight) under exposure to temperatures of 28, 150, 300 and 700 °C, was studied. Based on the results, replacing cement by zeolite and bentonite at the age of 90 days under ambient temperature, increases the compressive strength compared to the control specimen. Moreover, it was observed that heating the cubic and cylindrical specimens containing 10% bentonite at 150 °C, increase the compressive strength by 40%. Conversely, the results indicate that when exposed to temperatures of 300 and 700 °C, a decreasing trend is seen in the tensile strength of both cubic and cylindrical specimens containing the pozzolans. Peak intensity of C–S–H has dropped as per rise in temperature from 28 to 700 °C. These values reveal that peak intensity of C–S–H up to 300 °C, is approximately the same but under 700 °C, it has reduced considerably. In all the cubic and cylindrical specimens, it can be seen that the specimens heated at 150° have the highest compressive strength and the specimens heated at 700 °C have the lowest compressive strength compared to the same unheated specimens. The XRD patterns at 150 and 300 °C, reveal decrease and increase in the Portlandite content the difference between conversion ratio of the cubic and cylindrical specimens in this study, to the values provided by the codes, is less than 10%.