Abstract
An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect ofnano-SiO2 and steel fiber content on the durability of concrete. Five different dosages of nano-SiO2 particles and five volume dosages of steel fiber were used. The durability of concretes includes permeability resistance, cracking resistance, carbonation resistance, and freezing-thawing resistance, and these were evaluated by the water permeation depth, number of cracks, total cracking area per unit area of the specimens, carbonation depth of the specimens, and the relative dynamic elastic modulus of the specimens after freezing-thawing cycles, respectively. The results indicate that the addition of nano-SiO2 particles significantly improves the durability of concrete when the content of nano-SiO2 is limited within a certain range. With the increase of nano-SiO2 content, the durability of concrete first increases and then decreases. An excessive number of nano-SiO2 particles could have an adverse effect on the durability of the concrete. The addition of the correct amount of steel fibers improves the carbonation resistance of concrete containing nano-particles, but excessive steel fiber reduces the carbonation resistance. Moreover, the addition of steel fibers reduces the permeability resistance of concrete containing nano-particles. The incorporation of steel fiber enhanced the freezing-thawing resistance and cracking resistance of concrete containing nano-particles. With increasing steel fiber content, the freezing-thawing resistance of the concrete containing nano-particles increases, and the cracking resistance of the concrete decreases gradually.
Highlights
Concrete has been widely used in structural engineering because of its superior characteristics, such as simple preparation techniques, low energy consumption, high durability, low price, and good bonding performance with reinforcing steel bars and plates
There are numerous types of fibers suitable to be used in concretes, such as polypropylene fiber [2], glass fiber [3], plant fiber [4], carbon fiber [5], polyvinyl alcohol fiber [6], basalt fiber [7], and steel fiber [8]
The results indicated that a small amount of steel fibers resulted in no degradation in the permeation properties, whereas higher steel fiber dosages would lead to clear growth in the water absorption and sorptivity of the concrete [11]
Summary
Concrete has been widely used in structural engineering because of its superior characteristics, such as simple preparation techniques, low energy consumption, high durability, low price, and good bonding performance with reinforcing steel bars and plates. The bulk of studies have considered the effects of SiO2 nano-particles on mechanical, and fracture properties, and bonding performance of steel fiber reinforced concrete [13,23]. Only limited studies have conducted systematic investigations on the influence of nano-SiO2 on the durability of concrete composite reinforced by steel fibers. Durability experiments (permeability resistance, cracking resistance, carbonation resistance, and freeze-thaw resistance tests) were conducted to determine the influence of nano-SiO2 and steel fibers on the durability of the concretes composite, which is the novelty of this study. The results of this study could provide design guidance for the application of concrete composite containing nano-SiO2 reinforced by steel fibers in actual engineering structures. The durability of steel fiber reinforced concrete containing nano-SiO2 is investigated
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