Abstract
Disasters due to fire accidents have become frequent resulting in concrete subjected to high temperatures leading to severe loss of life and property. The usage of High Strength Concrete (HSC) as a structural material has led to the demand to understand the effects of fire on concrete. This paper is aimed at understanding the properties of both HSC and normal strength concrete (NSC) at high temperatures. The experimental work mainly focuses on physical & mechanical properties of M20 grade NSC and M60 Grade HSC subjected to high temperatures. Color change, weight loss, crack width, thermal expansion and residual compressive strength were observed under high temperatures ranging from 1000C to 8000C with an increment of 1000C at exposure duration of three hours. The effect of high temperatures on HSC is more prominent than that of NSC. The performance of HSC is marginally poor compared to NSC at temperatures upto 8000C.
Highlights
High Strength Concrete is one of the chief civil engineering material used in the construction industry
The changes in colour of both normal strength concrete (NSC) and High Strength Concrete (HSC) observed after exposure to a temperature of 8000C for every increment of 1000C were presented in Fig-1
After cooling to room temperature NSC turned to dark grey and HSC turned to pale white colour beyond 5000C
Summary
High Strength Concrete is one of the chief civil engineering material used in the construction industry. With the invention of HSC, high rise buildings, long span bridges and special structures such as reactor pressure vessels, pavements etc are possible to be constructed economically. HSC has a lower toughness leading to brittle failure. As this risk is found more under high temperatures, it is essential to understand the behavior of performance of HSC compared with NSC at high temperatures
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