Influence of graphene oxide on properties of concrete in the presence of silica fumes and M-sand

Abstract

This paper reveals the study on the use of graphane oxide (GO) in the high strength concrete containing silica fume (SF). The current investigations are mainly focused on the suitability of GO in SF based concretes designed for pavement applications. Initially, using the Indian Standard guidelines, the concrete mixes were designed to achieve a Pavement Quality Concrete of compressive strength 50 MPa using conventional OPC concrete. Then, to understand the exact effect of GO, three types of concretes were systematically developed, namely, silica fume concrete, Graphene oxide concrete and the blended concrete containing both GO and SF; the results were compared with that of the conventional concrete. Initially, the workability, compressive strength and flexural strength tests were conducted on trial mixes and based on the results the best combinations were selected for the further investigations. The various other tests such as compressive strength, split tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, static flexural strength, microstructure (using SEM, EDAX, XRD), durability (acid and sulphate attack test, water absorption, volume of permeable voids tests), and flexural fatigue performances were studied on selected concrete mixes. The results show that compressive strength of about 77 MPa with a flexural strength of 8.0 MPa could be achieved for a concrete mix with 7% SF and 0.15% GO i.e., CS3G3 mix, which is way higher than the other three reference test mixes. This mix has shown considerable performance even with other mechanical and durability performances. The microstructure of CS3G3 mix had shown denser hydration products showing stronger bonding while compared it with that of the other selected mixes. The results of flexural fatigue tests revealed that the usage of GO-based concretes in association with SF can be used effectively as a pavement quality concrete applications.