Influence of nano-silica on the failure mechanism of concrete specimens

Abstract

Failure of basic structures material is usually accompanied by expansion of interior cracks due to stress concentration at the cracks tip. This phenomenon shows the importance of examination of the failure behavior of concrete structures. To this end, 4 types of mortar samples with different amounts of nano-silica (0%, 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%) were made to prepare twelve 50x50x50 mm cubic samples. The goal of this study was to describe the failure and micro-crack growth behavior of the cement mortars in presence of nano-silica particles and control mortars during different curing days. Failure of mortar samples under compressive strength were sensed with acoustic emission technique (AET) at different curing days. It was concluded that the addition of nano-silica particles could modify failure and micro-crack growth behavior of mortar samples. Also, monitoring of acoustic emission parameters exposed differences in failure behavior due to the addition of the nanoparticles. Mortar samples of nano-silica particles revealed stronger shear mode characteristics than those without nanoparticles, which revealed high acoustic activity due to heterogeneous matrix. It is worth mentioning that the highest compressive strength for 3 and 7 test ages obtained from samples with the addition of 1.5% nano-silica particles. On the other hand maximum compressive strength of 28 curing days obtained from samples with 1% combination of nano-silica particles.