Mechanical and Microstructural Properties of Cement Paste Incorporating Nano Silica Particles with Various Specific Surface Areas

Abstract

In this study, the effect of agglomeration and non-uniform dispersion of silica particles on the mechanical and microstructural properties of cement paste incorporating silica fume and nanosilica (NS) with various specific surface areas (SSA) is experimentally investigated. The SSA and replacement percent of silica particles were considered as test variables and four series of mixes were made including one set of mixes for silica fume with a SSA of 20 m2/g and three sets of mixes for three different types of NS with SSA equal to 90, 200 and 380 m2/g. In each series of mix designs three different cement replacement percents of 1.5%, 3% and 5% were applied. The results indicate that as the SSA and replacement percent of silica particles increase, the domain of variation of compressive strength results rises dramatically. It is observed that an increase in SSA of silica particles results in further agglomeration and difficulty in dispersion of NS particles within the paste. Also, there is significant variation on distribution of NS particles between similar specimens.