Mechanical property and frost resistance of phase–change/NanoSiO2 concrete in a low–temperature environment

Abstract

To study the effect of phase–change materials and nanomaterials as new composite materials on the mechanical properties and frost resistance of concrete, it is beneficial for low–carbon and environmentally friendly buildings to be achieved. The effects of freeze–thaw cycles and different preloading strains were considered. ICT scanning was performed, and the compression performance of composite–modified concrete (CMC) were tested. The internal pore structure and strength indicators of the CMC were analyzed during uniaxial compression. Meanwhile, by conducting uniaxial compression tests on CMC at different temperatures, changes in the mechanical properties during real–time freezing and thawing processes were obtained. The results demonstrated that the fractal dimension grows and the compressive performance of the CMC declines as the number of freeze–thaw cycles and preloading strain increases. The proportion of spheroids in the internal pore shape gradually decreases, whereas the proportions of rods, discs, and blades increases. CMC effectively delays the rise or fall of internal temperature during the freeze–thaw process and reduces its internal structural deterioration. Compared with the freeze–thaw effect, an increase in the preloading strain has a more notable impact on the compressive performance of CMC. A stress–strain constitutive model is proposed for a 10 % microencapsulated phase–change materials and a 1.5 % nanoSiO2 composite–modified concrete (10 mPCMs/1.5 NS CMC), influenced by temperature, through regression analysis. Meanwhile, under low temperatures, the degradation of mechanical properties of 10 mPCMs/1.5 NS CMC and the influence of different preloading strains are considered, leading to the development of stress–strain constitutive models for freeze–thaw cycles and different preloading conditions.