Mixture and Material Factors Affecting the Strength and Shrinkage of High Performance Concrete

Abstract

This paper reports experimentally investigated effects of mixture proportion and material factors on strength, drying and autogenous shrinkage of high performance concrete (HPC). Based on numerous trial mixtures by the authors, HPC mixtures incorporated 5% expansive additive (EA) and 1% shrinkage reducing admixture (SRA). Water to binder ratio (W/B) and water content were varied from 20% to 35% and 145 kg/m3 up to 175 kg/m3, respectively. Cement type, such as ordinary Portland cement and high belite cement, as well as superplasticizer type, including melamine based, naphthalene based and polycarboxylate based superplasticizers, were chosen as experimental parameters. Drying and autogenous shrinkage were reduced by increasing the W/B and decreasing water content. Additionally, drying and autogenous shrinkage were reduced by using high belite cement. In order to secure volumetric stability, HPC mixtures must incorporate, within a range of possible limits, fly ash (FA), silica fume (SF), EA and SRA, high W/B, low water content and a high C2S content cement.