Phase distribution and microstructural changes of self-compacting cement paste at elevated temperature

Abstract

Self-compacting concrete, as a new smart building material with various advanced properties, has been used for a wide range of structures and infrastructures. However little investigation have been reported on the properties of Self-compacting when it is exposed to elevated temperatures. Previous experiments on fire test have shown the differences between high performance concrete and traditional concrete at elevated temperature. This difference is largely depending on the microstructural properties of concrete matrix, i.e. the cement paste, especially on the porosity, pore size distribution and the connectivity of pores in cement pastes. In this contribution, the investigations are focused on the cement paste. The phase distribution and microstructural changes of self-compacting cement paste at elevated temperatures are examined by mercury intrusion porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy. The chemical decomposition of self-compacting cement paste at different temperatures is determined by thermogravimetric analysis. The experimental results of self-compacting cement paste are compared with those of high performance cement paste and traditional cement paste. It was found that self-compacting cement paste shows a higher change of the total porosity in comparison with high performance cement paste. When the temperature is higher than 700 °C, a dramatic loss of mass was observed in the self-compacting cement paste samples with addition of limestone filler. This implies that the SCC made by this type of self-compacting cement paste will probably show larger damage once exposed to fire. Investigation has shown that 0.5 kg/m 3 of Polypropylene fibers in the self-compacting cement paste can avoid the damage efficiently.