Progress in Research on Explosion Induced Thixotropy of Concrete

Abstract

Thixotropy is an important property possessed by fresh concrete of changing from gel to liquid under shearing stress and returning to the original state when at rest. The thixotropic process is usually described to be an isothermal and static (or quasi-static) gel-sol-gel transformation. Now the thixotropy of concrete subjected to explosive loads became a new subject in research of synchronous explosive lining technology, which offers an advanced trechless method for underground space construction in soil. Because the detonation of explosives is a short-duration process accompanying with high temperature and high pressure, thixotropic behavior of concrete is no longer as same as that of in general meaning. This review summarizes the recent progress in research on explosion induced thixotropy of concrete, including the thixotropic behavior, thixoforming, influence of thixotropic process on microstructure, macrostructure and mechanical performances of concrete and steel fibre reinforced concrete. Additional, some arguments and suggestions for the future research are presented.