Silica Fume Mortar Research Articles

Mortars with nano-SiO 2 and micro-SiO 2 investigated by experimental design

This paper reports the effects of nanosilica (nS) and silica fume (SF) on rheology, spread on flow table, compressive strength, water absorption, apparent porosity, unrestrained shrinkage and weight loss of mortars up to 28 days. Samples with nS (0–7 wt.%), SF (0–20 wt.%) and water/binder ratio (0.35–0.59), were investigated through factorial design experiments. Nanosilica with 7 wt.% showed a faster formation of structures during the rheological measurements. The structure formation influences more yield stress than plastic viscosity and the yield stress relates well with the spread on table. Compressive strength, water absorption and apparent porosity showed a lack of fit of second order of the model for the range interval studied. In addition, the variation of the unrestrained shrinkage and weight loss of mortars do not follow a linear regression model. The maximum unrestrained shrinkage increased 80% for nS mortars (7 days) and 54% (28 days) when compared to SF mortars in the same periods.

Study on the Bond and Anti-Abrasion Performance of Repair Materials for Hydraulic Concrete

The bond and anti-abrasion performance of repair materials are the key factors for successful repair of hydraulic concrete. Acrylic acid emulsion (AAE) mortar, silica fume (SF) mortar, high strength (HS) mortar, polypropylene (PP) fiber mortar and basalt fiber (BF) mortar were prepared and their direct tensile bond strength, splitting tensile bond strength, abrasion resistance and SEM analysis of bond interface are studied in this paper. The results show that the highest direct tensile bond strength was recorded for fiber mortar. But compared to homogenous specimen’s tensile strength, AAE mortar showed the highest direct tensile bond strength. The anti-abrasion properties of repair mortars were tested with decreasing performance recorded in the following order: PP fiber mortar, SF mortar, BF mortar, HS mortar and AAE mortar. Compared with the HS mortar without fiber, the wear rate of PP fiber mortar was decreased by 29.2 % and the anti-abrasion strength was increased by 37.7%. This shows that adding fiber can greatly improve the anti-abrasion property. SEM analysis showed that addition of PP fiber and BF into repair mortar did not change the type of hydrates. The interface of AAE mortar was level and dense. The bond interface of SF mortar was uniform without big porosity. Addition of super plasticizer, the bond interface of HS mortar presented a large quantity of fibrous the CSH gel and less porosity which could improve the mortar bond effect effectively.

High performance superplasticized silica fume mortars for ferrocement works

Ferrocement works demand cement mortars of good workability and high strength. Reduction in water-cement ratio combined with a refined pore structure increases the compressive strength in addition to the enhancement of durability characteristics, but the workability decreases. Workability becomes important, as the mortar has to easily penetrate between the layers of the mesh wires. A reasonably workable high strength cement mortar can be obtained by using a high cement content coupled with the use of superplasticizers. These were also found to retain the cohesiveness and check undesirable bleeding and segregation. An experimental program was conducted to study the functional efficacy of an SNF condensate used as a water reducing superplasticizer. The compressive strength and flow characteristics of the mortars were determined to decide their suitability for ferrocement works. The parameters included the mix proportions, the grade of cement, age of curing and the dosage of superplasticizer. It was concluded from the study that the addition of an optimum dosage of superplasticizer improved the workability and strength characteristics of silica fume mortars. There was a late gain in the compressive strength of silica fume mortars.

Effect of Surface Roughness, Type and Size of Model Aggregates on the Bond Strength of Aggregate/Mortar Interface

The paper reports on a two-stage study of the interface between three types of model cylindrical aggregates (sandstone, limestone and granite) and two types of mortar matrix (plain and 20% Silica Fume mortar). In the first stage, the surface roughness (Ra) of the aggregates and the interfacial bond strength using push-out specimens have been experimentally determined. In the second, aggregate push-out geometry has been modelled using two different approaches. In the first approach, the surface roughness is ignored and the cylindrical aggregates are assumed to have an ideally smooth surface with a constant radius, r0 over the aggregate length, L. In the second approach, the surface roughness of the aggregates is included so that the radius, r varies along the length of the cored rock aggregate. Hence, the influence of the surface roughness of the aggregates on the interfacial bond strength is obtained. It is found that the surface roughness plays a significant role in determining the interfacial bond strength, in particular of smaller size aggregates. The effect, however, diminishes as the aggregate size increases, regardless of the aggregate and mortar type.

Zero-eccentricity direct-tension testing of thermally damaged cement-based materials

This study presents some results on direct-tension strength of two cementitious mortars using a test set-up specifically designed to virtually eliminate any load eccentricity. The tests were conducted on cement mortars with and without condensed silica fume after being exposed to high temperature (200, 300, 400 and 500 °C). Direct-tension tests were also carried out at room temperature (20 °C) for reference. The specimens were exposed to high temperature and were then allowed to cool to room temperature before testing up to failure. The strength values measured in this study exhibit a trend that is similar to that exhibited by the compressive strength cited in the literature. The results show that mortar specimens exhibited a small increase in strength at temperatures up to 200 °C for regular mortar and up to 230 °C for silica fume mortar. At temperatures above 200/230 °C, the residual tensile strength of the mortar decreases significantly and rapidly. Adding silica fume to the cement mortar increases the resistance to high temperature.

Study of the performance of four repairing material systems for hydraulic structures of concrete dams

Four types of repairing materials are studied as function of either a conventional concrete or a reference-concrete (RefC), these are: polymer-modified cement mortar (PMor), steel fiber concrete (SFco), epoxy mortar (EMor) and silica fume mortar (SFmo), to be applied in hydraulic structures surfaces subjected to a high velocity water flow. Besides the mechanical requests and wearing resistance of hydraulic concrete dam structures, especially the spillway surfaces, the high solar radiation, the environmental temperature and wet and dry cycles, contribute significantly to the reduction of their lifespan. RefC and the SFco were developed based on a usual concrete mixture used in slabs of spillways. The average RefC mixture used was 1: 1.61: 2.99: 0.376, with Pozzolan-modified Portland cement consumption of 425 kg/m³. EMor and PMor mixtures followed the information given by the manufacturers and lab experience. Tests on concrete samples were carried out in laboratory simulating normally found environmental situations in order to control the mechanical resistance and the aging imposed conditions, such as solar radiation and humidity. Also, physicochemical characterizing tests were made for all used materials. From the analyzed results, two of them presented a higher performance: the EMor and SFmo. SFco presented good adherence to the RefC and good mechanical performance. However, it also presented apparent metal corrosion in humidity tests, being indicated for use, with caution, as an intermediate layer in underwater repairs. In a general classification, considering all tests, including their field applications, the better performance material systems were EMor- SFmo> SFco> PMor.

Aggregate/mortar interface: influence of silica fume at the micro- and macro-level

Microstructural investigations and chemical analyses were conducted by utilizing scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analyser in the interfacial zone between three types of cylindrical aggregates (sandstone, limestone and granite) and two types of mortar matrices (plain mortar and 20% silica fume mortar). The strength of the interface was determined experimentally by means of aggregate push-out test. Interfacial strength was then related to the interfacial thickness and the amount of silica at the interface. It was found that the higher the silica concentration in the interface, the thinner the relative interfacial thickness and the higher the interfacial bond strength as a result of the densification role of silica fume. The interfacial bond strength was found to increase as the aggregate size decreased, irrespective of the type of aggregate and the mortar matrix. This size effect is shown to be statistical in nature and described by Weibull theory.

The influence of medium temperature environments on the water permeability of high performance mortar

In this study, the durability of normal portland cement mortar and silica fume mortar are characterized by measuring the water permeability under four different types of curing temperatures. It is observed that the water permeability of normal portland cement mortar increases as temperature increases up to 75°C. However, the water permeability of silica fume mortar decreases as the temperature increases. This indicates that the high pozzolanic reaction and microfiller effect of silica fume at medium temperature has modified the open channels at the transition zone of silica fume mortar, making it much denser and stronger and leading to a fine and discontinuous pore structure.

The role of silica fume in the direct tensile strength of cement-based materials

The direct tensile strength of silica fume cement paste and mortar were evaluated at various water-cementitious content ratios. Four different water-cementitious content ratios of 0.22, 0.25, 0.28, and 0.31 were used, and three contents of silica fume, 8%, 16%, and 25% by mass of cement. Superplasticizer content was adjusted for each mix to ensure that no segregation would occur.

Curing requirements of silica fume and fly ash mortars

The curing requirements of silica fume and fly ash mortars were investigated in this study. Silica fume and fly ash mortar specimens were moist cured for periods of 0, 3, 7, 14 and 28 days. After each of the five periods, the moist curing was interrupted by oven-drying the specimens at a temperature of 110°C for 3 days. The specimens were later tested for compressive strength and absorptivity. In this study, it was also determined whether the losses in strength and impermeability of silica fume and fly ash mortars due to an interruption in curing could be regained by recuring. The test results clearly indicate that the curing requirement of silica fume mortar is less than that of plain cement mortar, while in the case of fly ash mortar it is hogher than that of plain cement mortar.

Some further evidence on a specific effect of silica fume on the pore structure of portland cement mortars

SEM observations are reported on silica fume-Ca(OH) 2 crystals-water mixture which give evidence of a mechanism of almost complete dissolution of the Ca(OH) 2 crystals with remnent voids corresponding to the initial crystals shapes. These observations could be related to the recently observed appearance of a coarse pore family in the 1–2 μm size range in hydrated silica fume mortars.