Enhancing the High-Temperature Fracture Toughness of Ultrahigh-Performance Concrete through Optimization of Ternary Cement Matrix and Plastic Fiber Geometric Properties
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36, Issue 10
Abstract
This study aims to enhance the high-temperature resistance of ultrahigh-performance concrete (UHPC) by optimizing the cement-fly ash-silica fume ternary cement matrix composition and the geometric characteristics of the plastic fibers. The UHPC was designed and prepared with the cement-fly ash-silica fume ternary cement matrix through simplex centroid method and 2% volume fraction steel fiber. Polypropylene fibers with different geometric characteristics were incorporated to enhance the high-temperature resistance. The fire resistance is examined through the high-temperature exposure test. The initial bursting temperature is recorded, and the deterioration of mechanical performance is characterized. It was found that the decrepitation temperature of UHPC first increases and then decreases with the fly ash (FA) content. Meanwhile, the influence of the silica fume (SF) and cement content on the decrepitation temperature is not obvious. The optimum mix ratio of 50%–65% cement, 20%–30% FA, and 10%–20% SF is recommended to prepared the cementitious matrix with 450°C or higher initial burst temperature. The crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) test assisted with digital image correlation (DIC) examination is conducted to characterize the fracture performance before and after high-temperature exposure. It was found that the fracture resistance of UHPC first increases and then decreases with the silica fume content, which reaches the maximum value of with 27% SF content. Meanwhile the high-temperature resistance of UHPC increases and then decreases with the increase of the length of the doped polypropylene (PP) fibers. The added 1.2% volume fraction PP fiber can resolve the spalling issues of the UHPC materials, and the residual compressive strengths after exposure to 1,000°C of UHPC samples containing and fibers can exceed 50 MPa. This study can serve as a solid base for the fire resistance design of UHPC materials in field construction.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (U22A20122, 52208246, and 52090082), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2023JJ40142), the Natural Science Foundation of Changsha (kq2202160), the Provincial Special Project for the Construction of National Sustainable Development Agenda Innovation Demonstration Zone in Chenzhou City (2023sfq50), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (531118010493), and the Postgraduate Scientific Research Innovation Project of Hunan Province (QL20220157).
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Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36 • Issue 10 • October 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 8, 2023
Accepted: Mar 21, 2024
Published online: Aug 1, 2024
Published in print: Oct 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Jan 1, 2025
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Building materials
- Cement
- Concrete
- Continuum mechanics
- Cracking
- Design (by type)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Engineering mechanics
- Fabrics
- Fracture mechanics
- High-performance concrete
- Load and resistance factor design
- Load factors
- Material mechanics
- Material properties
- Materials engineering
- Mathematical functions
- Mathematics
- Matrix (mathematics)
- Measurement (by type)
- Solid mechanics
- Structural design
- Structural engineering
- Temperature (by type)
- Temperature effects
- Temperature measurement
- Thermal properties
- Thermodynamics
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