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Investigation of Advanced Concretes and Their Properties

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced Composites".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 August 2023) | Viewed by 5604

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Prof. Dr. Pratanu Ghosh

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Guest Editor

College of Engineering and Computer Science, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92831-3599, USA
Interests: high-performance concrete (HPC); durability; sustainability; nondestructive testing; service life modeling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to provide a discussion of recent advances in the research on concrete materials used in construction and their properties and characterization. This issue also will provide readers with up-to-date information about durability assessment of new concrete structures built using new sustainable concrete materials. Finally, it must be demonstrated, based on their implementation, that the materials are cost effective without compromising quality. Manuscripts can also include life cycle assessment of new concrete materials and comparison with traditional existing concrete materials.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

Innovative and/or green cementitious materials, concrete, and cement-stabilized materials in concrete infrastructure
High-performance concrete
Various durability assessment of concrete materials
Life cycle assessment or service life modeling of concrete infrastructure
Recent developments in the characterization of cementitious materials and concrete
Field performance of various concrete materials

Prof. Dr. Pratanu Ghosh
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

high-performance concrete (HPC)
durability
sustainability
life cycle assessment
nondestructive testing
alternative innovative materials
service life modeling

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4705 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hydration and Expansion Characteristics of MgO Expansive Agent in Mass Concrete

by Feifei Jiang, Zhongyang Mao and Lanqing Yu

Materials 2022, 15(22), 8028; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15228028 - 14 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1134

Abstract

Based on the underground reinforced concrete wall of subway stations (Hangzhou, China), this paper studied the influence of a MgO expansive agent (MEA) on deformation and mechanical properties of a reinforced concrete wall. The results show that the effect of the MEA with different activities to compensate for the shrinkage of reinforced concrete walls is different. For MEA-R (60 s), because the activity is too high, its hydration rate is too fast, and many expansions occur at the plastic state of the concrete, which cannot effectively compensate for the shrinkage of concrete. For MEA-S (220 s), due to its low activity, the early hydration rate is so slow that it cannot compensate for the shrinkage, but it compensates well at the later stage due to the continuous hydration expansion of MEA. For MEA-M (140 s), the shrinkage of concrete is well compensated for the shrinkage at the early, middle and late stages due to its moderate activity. After using MEA to partially replace fly ash and mineral powder, the compressive strength of concrete was lower at the early stage (0–28 days). However, in the later stage, the porosity of concrete decreased rapidly, and the compressive strength of concrete would also be significantly improved. Therefore, choosing a suitably active MEA can compensate for the shrinkage of mass concrete without reducing its strength. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigation of Advanced Concretes and Their Properties)

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19 pages, 3125 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Variation of Electrical Resistivity and Charge Passed in High-Performance Concrete

by Quang Tran and Pratanu Ghosh

Materials 2022, 15(19), 6694; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15196694 - 27 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1234

Abstract

This study investigated the variation of bulk resistivity (BR) and charge passed for various high-performance concrete (HPC) mixtures based on significant factors (i.e., geometric size, operation frequency, and mixture constituents and proportions) using three testing instruments. These instruments were a surface resistivity (SR) meter and two bulk conductivity meters: one for using the BR data at a constant frequency, and the other at a wide range of frequencies. These HPC mixtures were categorized into several groups based on various supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). The variation and distribution of BR and the charge passed were investigated and statistical analysis results showed that the addition of SCMs and their varying replacement level remarkably influenced the reduction of charge passed in each group over an extended period. The results revealed that, for fly ash-based ternary mixtures, the addition of 3% metakaolin or 12% silica fume resulted in the highest reduction of charge passed over time (82% and 90%, respectively). For cost purposes, 5% silica fume replacement in ternary mixtures was chosen as an optimal solution. Finally, this study offered promising options for charge passed computation to assess corrosion in light of simple, rapid, and reliable SR/BR measurement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigation of Advanced Concretes and Their Properties)

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16 pages, 5853 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rapid Test Method for Evaluating Inhibiting Effectiveness of Supplementary Cementitious Materials on Alkali–Silica Reaction Expansion of Concrete

by Lei Yi, Zhongyang Mao, Min Deng, Xiang Liu, Zhiyuan Fan, Xiaojun Huang, Tao Zhang and Mingshu Tang

Materials 2022, 15(9), 3202; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15093202 - 28 Apr 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1266

Abstract

At present, there are many problems in various tests when judging the alkali activity of aggregates. The most practical engineering concrete prism test (CPT) takes one year, and the concrete suppression method needs two years. The aim of this paper is to discuss inhibiting effectiveness of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) on alkali–silica reaction (ASR) expansion of concrete and evaluate this rapid test method. Three kinds of aggregates were selected by chemical analysis, XRD and petrographic analysis. The high alkali–silicic acid activity of three aggregates was determined by accelerated mortar bars, concrete microbars and CPT. The expansion of concrete specimens made of three kinds of aggregates was measured and analyzed by using the method of length measurement. By changing the curing temperature to 40 °C, 60 °C and 80 °C, the test period of CPT is accelerated. It proved that the expansion of CPT is larger at 60 °C and smaller at 40 °C. The inhibition test was also accelerated by adding different proportion of SCMs (fly ash or blast furnace slag) and adjusting the curing temperature to 60 °C and 80 °C. On this basis, the inhibition test was accelerated by changing NaOH solution instead of moist air curing. The test period of the accelerated inhibition test can be effectively shortened from two years to 4 months, The expansion trend of each parameter and specimen is evaluated, the evaluation cycle can be adjusted to 5–6 months. The microscopic reaction characteristics of concrete specimens were investigated by means of SEM. According to each parameter and criterion, the judging standard of concrete rapid test and rapid restraint test is given in this paper. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigation of Advanced Concretes and Their Properties)

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13 pages, 4293 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Method for Evaluating the Reactivity of Alkali-Carbonate Reaction Activity

by Xiang Liu, Zhongyang Mao, Lei Yi, Zhiyuan Fan, Tao Zhang, Xiaojun Huang, Min Deng and Mingshu Tang

Materials 2022, 15(8), 2853; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15082853 - 13 Apr 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1423

Abstract

The main aim of this study was focused on the Method of testing alkali-carbonate reaction activity to avoid alkali-carbonate reaction damage. In this paper, the alkali-carbonate reaction activity and alkali-silica reaction activity of ten kinds of aggregates were determined and analysed by existing standards and methods, by making specimens with aggregates of 2.5–5 mm and 5–10 mm particle size, cured in 1 mol/L tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide solution at 60 °C and 80 °C. Tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide solution was used to exclude the expansion caused by alkali-silica reaction. Effects of aggregate particle size and curing temperature on the expansion of samples were systematically investigated to determine alkali-carbonate reactivity of aggregates. In order to explore the relationship between stress and strain of aggregates, these aggregates were prepared into compacted bodies to test their stress and try to discover the pattern. The results showed that the expansion of the mould specimen prepared by the aggregate of 5–10 mm particle size, cured in 1 mol/L tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide solution at 80 °C was greater than 0.1% after 42 days, which could be used as a reference criterion to determine the alkali-carbonate reaction activity of the aggregate. In addition, the expansion stress test suggest that the alkali-carbonate reaction can generate expansion stress. The expansion stress of aggregates with alkali-carbonate reaction activity were much larger than that of aggregates without alkali-carbonate reaction activity. Through SEM and EDX analysis of the products of the alkali-carbonate reaction, it was shown that the dolomite crystals in the dolomitic aggregates reacted with the TMAH solution and resulted in alkali-carbonate reaction, forming calcite and brucite. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigation of Advanced Concretes and Their Properties)

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