Effect of coarse aggregate on Mechanical durability fracture Properties and panels of ultra high Strength concrete

Abstract

Ultra High Strength Concrete (UHSC) originally proposed by Richard and Cheyrezy (1995) composed of cement, SF, quartz sand, quartz powder, steel fibres, superplasticizer etc. Later, other ingredients such as fly ash (FA), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), metakaoline, copper slag, fine aggregate of different sizes have been added to original UHSC. The wide literature review on UHSC/ Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) revealed the following important observations. newline Investigations carried out on UHSC containing coarse aggregate (CA) are found to be scarce. newline Studies on analytical / numerical simulations of UHSC specimens / slab panels are very limited. newline There is ample scope to conduct experimental and numerical studies on UHSC by (1) replacing cementitious materials or very fine admixtures with CA or less expensive mineral admixtures, (2) decreasing the required steel fibre content without noticeably deteriorating the mechanical properties, (3) reducing the amount of superplasticizer, and (4) changing the heat curing process (at 90oC) to a normal curing process. newlineBased on the above, the following objectives have been formulated: newline Design of UHSC mixes containing CA. newline Evaluation of mechanical and durability properties for UHSC mixes. newline newlinevi newline Determination of fracture energy and the corresponding tensile stress vs crack relation. newline Experimental and numerical studies on UHSC slab panels newline newline