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Present study focuses on scope of developing sustainable heat resistant concrete by adding steel fibre (Sf) and polypropylene fibre (PPf) along with partially replacement of ordinary portland cement (OPC) and natural fine aggregate with fly ash (FA) and granular blast furnace slag (GBFS). Replacement percentages of FA and GBFS were 40% and 50%, whereas Sf and PPf for fibre-added mixes were 1% by volume of concrete and 0.25% by weight of cement, respectively.

An experimental work had been carried out to make comparison between control mix (CM), fibre-added sustainable mix (SCMF) and fibre-added control mix (CMF) with reference to weight loss, mechanical strength (compressive, split and flexure) after exposed to room temperature (27°C) to 1000°C at the interval of 200°C for 4 h of heat curing followed by furnace cooling and then natural cooling. Furthermore, microstructural analysis was executed at 27°C, 400°C and 800°C, respectively.

Colour change and hair line cracks were started to appear at 600°C. Fibre-added control mix and sustainable mix did not exhibit any significant cracks as compared to control mix even at 1000°C. Major losses were occurred at temperature higher than 600°C, loss in compressive strength was about 70% in control mix, while 60% in fibre-added mixes. SCMF exhibited the highest retention of strength with respect to all cases of mechanical strength.

Present study is based on the slow heating condition followed by longer duration of heat curing at target temperature.

Present work can be helpful for the design engineer for assessing the fire deterioration of concrete structure existing near the fire establishment such as furnace and ovens. Building fire (high temperature for short duration) might be the further scope of work.

Concept of incorporating pozzolanic binder and calcareous fine aggregate was adopted to take the advantage pozzolanacity and fire resistivity. To the best of author’s knowledge, there is a scope for fill the research gap in this area.

Introduction How old is concrete? 150 years, 2,000 years or 9,000 years? Since the invention of Portland cement by Aspdin in the early 19th century, concrete has become the most widely used construction material in the world. Yet, concrete durability can pose severe constraints on the concrete engineer and designer. In the search for materials which are more cost‐effective or more efficient, cement replacement materials such as natural pozzolans, calcined clays, shale and soils, slags, rice husk ash or pulverised fuel ash are attracting much interest. Are these cheap replacement materials not compromising on quality and long‐term durability? A first optimistic answer is given in this paper which will be especially useful for practising civil and structural engineers, materials technologists, engineers and designers.

Fire can severely affect concrete structures and with knowledge of the properties of materials, the damage can be assessed. Aggregate, cement matrix and their interaction are the most important components that affect concrete behaviour at high temperatures. The effect of incorporating recycled concrete aggregate or cementitious materials, namely, cement type and pulverized fly ash, are reviewed to provide a better understanding of their involvement in fire resistance.

More investigation research is needed to understand the fire resistance of such sustainable concrete that was already constructed. The present study illustrates the effect of using recycled concrete aggregate and cementitious materials on the fire resistance of concrete. To do so, a literature review was conducted and relevant data were collected and presented in a simple form. The author's selected research findings, which are related to the presents study, are also presented and discussed.

Recycled concrete aggregate enhances the concrete behaviour at high temperatures when it substitutes the natural aggregate by reasonable substitution (more than 25–30%). It also almost eliminates the possibility of spalling. Moreover, utilizing both supplementary cementitious materials with recycled concrete aggregate can improve the fire resistance of concrete. The incorporation of pulverized fly ash and slag in Portland cement or blended cement can generally keep the mechanical properties of concrete at a higher level after heating to a high temperature.

Recycled concrete aggregate enhances the concrete behaviour at high temperatures when it substitutes the natural aggregate by reasonable substitution (more than 25–30%). It also almost eliminates the possibility of spalling. Moreover, utilizing both supplementary cementitious materials with recycled concrete aggregate can improve the fire resistance of concrete. The incorporation of pulverized fly ash and slag in Portland cement or blended cement can generally keep the mechanical properties of concrete at a higher level after heating to a high temperature.

The purpose of this work is to improve the air entrainment capacity of a concrete by using fine mineral admixtures such as fly ash (FA) and silica fume (SF) as cement substitute, and coal bottom ash (CBA) as fine aggregate substitute. Air entrainment capacity has been studied indirectly as a measure of heat resistance of concrete. Literature has suggested that mineral admixtures improve the air absorption in the paste component of the concrete, on the one hand, whereas they perform pore and grain size refinement, on the other, thereby reducing the air entrainment. CBA, which being porous, creates the possibility of air adsorption by the aggregate component. Therefore, the study finds out whether a double benefit of adding both of these materials will be achieved, or CBA will try to improve the deficiency in the air entrainment created by the mineral admixtures.

Air-entrained concrete (AEC) mixes were constituted in three groups. First group represents mixes with natural fine aggregates only, and second with 25% fine aggregates substituted by CBA. Progressively, the third group has 50% fine aggregates substituted with CBA. In all the three groups, cement was substituted with FA and SF @ 0%, 20% and 40%, and 0%, 5% and 10%, respectively, thereby creating four binary and four ternary mixes corresponding to each group. Compressive and flexural strength tests were conducted at 28 days on the concrete mixes pre and post high-temperature heat treatment, i.e. 100°C, 200°C and 400°C, respectively. This study also examines the microstructure characteristics of AEC after 14 days of curing via X-ray diffraction. Sorptivity test was also conducted to estimate the capillary and air-entrained voids in concrete.

It was found that a concrete mix containing 20% FA and 10% SF along with 50% CBA could give similar post-heated strength to a normal (without mineral admixtures) AEC. In AECs where only CBA is present and cement paste is not substituted, both of the pre- and post-heated strengths of concrete reduce. Also, some mixtures containing large amounts of mineral admixtures in concrete with nil CBA show a high reduction in post-heated strength though they show good pre-heated strength. Therefore, mineral admixtures and CBA complement each other in improving the post-heated strength. Air pore structure found from sorptivity test also verifies these results.

AEC is very helpful for insulation of buildings during summer season by absorbing heat waves. AEC containing FA and CBA reduces carbon footprint because of substitution of cement and it also helps to conserve natural resources by the use of CBA in place of fine aggregates.

The main aim of the current study is to investigate the effect of Anti-Crack HP 67/36 glass fibre on the mechanical performance of mortars made of cement, with a focus on post-cracking evaluations using the digital image correlation (DIC) technique.

Experimental tests were carried out on 36-mm long fibres at 0.8% by volume and added to the normal strength (NSM), high strength (HSM) and high strength mortar with fly ash (HSMFA) mortars. CEM I 52.5 CP2 NF, CEM II/A-L 42.5 NF and CEM III/C 32.5 N-SR PM were used for each series of mortar to assess the performance of the glass fibres with the types of cement. F-class fly (FA) ash was used to reduce global CO₂ emissions.

The mortar’s strength decreased as the cement types changed from CEM I to CEM II and III. However, due to changes in the portlandite content of the cement, water porosity increased for both types of mortar, without and with fibre. It was also found that using glass fibre increased flexural strength more than compressive strength, regardless of the type of cement used. For all the strength classes, it was found that the mortar mixes with CEM I had the highest critical crack opening (w_c) and fracture energy (G_F), followed by CEM II and III. No significant effects were observed in the mortar’s property by replacing fly ash (12%).

Only mortars were formulated in this study, but the results must be verified at the concrete scale.

Validation of the DIC technique to characterize the post-cracking behaviour of cement-based material. Use of glass fibres to improve the material’s resistance to cracking.

Use of CEM II and CEM III cements with low CO₂ footprint instead of CEMI without altering the mechanical performance of the material.

The work is a further contribution to studying the cracking behaviour of several series of variable mortars depending on the resistance class and the type of cement used.

This study aims to characterize the behavior of blended concrete, including metakaolin (MK) and quarry dust (QD), as supplementary cementing materials. The study focuses on evaluating the effects of these materials on the fresh and hardened properties of concrete.

MK, a pozzolanic material, and QD, a fine aggregate by-product, are potentially sustainable alternatives for enhancing concrete performance and reducing environmental impact. The addition of different percentages of MK enhances the pozzolanic reaction, resulting in improved strength development. Furthermore, the optimum dosage of MK, mixed with QD, and mechanical properties like compressive, flexural and split tensile strength of concrete were evaluated to investigate the synergetic effect of MK and quarry dust for M20-grade concrete.

The results reveal the influence of metakaolin and QD on the overall performance of blended concrete. Cost analysis showed that the optimum mix can reduce the 7%–8% overall cost of the materials for M20-grade concrete. Energy analysis showed that the optimum mix can reduce 7%–8% energy consumption.

The effective utilization is determined with the help of the analytical hierarchy process method to find an optimal solution among the selected criteria. According to the AHP analysis, the optimum content of MK and quarry dust is 12% and 16%, respectively, performing best among all other trial mixes.

The purpose of this research is to study the physical and mechanical properties beside the durability of concrete as well as corrosion resistance of reinforced concrete by replacing Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with different ratios of silica fume and meta-kaolin and applying two paint formulations to enhance corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. In this work, modified concrete mixes containing pozzolanic materials of industrial wastes such as silica fume (SF) with ratios ranging between (0, 10 and 15%) and calcined raw material such as meta-kaolin (MK) with ratios (0, 3, 5 and 10%), were introduced using water binder ratio (w/b) 0.45 to study their effect on the physico-mechanical properties and durability of concrete as well as corrosion protection performance of reinforced concrete. Two paint formulations containing the same ingredients except that one of them is free from talc (G1) and the other contains talc (G2) were applied on the rebars embedded in these modified mixes. Talc is known to offer high pH to the surrounding media.

Modified concrete mixes containing the coated reinforced concrete steel with the different paint formulations in presence and absence of talc were tested, and the corrosion behavior was studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 3.5% NaCl, and the concrete mixes were also tested through their compressive strength, chloride permeability, scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray analysis and bond strength.

The results revealed that the hardened reinforced concrete mix containing 10% SF with 5% MK with embedded rebars coated with G2 (paint containing talc) was the best concrete system which offers concrete sustainability besides high corrosion protection performance, i.e. presence of talc in the paints combined with the effect of cement blended with SF and MK showed positive effect on the reinforced concrete properties that leads to more durability and workability.

The integrity of using two efficient methods of corrosion protection beside the effect of the different replacements in concrete mixes containing coated reinforced concrete steel with paint formulations free from talc (G1) and others containing talc (G2), which lead to fatal changes in the pH of the surrounding media (i.e. concrete which has high alkaline pH) to achieve good concrete properties aside with convenient paint formulations together.

Concrete-filled steel hollow (CFHS) column is an innovation to improve the performance of concrete or steel column. It is believed to have high compressive strength, good plasticity and is excellent for seismic and fire performance as compared to hollow steel column without a filler.

Experimental and numerical investigation has been carried out to study the performance of CFHS having different concrete in-fill and shape of steel tube.

In this paper, an extensive review of experiment performed on CFHS columns at elevated temperature is presented in different types of concrete as filling material. There are three different types of concrete filling used by the researchers, such as normal concrete (NC), reinforced concrete and pozzolanic-fly ash concrete (FC). A number of studies have conducted experimental investigation on the performance of NC casted using recycled aggregate at elevated temperature. The research gap and the recommendations are also proposed. This review will provide basic information on an innovation on steel column by application of in-filled materials.

Design guideline is not considered in this paper.

Fire resistance is an important issue in the structural fire design. This can be a guideline to define the performance of the CFHS with different type of concrete filler at various exposures.

Utilization of waste fly ash reduces usage of conventional cement (ordinary Portland cement) in concrete production and enhances its performance at elevated temperature. The new innovation in CFHS columns with FC can reduce the cost of concrete production and at the same time mitigate the environmental issue caused by waste material by minimizing the disposal area.

Review on the different types of concrete filler in the CFHS column. The research gap and the recommendations are also proposed.

With respect to the studies conducted so far and lack of researches on the post-heat behavior of cement mortars containing pozzolanic materials, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the post-heat mechanical characteristics (i.e. compressive, tensile and flexural strength) of cement mortars containing granulated blast-furnace slag (GBFS) and silica fume (SF). In doing so, selected temperatures include 25, 100, 250, 500, 700 and 9000c. Last, the X-ray diffraction test was conducted to study the microstructure of mixtures and subsequently, the results were presented as power-one mathematical relations.

Totally, 378 specimens were built to conduct flexural, compressive and tensile strength tests. Accordingly, these specimens include cubic and prismatic specimens with dimensions of 5 × 5 × 5 cm and 16 × 4 × 4 cm, respectively, to conduct compressive and flexural strength tests together with briquette specimen used for tensile strength test in which cement was replaced by 7, 14 and 21 per cent of SF and GBFS. To study the effect of temperature, the specimens were heated. In this respect, they were heated with a rate of 5°C/min and exposed to temperatures of 25 (ordinary temperature), 100, 250, 500, 700 and 900°C.

On the basis of the results, the most profound effect of using GBFS and SF, respectively, takes place in low (up to 250°C) and high (500°C and greater degrees) temperatures. Quantitatively, the compressive, tensile and flexural strengths were enhanced by 73 and 180 per cent, 45 and 100 per cent, 106 and 112 per cent, respectively, in low and high temperatures. In addition, as the temperature elevates, the particles of specimens containing SF and GBFS shrink less in size compared to the reference specimen.

The specimens were cured according to ASTMC192 after 28 days placement in the water basin. First, in compliance with what has been specified by the mix design, the mortar, including pozzolanic materials and superplasticizer, was prepared and then, the sampling procedure was conducted on cubic specimens with dimension of 5 × 5 × 5 mm for compressive strength test, prismatic specimens with dimensions of 16 × 4 × 4 mm for flexural strength test and last, briquette specimens were provided to conduct tensile strength tests (for each temperature and every test, three specimens were built).

Utilization of industrial and agricultural waste products as cement replacement materials in concrete technology has been an interesting subject of research for economical, environmental, and technical reasons. Portland cement incorporating these cement replacement materials improves corrosion resistance of carbon steel. Sugar cane bagasse is considered as waste in sugar mills and dumped in open space or used as fuel for boilers. The main purpose of the study is to investigate corrosion performance of reinforcing carbon steel in bagasse ash (BA) blended cement concrete and compare it with control concrete.

BA is prepared by burning boiler‐fired ash at a controlled temperature of 650°C for 1 h and cooled. The ash is then ground to a fineness of 46 μm as Pozzolanic material and blended in concrete in various cement replacement levels. The corrosion behaviour of carbon steel in BA blended concretes exposed to alternate dry‐wet cycles in 3.0 percent NaCl solution for 18 months was studied using gravimetric weight loss, linear polarization, and electrochemical impedance measurement techniques. The resistance to chloride ion penetration of BA blended concretes after 28 and 90 days and compressive strength of BA blended concrete cubes after 7, 14, 28, and 90 days curing also was evaluated.

The experimental results indicated that the corrosion rate of reinforcing steel and chloride penetration were significantly reduced, and compressive strength was increased, with the incorporation of BA up to 20 percent replacement in concrete. It was observed also that a relatively good correlation between linear polarization and impedance measurements with respect to corrosion current values on the reinforcing steel within BA blended concretes.

BA may be considered as a better substitute than other mineral admixtures for durable concrete structures. The study fulfilled the objective of the investigation and contributes to research on corrosion protection of carbon steel in concrete.