Xuhao Wang

Drying shrinkage of ternary blend concrete in transportation structures

Shrinkage can be a major problem in transportation structures; shrinkage-associated cracking often leads the way to further durability problems such as corrosion and increases maintenance costs. Ternary cementitious blends are used in today’s transportation structures in order to obtain high-performance concrete mixes. Drying shrinkage behavior of ternary blend concretes used in the transportation infrastructure was studied and the findings are presented. Four bridge deck and one pavement mixes, in which supplementary cementitious material constitutes up to 50% of the total cementitious amount, were tested for both restrained and unrestrained shrinkages. The results indicate that shrinkage strain rate linearly increases with cementitious material content, paste-to-void ratio (by volume), and clay content of fine aggregate. Chemical admixtures (e.g. water reducer quantity) also appear to be another aggravating factor.

Drying shrinkage behavior of mortars made with ternary blends

Ternary cementitious blends are widely used in todays concrete mixtures, particularly when high performance is needed. This paper discusses drying shrinkage behavior of mortar mixtures made with various ternary blends. Ternary blends consisting of different combinations of portland or blended cement, slag, fly ash, and silica fume were considered. The amounts of slag, fly ash, and silica fume ranged from 15% to 35%, 13% to 30%, and 3% to 10% by mass of cementitious materials, respectively. Mortar bars were made with the ternary blends and subjected to drying (i.e., temperature = 73° ± 3°F and relative humidity = 50% ± 4%) after standard moist curing for 28 days. Free shrinkage of the bars was assessed at 56 days of age after 28 days of drying. A response surface analysis was done to examine the effects of blend proportions on shrinkage behavior of the mortars. To validate this model, an independent group of mortar mixtures with different ternary combinations was cast, and the measured values were compared with the predicted shrinkage values. The results indicated that of the three supplementary cementitious materials in the ternary blends studied, slag showed a dominant effect on increasing mortar shrinkage. The contribution of Class C fly ash to the shrinkage was slightly less than that of slag. An increase in silica fume or in Class F fly ash content slightly increased free shrinkage. There is a good correlation between the measured shrinkage strain and the strain predicted from the shrinkage model developed from the response surface analysis.

Flexural Performance Evaluation of Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Incorporating Multiple Macro-Synthetic Fibers

Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) is a promising construction material mainly because of the crack-controlling mechanisms that discrete fibers can impart to inherently brittle concrete. Macrofibers, in particular, have been proven effective for providing post-crack ductility and toughness, while synthetic fibers are a promising solution to avoid corrosion-related durability issues. To assess the performance enhancement provided by macro-synthetic concrete fibers, this study performs flexural tests on FRC beams containing three different types of macro-synthetic fibers. The selected fibers include polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and alkali-resistant glass (ARG) macrofibers mixed at volume fractions of 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5%. Static and dynamic fresh properties are monitored using the vibrating Kelly ball (VKelly) test. Beam specimens are then placed under a third point bending configuration, as per ASTM C1609 Standard, to measure load versus mid-span deflection. Strength and toughness parameters are derived from the load–deflection data to assess the flexural performance of the FRC composite systems under consideration. The parameters of interest include first peak strength (pre-crack flexural strength) and post-crack residual strength and toughness provided by fiber addition. Of the mixtures tested, ARG fiber mixtures show the highest residual strength and toughness values, followed by PP and PVA fiber mixtures. ARG fibers produce the most workable mixtures at all fiber volumes, while PVA fibers show a tendency to encounter dispersion issues at higher volume doses. The outcome of this study is expected to facilitate the selection of fibers by giving insight into their relative contribution to fresh and hardened flexural properties of FRC.