Study of Pressure and Curing Temperature in Reactive Powder Concretes (RPC) with different amounts of Metallic Microfibers

Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is one of the greatest breakthroughs in concrete technology, as it enables the manufacturing of thinner structures without passive reinforcement. That reduces the load in buildings and increases durability, especially in aggressive environments. The use of metallic microfibers is what provides the increase in tensile stress and the resulting elimination of reinforcements. However, it is also the most expensive material as well as the most difficult to obtain, which requires its maximum optimization. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the mechanical properties of the RPC with three amounts of metallic fibers, 1%, 3%, and 5% in volume in relation to the material total, after having determined the best curing temperature and effectiveness of the confining pressure in the fresh state. The mechanical properties studied were the axial compressive strength, flexural strength, tensile strength by splitting tensile test, and capillary absorption. The results showed that the fibers have little influence on compressive strength, since there was only a small increase as the amount of fibers was increased. However, for tensile strengths, either flexural or by splitting tensile test, the incorporation of microfibers allowed a significant improvement, obtaining gains of 392% for the flexural strength for the 5%, reaching 59MPa, in comparison with the 0%, which was 12MPa. There was also a decrease in capillary absorption.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Christ,R, Tutikian,B
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Escuela de Construcción Civil, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile 2013
Online Access:http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-915X2013000200003
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