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Thermal treatment improves the excellent properties of UHPC. Recent studies have shown that an increase in compressive strength of more than 30 % is possible. However, the accurate conditions of thermal treatment for a maximal strength are considered as yet undetermined. A multitude of parameters can be varied: temperature, pressure, water saturation, and duration of the process steps. These parameters influence the phase development and in consequence the macroscopic properties of UHPC. The primary objective of the presented study was the optimisation of the conditions for thermal treatment, concerning compressive strength. It focuses on pre-storage time and duration of the treatment at defined temperatures and pressures (90 °C and 185 °C/1.1MPa).
As expected, experimental results showed a fundamental change of phase composition in hydrothermally treated UHPC in comparison to standard cured UHPC: Ettringite decomposes at higher temperatures and is absent after thermal treatment; the amount of portlandite and clinker phases decreases. The change of phase composition is accompanied by increased compressive strength.
Experimental studies of calcium-silicate-systems at hydrothermal conditions predict the formation of the crystalline C-S-H phase tobermorite. In fact, this is a typical phase occurring in other hydrothermally treated calcium-silicate-systems like Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC). Commonly, high strength is attributed to the presence of tobermorite; however, in the presented study tobermorite was not detected in the hydrothermally treated UHPC. Therefore, tobermorite cannot be responsible for the increased strength of hydrothermally treated UHPC.
In conclusion the development of phases and strength of UHPC at hydrothermal conditions differs fundamentally from AAC and the experimental studies with water saturation. Results of these systems cannot be transferred to UHPC. In thermally treated UHPC, the hydration of clinker is enhanced and the puzzolanic reaction is intensified. Hence, more C-S-H is formed that fills pores and cracks, leading to a denser structure and finally to higher strength.
In Germany the damages on concrete motorways have increased during the past 15 years. This led often to a reduction of service life from 30 to 10 years. In spite of comprehensive research the reasons for these damages have not been clarified yet. But it is known that in this context the ASR plays a decisive role. Against this background ASR performance tests have been developed. However, these tests do not take into account the effects of mechanical loading due to cyclic traffic and climatic impact. Therefore in Germany the ASR research group 1498 was founded. The research group consists of three experimentally- and two multi-scale modelling oriented subprojects, which are working closely together. Selected findings of BAM’s experimental subproject SP4 are content of this contribution. The aim was to investigate the impact of a cyclic mechanical pre-damage on moisture transport. The pre-damaging was carried out on large-format beams using a cyclic four point bending test with a total number of 5 million load cycles. Thereby the damage process was monitored by using different NDT-techniques. After the mechanical pre-damaging, smallsized specimens were taken from loaded as well as unloaded areas of the large format beams. Absorption tests were carried out on these specimens using water and NaCl solution. Thereby moisture distribution was measured with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR). Additionally, moisture suction was quantified integrally by means of gravimetric measurements. The analysis of the first test data shows that the mechanical loading influences the moisture transport.
The accelerated concrete prism test (ACPT-60 °C) facilitates testing of alkali-silica reactivity of aggregates within five months. Manual measurement is usually conducted to determine expansion of test specimen every 28 days. This conventional procedure gives only limited insight to expansion behaviour of ASR-affected prisms. Due to the large time intervals, expansion exceeding the critical value of 0.3 mm/m is likely to be noticed late. Continuous recording resolves this problem and delivers beneficial information on the shape of the expansion curve.
Displacement transducers integrated into a special testing equipment developed at BAM put continuous measurement into practice. Additionally, ultrasonic velocity and acoustic emissions are measured in-situ and provide deeper insights into hydration and crack formation processes during the test.
Aiming for an automated testing method close to the German guideline, the following technical and methodical challenges arise. Changing of the vertical orientation of the prisms with every manual measurement as standardised cannot be implemented. Furthermore, preliminary results already proved true that cooling and heating cycles, as necessarily associated with each manual measurement, can evoke additional expansion. Therefore, interrupted and continuously measured expansions reveal systematic differences, indicating the necessity to adjust the threshold expansion value for automated testing.
Results presented in the paper: Different types of reactive aggregate have been tested applying continuous and manual expansion measurement to the concrete specimens. Development of continuously measured ultrasonic velocity and acoustic emissions of the aggregates tested diverge significantly while the expansion curves vary in shape and maximum strain. Prisms produced from a slowly reacting aggregate do not exhibit noticeable crack formation. It shows that comprehensive measuring helps describing and distinguishing ASR-damage mechanisms.
Models of ASR-induced expansion, available in the open literature, so far are validated with discontinuous data hardly tracing the modelled curve. Continuous measurement improves validation and further model development.
The aim of this study was to develop a lightweight composite façade element for refurbishment of existing façades. It was crucial to minimize the thermal bridges and to undercut the thermal requirement of the system existing façade new element. The awareness of the environmental impact of the building sector is increasing. In this context, ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) materials are shown to be promising alternatives with advantages such as lower embodied energy and reduced environmental impact. Predictions suggest that UHPC composite elements for building envelopes could have other benefits such as an increased service life, optimized use of building area due to thinner elements and minimized maintenance due to the absence of reinforcement or use of non-corrosive reinforcing materials such as carbon fibers. In this framework, composite elements have been developed combining an autoclaved aerated concrete insulation layer with an external UHPC supporting layer. The results show that the lightweight composite element has a good performance in term of thermal transmittance and minimization of thermal bridges.
A further improvement of the excellent properties of UHPC can be realized with thermal Treatment. Like for normal concrete, it accelerates the hardening and prevents shrinkage after the treatment. Additionally, an increase in strength can be achieved. Aim of this study was the optimisation of the thermal Treatment conditions of UHPC for very different Treatment methods; heat Treatment at 90 °C for unprotected and sealed samples, hot water bath at 90 °C and hydrothermal Treatment at 185 °C/1.1 MPa. The pre-storage time and the dwell time were systematically varied for each method to gain a higher strength. The compressive strength depends on the manner of Treatment at which higher water accessibility leads to higher strengths. The Phase composition changes considerably with different Treatment tempereatures. Finally, it can activate unhydrated binder components forming additional C-S-H, leading to higher strength.