Development of high strength & watertight nano blended concrete using optimized curing media

Alireza Najigivi

Development of high strength & watertight nano blended concrete using optimized curing media

Alireza Najigivi

Sharif University of Technology, Iran

: J Nanomater Mol Nanotechnol

Abstract

Nano-engineering of concrete is a relatively new but rapidly growing area in concrete research. This study deals with development of high strength and watertight cement based concrete incorporating agro-waste rice husk ash (RHA) and silica nanoparticles as supplementary cementing materials replacing cement particles. Various ternary blended concrete mixtures were produced using RHA and silica nanoparticles with average size of 5 ÃŽÂ¼m and 15 nm, respectively. Fresh and hardened concretes incorporating 5, 10, 15 and 20% of RHA and 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2% of silica nanoparticles with constant water to binder ratio and aggregate content were prepared and tested. Fresh mixtures were tested for workability and hardened concretes were tested for compressive strength and water absorption at 7, 28 and 90 days of curing in lime solution. The overall results confirmed that the newly developed composition highly contributes to the mechanical and physical properties of concert due to the effects of silica nanoparticles.