Compressive Fatigue Investigation on High-Strength and Ultra-High-Strength Concrete within the SPP 2020.

The influence of the compressive strength of concrete on fatigue resistance has not been investigated thoroughly and contradictory results can be found in the literature. To date, the focus of concrete fatigue research has been on the determination of the numbers of cycles to failure. Concerning the fatigue behaviour of high-strength concrete (HPC) and, especially, ultra-high-strength concrete (UHPC), which is described by damage indicators such as strain and stiffness development, little knowledge is available, as well as with respect to the underlying damage mechanisms. This lack of knowledge has led to uncertainties concerning the treatment of high-strength and ultra-high-strength concretes in the fatigue design rules. This paper aims to decrease the lack of knowledge concerning the fatigue behaviour of concrete compositions characterised by a very high strength. Within the priority programme SPP 2020, one HPC and one UHPC subjected to monotonically increasing and cyclic loading were investigated comparatively in terms of their numbers of cycles to failure, as well as the damage indicators strain and stiffness. The results show that the UHPC reaches a higher stiffness and a higher ultimate strain and strength than the HPC. The fatigue investigations reveal that the UHPC can resist a higher number of cycles to failure than the HPC and the damage indicators show an improved fatigue behaviour of the UHPC compared to the HPC.

Influence of Moisture Content and Wet Environment on the Fatigue Behaviour of High-Strength Concrete.

The influence of a wet environment on the fatigue behaviour of high-strength concrete has become more important in recent years with the expansion of offshore wind energy systems. According to the few investigations documented in the literature, the fatigue resistance of specimens submerged in water is significantly lower compared to that of specimens in dry conditions. However, it is still not clear how the wet environment and the moisture content in concrete influence its fatigue behaviour and which damage mechanisms are involved in the deterioration process. Here the results of a joint project are reported, in which the impact of moisture content in concrete on fatigue deterioration are investigated experimentally and numerically. Aside from the number of cycles to failure, the development of stiffness and acoustic emission (AE) hits are analysed as damage inductors and discussed along with results of microstructural investigations to provide insights into the degradation mechanisms. Subsequently, an efficient numeric modelling approach to water-induced fatigue damage is presented. The results of the fatigue tests show an accelerated degradation behaviour with increasing moisture content of the concrete. Further, it was found that the AE hits of specimens submerged in water occur exclusively close to the minimum stress level in contrast to specimens subjected to dry conditions, which means that additional damage mechanisms are acting with increasing moisture content in the concrete.

Influence of Low-Pressure Treatment on the Morphological and Compositional Stability of Microscopic Ettringite.

The impact of low-pressure treatment on the crystal structure, morphology, and chemical composition of ettringite, due to their major importance with respect to processability (i.a., drying conditions) and to the analysis of ettringite-containing samples, is examined utilizing X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and environmental scanning electron microscopy. Synthetic ettringite was treated for various durations (5 min up to 72 h) and at two different levels of low-pressure (4.0 mbar and 60 µbar). Evaluation showed a correlation between the procedural parameters (time and pressure), the chemical composition, and the morphology of ettringite. The experiments reveal that, when exposed to 4 mbar pressure, nearly no changes occur in the ettringite's morphology, whereas the crystals undergo swelling and slight deformations at very low pressures (60 µbar and 35.3 nbar), which is attributed to the loss of bound water and the partial transformation from ettringite to quicklime, anhydrite, and calcium aluminate. Furthermore, the strongly dehydrated ettringite shows the same morphology.

The Effect of Gel-Type Contributions in Lime-Sand Bricks, Alkali-Activated Slags and CEMI/CEMIII Pastes: Implications for Next Generation Concretes.

Lime-sand bricks of different ages were investigated using IR-spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, and X-ray diffraction/scattering. After subtraction of the dominant quartz contribution (80%), the IR spectra show the absorption peaks of the hydrothermally formed binder phases. The spectra also show the alteration of the binder during ageing under atmospheric conditions by the influence of CO2 forming carbonate and a condensed SiO2-gel (secondary gel). The alteration could also be proven in X-ray pattern, obtaining a separation between crystalline CSH and amorphous contributions in the freshly produced lime-sand brick, too. Here, the formation of CSHamorph could be understood as a precursor state (primary gel) to the crystallization of CSH phases. X-ray patterns of aged bodies of alkali-silicate solution activated slags (AAS), CEM-I/CEM-III pastes, and CEM-I concrete indicate that in all cases a similar amorphous CSH-type phase (CSHamorph) was formed, which is responsible for the hardening properties as the glue. The main X-ray peak of CSHamorph obtained using CuKα-radiation with a usual diffractometer is observed between 24° and 35° 2 Theta with maximum at about 29° 2 Theta, whereas it appears much more broadly distributed between 15° and 35° 2 Theta with maximum between 26° and 28° 2 Theta for a geopolymer body prepared using the reaction of alkali-silicate solution and metakaolin (AAMK). This is due to the network formed by siloxo and sialate units in the case of AAMK, given that any crystallization can be ruled out. The origin of increasing mechanical strength during the ageing of AAS mortars must be due to further crosslinking of the preformed siloxo chains. Thermal treatment up to 800 °C leads to a complete loss of any mechanical strength of the CEM pastes due to the destruction of crystalline CSH-phases, whereas geopolymer bodies maintain their strength. Implications for next generation concrete include that cement clinker could be completely replaced by using a using alkali silcate solution technology for gel formation.

The Influence of Bleeding of Cement Suspensions on Their Rheological Properties.

Flowable concretes tend to segregate. The risk of segregation is particularly high when the concrete is vibrated during the compaction process. A well-known segregation phenomenon is the so-called "bleeding". This is a rise of water to the surface of the freshly poured concrete due to the difference in density between the mixing water and the concrete's denser solid components (aggregates, cement and additives). This type of segregation occurs particularly within the paste. The focus of this paper is, therefore, on the sedimentation behavior at the microscale of concrete and especially on the influence of this process on rheological properties of the cement paste. In addition to common bleeding tests of cement suspensions using standing cylinders, rheometric measurements were performed on the suspensions during the bleeding process. A measuring procedure was developed for the rheometric measurements of the sedimenting cement suspensions. The rheological properties of the investigated cement suspensions were determined at four specific measuring times and at four specific measuring heights (i.e., positions) each. With this method it could be shown that the cement suspensions are not homogeneous over their height and that bleeding has a great influence on the rheological properties of cement suspension.