See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/295073509

REACTIVE POWDER CONCRETE, A SOLUTION FOR BRIDGE ELEMENTS

Conference Paper · September 2013

CITATION READS

1 595

4 authors, including:

Ofelia Corbu Dumitru Moldovan

Universitatea Tehnica Cluj-Napoca Universitatea Tehnica Cluj-Napoca
66 PUBLICATIONS   57 CITATIONS    7 PUBLICATIONS   10 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Henriette Szilagyi
National Institute for Research and Development in Constructions, Urbanism and …
63 PUBLICATIONS   70 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Research and studies on the durability of road concrete with blast furnace slag View project

Structural conception and collapse control performance based design of multistory structures under accidental actions View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Ofelia Corbu on 19 February 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

REACTIVE POWDER CONCRETE, A SOLUTION FOR BRIDGE ELEMENTS

O. Corbu1, D. Moldovan2 Henriette Szilágyi3, Tudor VESA4

1
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA
2
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA
3
National Institute for Research and Development "URBAN-INCERC", Cluj-Napoca Branch, ROMANIA
4
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA.

e-mail: ofelia.corbu@staff.utcluj.ro, dumitru.moldovan@dst.utcluj.ro, henriette.szilagyi@incerc-cluj.ro,

tudor.vesa@staff.utcluj.ro

SUMMARY
The construction industry is demanding superior structural materials that should provide both high
strength and increased durability. In this context, present paper will showcase the gain of experience
on a Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) mix developed in Romania. The authors hope to provide a
well-articulated answer to the demand in question so that present proposal may constitute a starting
point in any future application prerequisites documentation as well as a possible technical viable
and cost effective approach, when compared with similar Normal Strength Concrete (NSC) or
Structural Steel (SS) members.

Keywords: Reactive Powder Concrete, disperse reinforcement, cementituous constituents, local

materials, cost savings

1. INTRODUCTION
The main objective of present study was to develop a concrete mix incorporating fine quartz sand
having a maximum size of 1.2 mm at the request of the industry partner providing the material
labelled according to the initial evaluation of the vendor as by-product of its main industrial
process. The target compressive strength was in the range of 150 to 200 MPa. Preliminary mixes
(1st stage) were improved by increasing superplasticizer dosage and addition of steel fibers (2nd
stage) and then increasing workability and well as mixing time (3rd stage).

2. MIX CONSTITUENTS
2.1 Fine quartz sand
The vendor in present study is Bega Minerale Industriale and the sand was provided from the
Aghireş quarry. Although chemically inert the constituent does seem to participate to the formation
of C-S-H gels if subjected to curing treatment as described infra and previously reported in
corresponding studies, i.e. [1].

Table 1 Fine quartz sand (grain size)

0/0,30 0/0,63 0,4/1,2

1
2.2 Cement
The cement used is a CEM type I commercially available as RAPIDCEM CEM I 52,5R, provided
by S.C. LAFARGE CIMENT Romania S.A from its mill in Hoghiz, Braşov county.

2.3 Silica fume

Commercially available as “Elkem Microsilica Grade 940 U Undensified” the silica fume used in
present study is provided by BASF Romania.

Fig. 1 Silica fume

2.4 Superplasticizer
After some initial testing and selection, it was concluded that the commercial available GLENIUM
ACE 440 provided by BASF Romania may satisfied the workability criterion imposed on the mix.
At that time the superplasticizer was still being tested and present study contributed among other
factors to its later availability on the national market.

2.5 Steel fibers

Commercially available steel fibers as 62,5 WMS 25/0,4/H/AISI 304 (long) and 34,3 MSF
6/0,175/S (short) provided by BAUM CAS FIBRES SRL for various volume ratios (in particular,
2%; 2.55%; 3.19% and 3.83%) were used in current study. Equal volume combination of long and
short fibers is hereafter referred by using the term “hybrid”.

Fig. 2 Steel fibers

2.6 Water
Based on its properties and the specific national code provisions, [2], it was concluded that the
available tap water may be used in present study. The mix was designed having in mind a mean
value for the Water/Cement ratio, based on studies such as [3, 4, 5, 6, 7].

2.7 Curing treatment

First set (1) of storing conditions is in air at 90°C and RH 80÷90%, while the second set (2) is

2
submerged in water at 20+2°C.
3. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

3.1 Fresh properties of concrete

Use Table 2 for specific values. The identification uses the following sequence “name of
mix/stage/type of steel fibers”

Table 2 Fresh properties of concrete

ME 22 OE 23 OE 23 OE 23
Constituents
2nd 2nd, 3rd/long 3rd/short 3rd/hybrid
RAPID CEM I 52.5R
1 1 1 1
[kg/m3]
Silica fume [kg/m3] 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.26
Quartz sand 0/0.3 mm
0.28 0.25 0.25 0.25
[kg/m3]
Quartz sand 0/0.63
0.23 0.20 0.20 0.20
mm [kg/m3]
Quartz sand 0.4/1.2
0.18 0.15 0.15 0.15
mm [kg/m3]
Steel fibers [kg/m3] – 0.19 0.19 0.19
Superplasticizer 0.06 0.065 0.65 0.065
Water 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.16

3.2 Hardened properties of concrete

Use Table 3 for specific values.

Table 3 Hardened properties of concrete

ME 22 OE 23 OE 23 OE 23 OE 23
Constituents
2nd 2nd/long 3rd/long 3rd/short 3rd/hybrid
Water/Cement 0.22 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23
Water/Binder 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18
Slump [mm] 265 247 270 270 260
Spreading [mm] 560 428 560 565 545
Temperature [°C] 26.7 29.5 32.5 32.28 35.3
Enclosed air [%] 4.60 4.56 4.50 4.35 4.40
Density [kg/m3] 2260 2400 2395 2437 2413
fcm, 1 day [MPa] 65 78 88 80 84
fcm, 6 days [MPa] 131 105 171 170 173
fcm, 28 days [MPa] 125 129 – 157 172

CONCLUSIONS

Table 2 and 3 and are a power incentive to consider the results of present research programme
similar to commercially available solutions of RPC such as Ductal® or Ceracem®, see [8], with
corresponding benefits:
1) Less passive reinforcement
2) No segregation during pouring
3) Slenderer sections or increased spans/loads

3
 4) Early compressive strength and decreased construction time
5) Superior structural rigidity
6) Reduction of maintenance cost during intended service life
7) Replace of transverse reinforcement or passive reinforcement for prestressed
concrete
8) Cast-in-place and prefabs applications
9) Quality finishes, see Fig. 3

Fig. 3 Quality finishes for concrete surface

REFERENCES

[1] PORTENEUVE, C., KORB, J.-P., Petit, D., and H. ZANNI, Structure-texture correlation in
ultrahigh-performance concrete: A nuclear magnetic resonance study. Cement and Concrete
Research, Jan., Vol. 32, No. 1: 97-101, 2002.
[2] Asociaţia de Standardizare din România (ASRO), SR EN 1008: 2003, Apa de preparare
pentru beton - Specificaţii pentru prelevare, încercare şi evaluare a aptitudinii de utilizare a
apei, inclusiv a apelor recuperate din procese ale industriei de beton, ca apă de preparare
pentru beton, , Ediţia 1, 2003.
[3] Richard P, Cheyrezy M, Composition of Reactive Powder Concrete, Cement and Concrete
Research, Vol. 25, No. 7, pp. 1501-1511, 1995.
[4] De Larrard F, Sedran T, Optimization of ultra-high-performance concrete by using a packing
model, Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 24, No. 6, pp. 997-1009, 1994.
[5] Gao R, Liu ZM, Zhang, LQ, Stroeven P, 2006. Static Properties of Reactive Powder Concrete
Beams. Key Engineering Materials, Jan., Vol. 302-303, pp. 521-527, 2006.
[6] Lee NP, Chisholm DH, Reactive Powder Concrete, Study Report SR 146, Ltd. Judgeford, New
Zealand, 2005.
[7] Wen-yu, J., Ming-zhe, A., Gui-ping, Y., and W. Jun-min, Study on Reactive Powder Concrete
Used in the Sidewalk System of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Bridge. International Workshop
on Sustainable Development and Concrete Technology, Beijing, China, May 20-21.
http://www.cptechcenter.org/ publications/sustainable/jireactive.pdf, 2004.
[8] Corbu O, Moldovan D, Măgureanu C, Szilágyi H, Ultra-High Strength Performance Concrete
Properties, Proc. of fib Symposium PRAGUE, 2011, ISBN 978-80-87158-29-6.

View publication stats