Cement & Concrete Composites 49 (2014) 36–42

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Cement & Concrete Composites

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cemconcomp

Reduction of fire spalling in high-performance concrete by means

of superabsorbent polymers and polypropylene fibers
Small scale fire tests of carbon fiber reinforced
plastic-prestressed self-compacting concrete
Pietro Lura a,b,⇑, Giovanni Pietro Terrasi a
a
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstr. 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
b
Institute for Building Materials (IfB), ETH Zurich, Schafmattstr. 6, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: High-performance concrete (HPC) is prone to explosive spalling when exposed to fire, which may lead to
Received 27 June 2013 failure of the concrete elements. Polypropylene fibers (PP) are often added to HPC, as upon their melting
Received in revised form 28 January 2014 they create channels through which water vapor is evacuated, preventing the build-up of high vapor
Accepted 18 February 2014
pressures. In self-compacting HPC (HPSCC), the amount of PP fibers needs to be limited in order to keep
Available online 28 February 2014
the self-compacting properties, which may reduce the fire resistance.
In this paper, a novel strategy to reduce fire spalling in HPSCC is illustrated, based on adding small par-
Keywords:
ticles of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) during mixing. The SAP end up as empty macropores, similar to
High-performance concrete
Self-compacting concrete
air voids, in the HPSCC matrix. The PP fibers-SAP voids system percolates at a lower fiber loading than the
Fire spalling fibers alone, allowing maintenance of the self-compacting properties while reducing substantially the fire
Superabsorbent polymers spalling. In particular, in this paper it is shown how addition of SAP is able to reduce fire spalling in thin-
Polypropylene fibers walled HPSCC slabs prestressed with carbon fibre reinforced plastic reinforcement.
Prestressed concrete Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Carbon fibre reinforced plastic
reinforcement

1. Introduction [2]. In particular, HPC is prone to explosive spalling, which de-

Sustainability considerations in precast concrete have led to
the development of novel thin-walled concrete structural
elements through cautious selection, design, and optimization of
both the concrete mixtures and of the reinforcing materials. An
example are slender structural elements of high-performance,
self-consolidating, fibre-reinforced concrete (HPSCC) reinforced
with high-strength, lightweight, and non-corroding prestressed
carbon fibre reinforced plastic reinforcement (CFRP) [1].
As for all load-bearing structural members in buildings, the fire
performance of these members must be understood to allow their
safe use. It is well known that the bond strength between both
steel and fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) reinforcing bars and con-
crete deteriorates at elevated temperature. Moreover, while HPC
outperforms conventional concrete in nearly every performance
category, one Achilles’ heel is its performance when exposed to fire
⇑ Corresponding author at: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials
Science and Technology, Überlandstr. 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. Tel.: +41
58 765 41 35.
E-mail address: pietro.lura@empa.ch (P. Lura).
creases the load-carrying capacity and the fire resistance of the
concrete elements. The main mechanisms of spalling appear to
be pressure build-up of vapor during heating (pore pressure spall-
ing, see e.g. [3]) in the fine pores of the HPC matrix, which cannot
be relieved because of its low gas permeability, and different
expansion rates between aggregates or reinforcement and mortar
(thermal stress spalling). The main factors influencing spalling
are [4]: high heating rate (above 3 °C/min), low gas permeability
and high moisture content (above 2–3%). It is moreover known
(e.g. [5]) that spalling is enhanced by concrete compression, which
explains why prestressed concrete is particularly at risk of spalling
when service loads are not decompressing the fire-exposed sur-
faces of a prestressed concrete element [6].
In particular, the spalling behavior of HPSCC subjected to fire
has not been extensively studied and thus remains largely un-
known. In its fire-resistance chapter, the RILEM TC 205-DSC [7]
state-of-the-art report points out the significantly higher spalling
tendency for self-compacting concrete (SCC) than for vibrated con-
crete with the same water-to-binder ratio (w/b) and hardening
conditions.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2014.02.001
0958-9465/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 P. Lura, G.P. Terrasi / Cement & Concrete Composites 49 (2014) 36–42
A well-known method to release the pressure is embedding or-
ganic (especially polypropylene, PP) fibers of different lengths into
the HPC matrix [2]. The fibers melt and provide channels that allow
evacuating the vapor, relieving the internal pressure and avoiding
explosive spalling and loss of concrete cross-section in fire [8]. The
RILEM TC 205-DSC report [7] confirms that mixing small diameter
(<100 lm) polypropylene fibres in SCC is beneficial for increasing
the spalling resistance. The amount of fibres needed varies and de-
pends on the type and geometry of the fibres, type of concrete, type
of aggregates, loading conditions and moisture content.
To be efficient, the PP fibers need to form a percolated network
through the whole microstructure of the HPC, so that once molten
they are able to evacuate the water vapor and decrease the gas
pressure [4]. Alternatively [2,9], it may be sufficient that the PP fi-
bers form a percolated network with the regions of high porosity in
the concrete, which are concentrated in the interfacial transition
zone between the cement paste and the aggregates. In both cases,
this implies that a high loading of the fibers in the fresh mixtures is
needed. In tests on HPSCC, improved resistance against fire spalling
has been observed at about 5 kg/m3 (or 0.5% by volume of con-
crete) of PP fibers [6]. However, this high volume of fibers causes
a loss of the self-compacting properties. At lower loadings (typi-
cally 2 kg/m3, or 0.2% by volume of concrete), the self-compacting
properties can be maintained, however the fire spalling resistance
is only marginally improved [6].
2. Addition of superabsorbent polymers to reduce fire spalling
In this study, a novel approach allowed reaching percolation of
the fibers in a HPC matrix using a low fiber loading, and thereby
maintaining the self-compacting properties of HPSCC. This ap-
proach consists in including dry superabsorbent polymer (SAP)
particles in the mixture composition of HPSCC [10].
Superabsorbent polymers (SAP) have recently found application
in concrete technology, thanks to their ability to absorb amounts of
water many times their own mass, retain it in the fresh concrete
and release it at a later time [11–14]. A primary application of
SAP has been in internal curing of low w/b concrete, especially to
reduce autogenous shrinkage [11–16] and more recently to control
the coefficient of thermal expansion [17]. In most applications, SAP
have been added in the dry state to the concrete mixture. When
dry SAP particles come into contact with water during mixing of
concrete, they rapidly absorb it and form water-filled cavities.
The kinetics of absorption and the amount of fluid absorbed by
the SAP depend both on the nature of the SAP [18] and of the ce-
ment paste or concrete, in particular on the pore solution compo-
sition. Once the SAP have reached their final size, they form stable,
water-filled inclusions, from which the water is subsequently
sucked into smaller capillary pores and consumed by hydration
of cement [19]. After being emptied of the pore solution,
the water-filled inclusions end up as small (ideally about
100–300 lm across), empty pores in the HPC matrix [11,12].
The novel approach for reducing the spalling of HPC described
in this paper is schematically shown in Fig. 1. It consists in creat-
ing a system of 100–300 lm diameter voids in the cement paste
that are able to bridge the channels created by molten PP fibers
in HPSCC subjected to fire and allow their percolation at lower fi-
ber loading (e.g. at 2 kg/m3 instead of 5 kg/m3). This reduces the
likelihood of fire spalling and improves the fire resistance of the
HPSCC mixtures, without losing the self-compacting properties.
In particular, according to Bentz [2], at the typical PP fiber load-
ings used in HPC, the fibers are not percolated through the whole
microstructure. However, the system formed by the channels left
by the molten fibers at high temperatures and the porous
interfacial transition zone (ITZ) around the largest aggregate is
37
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of PP fibers (yellow) in the microstructure of a
HPC, which come into contact through a void created by an empty SAP particle
(blue). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader
is referred to the web version of this article.)
percolated, which allows releasing the water vapor at compara-
tively lower pressures and avoiding spalling [2]. The addition of
small-size SAP particles would form a system of pores, similar
to air-entrainment, which would allow percolation of the inter-
faces-fibers-voids system at lower PP fiber loading (Fig. 1).
Previous researchers have observed a reduction of fire spalling
in HPC mixtures with air entrainment and PP fibers ([20] cited in
[2]). In these air-entrained mixtures, the air voids may have
played the same role as the SAP in the approach followed in
the present study. Moreover, Bentz [2] points out that air voids
are also surrounded by ITZ, which would facilitate percolation
of the fibers-voids-aggregate ITZ systems. A clear advantage of
employing SAP instead of air entrainment would be the stability
of the pore system that is created after the SAP are emptied of
pore solution. On the contrary, air entrainers have problems of
compatibility with e.g. superplasticizers [21] and fly-ash [22]. An-
other advantage would be the possibility of precisely designing
both the amount of pores and the pore size distribution
[12,23,24] with the aim of improving the percolation of the sys-
tems comprising SAP and PP fibers.
More in detail, the SAP (typically, 0.2–0.6% by mass of cement)
can be added as a dry powder to the concrete mixture. During
mixing and casting, the SAP absorb a part of the mixing water
and create water-filled inclusions in the concrete matrix. It is re-
marked that a small amount of SAP does not influence the fresh
concrete properties as much as a high loading of fibers does. In
particular, by either adjusting the amount of water in the mixture
or increasing the amount of superplasticizer, or both, it is possi-
ble to maintain the self-compacting properties of HPC and UHPC
mixtures with fibers [25]. After setting and during hardening of
the concrete, the water contained in the SAP is sucked into the
concrete matrix by capillary forces, which are particularly high
in HPC due to its low w/b and fine pore structure. The SAP end
up as empty macropores in the hardened concrete, which are
uniformly distributed in the HPC matrix. The size distribution
of the voids left by the SAP can be tailored to the application
by choosing opportune absorption properties and particle size
distribution of the dry SAP [23].
This paper presents the results of an experimental study on 6
small-scale thin-walled slabs subjected to central precompression
by CFRP tendons in a standard fire following ISO 834. In particular,
an attempt is made to improve the spalling behavior of a previ-
ously studied PP fibre-modified HPSCC [26] by the addition of
SAP. The results elucidate the performance of precast CFRP preten-
sioned HPSCC elements in fire and show the effectiveness of SAP in
reducing the spalling tendency of HPSCC.
38 P. Lura, G.P. Terrasi / Cement & Concrete Composites 49 (2014) 36–42
3. Materials
The CFRP prestressing bars (tendons) used were round, pultrud-
ed, quartz sand-coated CFRP tendons with a diameter of 5.4 mm
(specimens 1, 2, 3 and 4) and of 4.2 mm (specimens 5 and 6).
The carbon fibres in the bars were Tenax UTS at a fiber volume
fraction of approximately 64%; the resin was Bakelite 4434 epoxy.
The tendons’ design tensile strength and elastic modulus were
2000 MPa and 150 GPa, respectively. Tendon properties can be
found in [27] for the diameter 5.4 mm tendons and in [28] for
the 4.2 mm tendons. The quartz-sand coating (average grain size
0.5 mm) was bonded in-line after the pultrusion using the same
epoxy resin in order to promote a strong bond. Because of the
known susceptibility of the FRP-to-concrete bond to elevated tem-
perature exposure [29], the influence of fire on the bond properties
of a CFRP-pretensioned element was of particular interest in the
current tests.
The CFRP tendons considered herein were pultruded using an
epoxy resin matrix with a relatively high glass transition tempera-
ture, Tg, in an effort to enhance their resistance to elevated service
temperatures. The Tg of a polymer resin is widely used to define the
limiting service temperature at which degradation of the tensile
and bond strength of composites materials becomes unacceptable,
despite the fact that relatively little is known regarding the specific
influences of resin softening on tensile or bond strength. The Tg of
the uncoated tendon was measured by dynamic mechanical anal-
ysis (DMA after [30]) and defined using a Tg-onset definition based
on the normalized retained storage modulus, giving Tg,DMA = 121 °C
[31].
The current study focussed on two specific high performance
concrete (HPC) mixtures, both of strength class C75/90. The two
concrete mixtures are denoted as ‘‘Ref’’ and ‘‘SAP’’, and their mix-
ture proportioning is given in Table 1. These HPCs are character-
ized by a precise grain size distribution of 0–8 mm limestone
aggregates. The amount of cement (CEM II/A-D 52.5R, which in-
cludes 20% of silica fume) is 464–488 kg/m3. Fly ash and high per-
formance superplasticizers play a key role in the mixture
proportioning of the HPC, which showed optimum self-compacting
properties at w/b 0.312. Short PP microfibers at a dosage of 2 kg/m3
were used to prevent plastic shrinkage cracking and to increase the
concretes’ resistance against explosive spalling in fire. The PP
microfibers were Vulkan Harex Polycon HPC 20, with a length of
20 mm and rectangular fibre cross section (width of 200 lm, thick-
ness of 37 lm). According to the manufacturer, the fibers’ melting
temperature is between 160 and 170 °C.
Solution-polymerized SAP with irregular particles of size
63–125 lm were used. Based on the results of previous studies,
the water absorption was about 16 g/g [19]. The SAP were added
dry in an amount of 0.33% by cement weight. During mixing, they
absorb part of the mixing water and form water-filled inclusions
which are about 2.5 times larger than the original particles [19].
Taking into account this rapid absorption, the basic w/b of the
Table 1
Mixture proportioning and slump flow of the two high performance concretes.
Concrete type Ref
Cement CEM II/A-D 52.5R (kg/m3) 488
Fly ash (kg/m3) 122
Limestone aggregate 0–8 mm (kg/m3) 1582
SP in % of binder (%) 1.4
PP microfibers (kg/m3) 2 2
Superabsorbent polymer (kg/m3) – 1.93
Total w/b (including water in the SAP) (–) 0.312
Basic w/b (excluding water in SAP) (–) 0.312
Slump flow of HPSCC after prEN 12350-8 (mm) 700–800
HPC with SAP addition is reduced to 0.287, which explains the
higher dosage of superplasticizer required (2.5% instead of 1.4%).
In addition, the presence of the swollen SAP in the matrix also
influences the workability. The estimated volume fraction occu-
pied by the swollen SAP in the concrete matrix is about 2.64% by
volume, while the PP fibers occupy about 0.21%.
Curing of the test specimens consisted in keeping the slabs un-
der a polyethylene foil for 3 days, after which prestress release
took place. The specimens were then kept for one week at 90%
RH, followed by storage for 6–8 months in a 20 °C, 70% RH chamber
before fire testing. The moisture content of the reference mixture
was measured in a previous study [26]. Moisture contents between
3.8% and 4.4% on specimens older than 3 months under similar
storage conditions were measured by mass loss determination on
samples of 50 g of crushed concrete dried at 110 °C in an oven
[26]. It is remarked that moisture contents above 2–3% are consid-
ered a risk factor for fire spalling [4].
A comparison of the concrete strength development for mix-
tures Ref and SAP is given in Fig. 2. The reference concrete showed
about 12% higher compressive strengths at later ages, which is not
surprising if one considers the higher porosity of the SAP mixture.
At 7 days, the strength reduction in the SAP mixture is slightly
higher, about 20%.
4. Test specimens
The HPSCC slab (plate) specimens’ geometry was 45 mm thick-
ness (giving a CFRP cover of 20 mm) 175 mm width (Fig. 3)
1080 mm length. Two HPSCC types, Ref and SAP, were used, with
2 kg/m3 short PP-fibres (see Section 3 and Table 1). The slabs
showed a central camber of 2–3 mm, caused by the central pre-
stress. The slab cross section of 45 mm  175 mm was centrally
prestressed by 4 CFRP tendons with a tendons’ prestress at release
between 1000 and 1200 MPa/tendon, while the prestress losses at
the time of testing are estimated at 10% of the initial prestress. This
leads to a central concrete compressive prestress between 7.6 MPa
and 10.5 MPa. This prestress range represents typical concrete pre-
stress levels used to counteract service moments given by wind
loads and maintenance load cases in fully prestresssed façade ele-
ments made of CFRP-prestressed HPSCC [1]. Unfortunately one
tendon anchorage failed before prestress release for slabs 1_Ref
and 2_Ref, causing a prestress reduction to 75% of the planned va-
lue of 110 kN. Curing of the specimens and release of the tendons is
described in Section 3. No visible shrinkage cracks (w > 0.01 mm)
were observed on the slabs’ surfaces. The specimens’ data are
summarized in Table 2.
SAP
464
116
1582
2.5
0.34
0.286 Fig. 2. Compressive strength development for the HPCs investigated (150 mm
700–720 cubes; 3 specimens tested for every series; standard deviation indicated in the
figure).
 P. Lura, G.P. Terrasi / Cement & Concrete Composites 49 (2014) 36–42 39

Fig. 3. (a) Scheme of cross section of CFRP-prestressed, HPSCC slab subjected to fire tests and (b) specimens 1_Ref and 2_Ref before testing.

Table 2
Test specimens data and main results of the fire tests.

Spec. name Age (mts) CFRP-tendon type CFRP prestress (kN) Cover (mm) Thick-ness (mm) Time of first/s spalling Remarks
(Net-diameter
production date)
1_Ref 8 5.4 mm 09/05 82.4 20 45 18’ and 19’55 Long. cracks after 25’
2_Ref 8 5.4 mm 09/05 82.4 20 45 15’ Small spall at midspan (l.c. after 25’)
3_SAP 8 5.4 mm 09/05 91.6 20 45 None Long. cracks after 41’
4_SAP 8 5.4 mm 09/05 91.6 20 45 None Long. cracks after 51’
5_SAP 6 4.2 mm 06/10 66.5 20 45 None No cracks
6_SAP 6 4.2 mm 06/10 66.5 20 45 None One long. crack 20 cm after 90’

5. Fire tests
In order to gain insight on the performance and spalling resis-
tance of thin-walled CFRP prestressed HPC elements with and
without SAP in case of exposure to fire, 3 small scale fire tests were
performed with two prestressed slabs per test in Empa’s fire labo-
ratory using Empa’s small horizontal furnace (Fig. 4) [26]. The
objectives of these fire tests (following the ISO 834 standard) were:
– To measure the spalling time, the failure time and mode for a
CFRP-prestressed HPSCC slab with cover 20 mm under central
prestress without additional external load.
– To measure the resulting deflections of the prestressed slabs in
fire: The two slab specimens were instrumented with 3 LVDTs
(range 500 mm, accuracy 0.05 mm) each at 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4
of their span.
The test span of the simply-supported slabs was 1020 mm (Em-
pa’s small horizontal furnace has a length of 1000 mm). The slabs
had therefore only 30 mm of (cold) overhang per side. A central
prestress loading condition was selected with prestress levels gi-
ven in Table 2. The prestress was introduced by 3 (specimens
1_Ref and 2_Ref), respectively 4 CFRP tendons located at the
mid-plane of the specimens (Fig. 3). It is noteworthy that the cen-
tral precompression is a more severe testing condition (with re-
spect to spalling) than an additional bending load on the slabs,
which would have the effect of decompressing their central span
(see Section 1, Introduction).
The fire test condition chosen was an ISO 834 fire [32], consid-
ered to represent a realistic scenario for a façade element (a typical
application of the thin-walled CFRP prestressed HPC slabs studied
[1]), producing a furnace temperature of e.g. about 840 °C after
30 min. Fig. 5 shows the average furnace temperatures recorded
with 6 plate thermometers during the three fire tests in Empa’s
small furnace. It was decided to expose to fire the plates’ smooth
surfaces that had been cast in contact with the moulds. In fact,

Fig. 4. Empa’s small horizontal furnace for the small scale fire tests on two CFRP- Fig. 5. Average temperature development in Empa’s small furnace during the 3 fire
prestressed HPC slabs. tests.
40 P. Lura, G.P. Terrasi / Cement & Concrete Composites 49 (2014) 36–42

smooth surfaces would give a similar heat transfer condition for all
the specimens, while surfaces with different roughness and sur-
face-near compaction degree might result in differences in heat
transfer and thermal load between the specimens.

6. Results and discussion

The main results of the three fire tests are summarized in Ta-
ble 2. All specimens resisted 90 min of the ISO 834 fire test without
collapse. However, all specimens, with the exception of 5_SAP,
showed longitudinal cracks directly under and above the CFRP ten-
dons that developed during exposition to the high temperatures.
First cracking was observed after 25 min, with a furnace tempera-
ture of approximately 815 °C. Longitudinal cracking was detected
by observing the top surfaces of the specimens laying on the fur- Fig. 8. Fire exposed surface of specimen 1_Ref after 90 min in the fire denoting 3
nace (setup in Fig. 4) over 90 min, while the fire exposed surfaces spalled areas (above), next to specimen 3_SAP without spalling (below in the photo,
were observed through the 2 side windows of the furnace. tested in the same fire experiment as 1_Ref).

With regard to the main objective of the tests - the investigation

of the spalling behavior of the two different prestressed HPSCC in a
fire scenario – Table 2 clearly shows the superior spalling resis-
tance of the SAP-modified HPSCC type. Specimens 3_SAP, 4_SAP,
5_SAP and 6_SAP did not show any concrete spalling, while speci-
mens 1_Ref and 2_Ref showed first concrete spalls on the fire-
exposed surface after 18 min and 15 min, respectively. The spalled
areas of specimens 1_Ref are exemplarily shown in Figs. 6–8.
The steady increase of the 1/4-span and central deflection of the
slabs during the fire test is exemplarily shown in Fig. 9 for the first
fire test (specimens 1_Ref and 3_SAP, see Table 2). The increase in
deflection, due to a combination of thermal bowing, loss of flexural
stiffness, and bond reductions leading to tendon slippage, was
gradual and very similar in terms of deflection slope development
to what was observed in [26], dealing with other full-scale fire
tests using conventional SCC prestressed with CFRP tendons. The
simply-supported slabs showed a reasonable deformation capac-
ity, with measured midspan deflection values corresponding to
span/50 (20 mm) after 90 min in the fire. In Fig. 9, the first and
second spalling of the fire-exposed surface of specimen 1_Ref are
clearly denoted by two kinks in the 1/4-point and midspan deflec-
tion vs. time curves after 18 and 20 min, which are caused by the
small local explosion producing the flakes of concrete that are sud-
denly broken off the specimen. It is pointed out that only the spec-
imens made of the reference HPSCC showed kinks caused by fire
Fig. 6. First spall of specimen 1_Ref near northern support (after 18 min in the fire).
Fig. 7. Second spall of specimen 1_Ref near southern support (after about 20 min in
the fire).
Fig. 9. Deflection vs. time curves of specimens 1_Ref and 3_SAP during the first fire
test.
spalling in their deflection vs. time curves measured during the fire
tests, while the specimens containing SAP did not show any kinks.
The deflection increase in the later stages of the fire test (note
the slope variation after ca. 45 min) is believed to be influenced
by the loss of prestress caused by bond degradation between the
CFRP tendon and the concrete. A measurement of the tendons’
end slippage vs. time would be necessary to confirm this hypothe-
sis. At the end of testing, tendon slippages (draw-in) ranging be-
tween 2 mm and 8 mm were measured by a micrometer at the
slabs’ end faces. The sum of the two end slippages of each single
tendon after testing was always in the range of the total prestress
elongation (8 mm for specimens 1_Ref, 2_Ref, 5_SAP and 6_SAP,
and 6.5 mm for specimens 3_SAP and 4_SAP), showing that the
complete prestress was lost during the fire test.
During the fire tests, the development of several longitudinal
cracks was observed for 5 of the 6 specimens. The time of first
cracking is given in Table 2. After the end of testing, several longi-
tudinal splitting cracks running along all four CFRP tendons were
observed over the slabs’ fire-exposed surfaces (Fig. 8) and, to a les-
ser extent, on their top surfaces (Fig. 10). These splitting cracks
were probably caused by thermal incompatibility of the orthotro-
pic CFRP tendon with the HPC combined with thermal and
mechanical stresses in the prestress transfer and support area. At
temperatures between 10 and 100 °C, the coefficient of thermal
expansion of the CFRP tendons transverse to the fibre direction is
about 2.7-times higher than that of concrete [27]. The mismatch
in thermal expansion induces tangential stresses and finally
splitting cracks in the concrete cover [33]. These cracks eased the
 P. Lura, G.P. Terrasi / Cement & Concrete Composites 49 (2014) 36–42
Fig. 10. Longitudinal splitting crack on the top surface of specimen 6_SAP (end of
3rd fire test).
Fig. 11. Temperature development at the top surface (midspan) of specimens 2_Ref
and 4_SAP.
slippage of the tendons during the loss of bond. Despite this, the
CFRP tendons were still able to keep the slabs in one piece after
90 min of fire exposure.
The temperature development was measured with the aid of a
thermocouple bonded at midspan on the top surface of slabs
2_Ref and 4_SAP and similarly for slabs 5_SAP and 6_SAP. Fig. 11
shows the temperature development for the two different types
of HPSCC and does not highlight major differences in thermal prop-
erties (heat capacity and thermal conductivity) between the two
concretes. The reduced slope of the temperature increase between
about 120 and 200 °C may be related to the decomposition of dif-
ferent hydrates in the cement paste [34]. It is noticed that in the
HPSCC with SAP addition the temperature increase is slightly de-
layed compared to the reference specimen, which might be due
to the higher degree of hydration and thus the higher amount of
hydration products per volume in the SAP mixture [12]. In fact,
the dehydration of calcium silicate hydrate, calcium hydroxide,
ettringite and AFm phases is an endothermic process that con-
sumes a considerable amount of heat and thereby delays the tem-
perature increase.
7. Conclusions
In this study, a positive effect of SAP on the spalling resistance
of HPSCC was demonstrated. Out of 4 specimens with SAP, none
showed fire spalling, while both reference samples without SAP
did. It is supposed that the mechanisms by which the SAP act in
HPSCC exposed to high temperatures is bridging the PP fibers
41
and allowing their percolation already at a low volume content
(0.2% by volume of concrete), when the PP fibers are not percolated
either with each other or with the ITZ surrounding the aggregates.
Combining the SAP with a low amount of PP fibers is beneficial for
the fresh properties of the HPSCC, since at the high PP fiber loading
needed for percolation (about 0.5% by volume of concrete), the
HPSCC loses its self-compacting properties.
An important note is that these promising preliminary results
have been obtained with the small furnace in the fire laboratory
at Empa. The size-effect needs to be investigated by up-scaling to
full-scale specimens (3.6 m  200 mm slabs) tested with full scale
fire tests in the larger furnace [6].
Finally, while the addition of SAP was successful in eliminating
fire spalling, an optimization of HPSCC with the SAP admixture to
achieve better self-compacting behavior is still needed. The first
approach is to consider a lower SAP amount, which would allow
limiting the negative effects on compressive strength and fresh
concrete properties. Another measure that could be taken is the
use of smaller SAP sizes (fraction <63 lm in the dry state), which
are expected to have lower impact on rheology and on strength.
These strategies can also be combined, as the fibers-SAP system
may percolate at lower SAP amount when the voids left by the
SAP are smaller and better dispersed. To assess the percolation of
the SAP-fibers system in 3D, a X-ray microtomography study
would be useful. In parallel, a simple numerical modeling tool
(see [2]) able to assess percolation of these systems and guide
the development of optimized mixture compositions should be
developed.
Acknowledgments
The fire tests have been performed in the Fire Laboratory at
Empa, led by Dr. Erich Hugi. The help of Mr. Walter Trindler, Mr.
Köbi Burkhard and Mr. Kurt Pfeiffer (Concrete and Construction
Chemistry Laboratory, Empa) with casting of the slabs is gratefully
acknowledged. Thanks to Dr. Andreas Leemann for useful discus-
sion and critical reading of the manuscript.
The authors would like to thank also SACAC Schleuderbeton-
werk AG and in particular their managing director, Mr. Georges
Bättig, for their support with prestressing tools and Mr. Walter Bol-
lier, Mr. Angelo Demont and Mr. Marcel Steiner for their help with
fire testing.
Special thanks by the second author are due to Prof. Luke Bisby
of University of Edinburgh for the support received through
numerous valuable discussions on the fire behavior of structural
concrete elements.
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