Journal of Building Engineering 63 (2023) 105438

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Journal of Building Engineering

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

Mechanical properties characteristics of high strength concrete

exposed to low vacuum environment
Minghui Shangguan a, Youjun Xie a, Shengqiao Xu b, Ce Gao b, Guangcheng Long a, *,
Fan Wang a, Mengjing Liu a
a
School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, 68 South Shaoshan Road, Changsha, Hunan, 410075, China
b
China Railway Engineering Design and Consulting Group Co.Ltd, 15 Guang’an Road, Beijing, 100055, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: With the development of construction technologies, the concrete structures may be served in low
Low vacuum environment vacuum environment (LVE), such as high-altitude constructions and low vacuum maglev train
High strength concrete pipeline and so on. In order to investigate mechanical properties of concrete under LVE, a series of
Mechanical properties experiments were conducted to compare the compressive strength, flexural strength, and shear
Drying effect strength of high-strength concrete exposed to LVE with that cured in standard conditions. The
drying characteristics of concrete exposed to LVE were analyzed, and the influence mechanisms of
the LVE on various mechanical properties were discussed. Results show that the compressive
strength of specimens exposed to LVE increased significantly, while the decrease in its flexural
strength and shear strength were observed. The stronger drying effect caused by LVE resulted in a
shrink for hardened pastes, which also further decreased the pore water and increased a larger
amount of microcracks formed in the interfacial transition zone within the concrete. Different
loading modes have different responses to the microcracks, which results in the difference of
mechanical strength of concrete exposed to LVE. This work can provide a new perspective for the
knowledge of concrete infrastructure design in vacuum environment.

1. Introduction
Concrete, as one of the widely used building materials, has driven its designable high strength and extreme environment appli­
cations with the progressive expansion of human activity areas. Concrete is increasingly used for engineering applications in low-
pressure and vacuum environmental due to infrastructure in high altitude areas [1–3], evacuation tube transportation systems
[4–7], and in space and on the moon [8–11]. Therefore, the concrete will serve at lower atmospheric pressures in the future. This
means that the microstructure and properties of concrete will be significantly affected due to changes in the service environment. The
mechanical properties are critical for the long-term service of concrete [12]. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the evolution of
mechanical properties of concrete under long-term low vacuum environment (LVE) for the design and service life of concrete
structures.
The drying effect is the main reason for the effect of the vacuum environment on porous cementitious materials [13]. The LVE
lowers the boiling point of substances and accelerates water evaporation. The differential pressure generated by LVE promotes

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: 194801034@csu.edu.cn (M. Shangguan), xieyj@csu.edu.cn (Y. Xie), cecql_xsq@qq.com (S. Xu), 24907398@qq.com (C. Gao), longguangcheng@
csu.edu.cn (G. Long), wn2020@csu.edu.cn (F. Wang), 2316049204@qq.com (M. Liu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2022.105438
Received 4 July 2022; Received in revised form 25 September 2022; Accepted 17 October 2022
Available online 29 October 2022
2352-7102/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Shangguan et al. Journal of Building Engineering 63 (2023) 105438

molecular diffusion and forms a low-density atmospheric environment. That reduces the likelihood of molecular collisions making it
harder for evaporated molecules to come back. Therefore, the concrete in service is gradually dried or dehydrated. Many academics
have studied the short-term high-temperature drying of concrete. For example, Bartlett et al. [14] and Pihlajavaara [15] indicated that
concrete strength rose after it dried. Galle [16] showed that concrete drying damage at 105 ◦ C is less because only free water evap­
orates. Concrete is a porous composite material made up of cement stone, coarse and fine aggregates, and pores. The drying of concrete
is primarily manifested as the water loss of cement stone, accompanied by changes in cement stone structure and performance due to
the low water absorption capacity of aggregate [16]. Wittmann [17] believed that reduced humidity increases the surface tension of
the hardened cement stone, which shrinks the cement stone and increases its strength. According to Maruyama et al. [18], the change
in the cement matrix itself is an important reason for the change in the compressive strength of concrete after drying. Zhang et al. [19]
thought that the drying process would promote cement hydration and cause internal concrete damage. Concrete performance will also
be affected by the long-term low humidity environment. The hydration reaction of cement clinker stops when the relative humidity
falls below 80% [20,21], but this does not imply that the porosity remains constant. Soja et al. [22] studied cement for two years at a
relative humidity of 70% and discovered that the pores gradually coarsened due to partial collapse of the small pores, but the total
porosity remained unchanged. This is because surface tension is produced during the drying process to compensate for the capillary
force in the liquid [20,22,23]. The capillary force increases with the decrease of relative humidity and has a greater influence on pore
coarsening. However, the drying environments studied at present are mostly low-humidity environment, or using oven drying, vacuum
drying, freeze drying and other methods for short-term treatment of concrete. It is worth studying the evolution of concrete perfor­
mance under long-term vacuum drying.
Since the 1980s, with the development of human science and technology, as well as the preliminary assumption of exploring space
and lunar concrete, some scholars have conducted some research on the influence of medium and high vacuum (below 100Pa) on the
properties of cement-based materials. Currently existed studies have not discovered that medium and high vacuum would significantly
degrade the mechanical properties of cement-based materials. Kanamori et al. [24] tested the mortar quality, strain, porosity, and
strength before and after 1torr vacuum treatment. While the mortar had significant water loss and shrinkage strain in vacuum, the
strength of mortar cured in vacuum was higher in some cases than that of the same group of specimens cured in water. Sakoi et al. [25]
investigated the quality change, shrinkage strain, bending, and compressive strength of mortar at different ages under a high vacuum
(10− 3-10− 5torr). The results showed that the shrinkage of mortar under a vacuum for 28 days is twice that under atmospheric con­
ditions, but the mechanical properties of mortar under a vacuum for 3 months have not deteriorated significantly. The high vacuum
environment has no adverse effect on cementitious material strength development. According to the findings of Cullingford et al. [26],
the compressive strength of concrete is relatively stable in a high vacuum (10− 4torr) system, so it can be considered for the con­
struction of a large vacuum system. However, the existing literature on the impact of a vacuum environment on the properties of
cement-based materials is limited. Meanwhile, the research on the impact of a long-term vacuum environment on the mechanical
properties of concrete is not systematic. The performance evolution mechanism of concrete, especially high strength concrete, under
vacuum condition is not fully explained.
In this paper, two types of high strength concrete were selected to compare the effects of a 100Pa LVE and a standard curing
environment on the mechanical properties of concrete, such as compressive strength, flexural strength, and shear strength. The drying
characteristics of concrete exposed to LVE were analyzed, and the influence mechanisms of the vacuum environment on different
mechanical properties of concrete were studied. The aim of this investigation is expected to provide some technical supports for
concrete applications in vacuum environments and infrastructure design in the future.

2. Materials and experimental methodology

2.1. Raw materials
The coarse aggregate used was crushed limestone gravel (G), mixed with two particle sizes of 5–10 mm and 10–25 mm. River sand
(S) and quartz sand (QS) were used as fine aggregate. The fineness modulus of river sand is 2.57 and the apparent density is 2660 kg/
m3. The particle sizes of quartz sand are 0.1–0.18 mm, 0.18–0.4 mm and 0.4–0.8 mm respectively, and the apparent density is 2650 kg/
m3. Ordinary Portland cement (PC), fly ash (FA) and silica fume (SF) were used as cementitious materials, and their physical and
chemical properties were shown in Table 1. The particle size distribution curve of the cementitious materials was shown in Fig. 1. The
water reducing agent is polycarboxylate superplasticizer (SP), with a water reducing rate of 37%. The superabsorbent polymer (SAP) is
sodium polyacrylate with a molecular weight of 122.6, a particle size of 160μm~250μm, water absorption ratio (deionized water) of
450 g/g and density of 0.7 g/ml. The mixing water (W) is ordinary tap water.

Table 1
Physical and chemical properties of cementitious materials(%).

Raw materials Chemical properties (w.t %) Physical properties

SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO SO3 Na2O K2O Loss Specific gravity(kg/m3) Specific surface area (m2/kg)

PC 24.6 7.3 4.0 59.7 3.8 2.5 0.6 – 2.5 3150 350
FA 52.3 26.3 9.7 3.7 1.2 0.2 1.8 – 5.7 2350 450
SF 96.9 0.1 0.03 0.35 0.64 0.9 0.16 0.7 1.2 2040 18170

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100
PC
FA
80 SF

Cumulative / %
60

40

20

0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000
Particle size / μm
Fig. 1. Particle distribution of cementitious materials.

2.2. Mix design and specimen preparation

Table 2 shows the mix proportions of two types high-strength concrete with different compositions, named as HSC1 and HSC2 in
this study. HSC2 has more cementitious material content and lower water cement ratio than HSC1. Besides, HSC2 creates a relatively
dense internal structure by utilizing quartz sand and small size coarse aggregates and superfine particles of silica fume.
The concrete was mixed with a biaxial horizontal forced mixer. In order to mix evenly, dry materials such as coarse aggregates, fine
aggregates, and other cementitious materials were firstly stirred for 2 min. Then, the mixed solution of water and superplasticizer was
added and mixed for 3–5 min. Finally, SAP powder was added and mixed for 2 min. As shown in Table 3, concrete specimens of
different shapes and sizes were prepared for different tests.
After the specimen was poured and formed, the surface was sealed with plastic film, and the formwork was removed after one day.
After reaching the corresponding curing age, the specimen was moved into a standard curing room (temperature = 20 ◦ C ± 2 ◦ C,
relative humidity ≥95%) for curing and continued to be exposed to LVE. The mechanical test should then be conducted. The low
vacuum test device (Fig. 2) was used to achieve LVE. The high vacuum pump was continuously operated to maintain a low vacuum
condition of about 100Pa in the vacuum test chamber as shown in Fig. 2(c). Table 4 shows the specific treatment conditions for
different samples.

2.3. Methodology
The cube compressive strength, axial compressive strength, and flexural strength tests of concrete were performed in accordance
with Chinese standard GB/T 50081-2019. Fig. 3(a) depicts the process of cube compressive strength test. The loading rate was 0.30
mm/min, and the longitudinal deformation of the specimen during compression was recorded using an extensometer. Fig. 3(d) depicts
the axial compressive strength test with a loading rate of 0.8 kN/s. Fig. 3(b) depicts the flexural strength test with a loading rate of 0.12
mm/min. For the shear strength test, a 100 mm cube specimen was used. As shown in Fig. 3(c), two L-shaped shear fixtures were used
to fix the specimen, and the loading speed was 0.5 kN/s. Three specimens were tested for each mechanical property test. The flexural
strength and shear strength of concrete are calculated by the following equation (1)~(2).
Ft l
ft = (1)
bh2

Fτ
τ= (2)
A

where, ft is the flexural strength, MPa; Ft is the failure load of the flexural specimen, N; l is the span between the supports, mm; b is the
section width of the specimen, mm; h is the section height of the specimen, mm; τ is the shear strength, MPa; Fτ is the shear force value
acting on the shear surface, N; A is the shear surface area, mm2.

Table 2
Mix proportions (kg/m3).

NO. PC FA SF QS S G W SP SAP

0.1–0.18 mm 0.18–0.4 mm 0.4–0.8 mm 5–10 mm 10–25 mm

HSC1 369.6 96 14.4 0 0 0 680 432 648 144 5.28 0.24

HSC2 660 200 190 330 220 150 0 950 0 189 15.75 0.5

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Table 3
Sample dimension and Experiment.

Shapes of specimens Sizes of specimens Tests items

Cube 100mm × 100mm × 100 mm Compressive strength, shear strength and mass loss

Prism 100mm × 100mm × 300 mm Axial compression strength

Prism 100mm × 100mm × 400 mm Flexural tensile strength

Fig. 2. Low vacuum test device: (a) diagram of the device; (b) photo of the device; (c) the pressure in vacuum test chamber with time after vacuum pump started.

Table 4
Different treatment conditions.

Treatment method

SC28 Standard curing for 28 days.

SC56 Standard curing for 56 days.
SC28+C28 Standard curing for 28 days, then exposed to cycle condition of LVE and normal atmospheric pressure (alternate cycle of 1d low vacuum treatment
and 1d normal atmospheric pressure treatment) for 28 days.
SC28+V28 Standard curing for 28 days, then exposed to LVE for 28 days.
SC28+V56 Standard curing for 28 days, then exposed to LVE for 56 days.

3. Result and discussion

3.1. Mechanical behavior under uniaxial compressive load condition
3.1.1. Failure model
The uniaxial compression failure process of cubic concrete under different treatment conditions has gone through the following

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Fig. 3. Loading diagram of mechanical test: (a) cube compressive strength test; (b) flexural strength test; (c) shear strength test; (d)axial compressive strength test.

stages. The surfaces of the two kinds of concrete specimens did not change significantly during the initial loading stage. As the loading
progresses, it entered the crack development stage. Microcracks appeared on the HSC1 surface earlier than the HSC2 surface, and a
small number of concrete debris spalled around. Next, the failure stage came when the concrete reached its failure stress. It can be
observed that penetrating crack was initiated from the surface crack. The failure sound of HSC1 specimens was dull, whereas the
explosion sound of obvious brittle failure occurred in HSC2 specimens, and some specimens were unable to obtain the falling section
curve. With the continuous loading, surface cracks widened and expanded into the concrete. The typical destruction forms of two the
kinds of concrete under the same strains are shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The surface of HSC1 had many vertical, oblique, and splayed
cracks, whereas the cracks formed by HSC2 were mostly vertical. In HSC1, a large amount of matrix and even some fragments of the
aggregate peeled off. Whereas, only a small proportion of HSC2 surface peeled off. There was no clear difference in the failure
characteristics of HSC1 after standard curing and exposure to a vacuum environment. However, the HSC2 after exposure to a vacuum
environment had more obvious cracking and displayed greater brittleness characteristics.

3.1.2. Complete stress-strain curves under uniaxial compression

The complete stress-strain curves of the cube specimens for HSC1 and HSC2 under uniaxial compression are shown in Fig. 6. The
stress-strain curves of the same type of concrete under different treatment conditions have similar morphological characteristics before
reaching the peak stress. The rising section of the curve before 30% peak stress is essentially a linear section, and the curve gradually
slows down before dropping rapidly after reaching the peak value. The peak stress of concrete exposed to LVE increases significantly
when compared to standard curing concrete, the falling section of the curve is steeper, and the difference between limit strain and peak

Fig. 4. Typical destruction form under strain = 0.02: (a) HSC1, (b) HSC2.

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Fig. 5. Typical destruction form under strain = 0.04: (a) HSC1, (b) HSC2.

(a) 120 (b) 120

SC28 SC28
SC56 SC56
SC28+V28 100 SC28+V28
100
SC28+V56 SC28+V56
Stress / MPa

Stress / MPa

80 SC28+C28 80 SC28+C28

60 60

40 40

20 20

0 0
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Strain / (mm/mm) Strain / (mm/mm)
Fig. 6. Complete stress-strain curves under uniaxial compression: (a) HSC1, (b) HSC2.

strain is small. The steepness becomes more apparent as the increasing test days exposed to LVE. The HSC2 specimen with SC28+V56
was so brittle that resulting in an instantaneous burst during destruction, and then the falling section of the entire curve could not be
measured.

3.1.3. Analysis of characteristic parameters of stress-strain curve

The peak stress of the curve is used to calculate the compressive strength of concrete (Fig. 6). The area surrounded by the stress-
strain curve before the peak stress and the strain axis is used to calculate the concrete energy absorption capacity [27]. The area

Table 5
Characteristic parameters of stress-strain curve.

Series Cubic compressive Axial compressive fcp/ Energy Accumulated Model fitting
strength fcu/MPa strength fcp/MPa fcu absorption dissipated energy/
α R2 β R2
capacity/MPa MPa

HSC1 SC28 65.00 58.95 0.907 0.223 0.392 − 0.776 0.989 5.019 0.999
SC56 66.01 59.35 0.899 0.280 0.711 − 0.044 0.999 2.674 0.984
SC28+V28 77.71 69.50 0.894 0.380 0.523 − 0.070 0.999 8.648 0.994
SC28+V56 84.33 76.40 0.906 0.290 0.568 − 0.328 0.988 10.163 0.972
SC28+C28 75.28 66.30 0.880 0.327 0.336 − 1.118 0.999 10.655 0.967
HSC2 SC28 74.70 86.36 1.156 0.300 0.730 − 0.759 0.968 5.321 0.932
SC56 97.25 94.70 0.974 0.389 1.000 − 0.908 0.986 3.895 0.967
SC28+V28 114.02 104.60 0.917 0.495 0.799 − 0.712 0.974 16.614 0.886
SC28+V56 118.28 118.51 1.002 0.550 0.442 − 0.947 0.986 – –
SC28+C28 100.04 97.66 0.976 0.391 0.520 − 1.040 0.984 16.839 0.971

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surrounded by the falling section curve after the peak stress and the strain axis characterizes the accumulated dissipated energy of
concrete [28]. Normalize the peak stress and strain of the stress-strain curve, and then fit the rising and falling sections of the curve
with Eqs. (3) and (4) in the Guozhenhai model respectively [29].

y = αx + (3 − 2α)x2 + (α − 2)x3 (3)

x
y= (4)
β(x − 1)2 + x

where, x is the strain, mm/mm; y is the stress, MPa; α, β are the fitting parameters.
The characteristic parameters of stress-strain curve of each cube specimen under uniaxial compression and the test results of axial
compressive strength of prism are shown in Table 5.
Table 5 shows that the cube compressive strength fcu of the two groups of concrete after 28 days of standard curing is higher than 60
MPa. The concrete strength of HSC2 is higher than that of HSC1 under different treatment conditions. Following standard curing for 28
days, different subsequent treatment methods improve the compressive strength of concrete to varying degrees. The axial compressive
strength fcp of the prism and the cube compressive strength have similar change rules. The mean value of fcp/fcu in HSC1 is 0.8974, with
a variance of 0.0001, while the mean value of fcp/fcu in HSC2 is 1.0051, with a variance of 0.0081. This demonstrates that the axial
compressive strength of the prism of HSC2 is close to the cube compressive strength, but the correlation between the two compressive
strengths of HSC1 is better than that of HSC2. The effects of different treatment conditions on the cube compressive strength and axial
compressive strength of two types of concrete are similar within the allowable range of error. The cube compressive strength is used as
the compressive strength of this paper in the following step.
Fig. 7 shows the result of cube compressive strength of concrete at different ages. When compared to the standard curing for 28
days, the late strength of concrete under different treatment methods has increased to varying degrees. The growth range of HSC2 is
greater than that of HSC1. Simultaneously, the compressive strength of concrete exposed to LVE increases more than that under
standard curing. Compared with the SC28 specimen, the compressive strength of HSC1 with SC28+V28, SC28+C28 and SC56
increased by 19%, 16%, and 1%, respectively. And the compressive strength of HSC2 increased by 52%, 34%, and 30%, respectively.
When compared to the SC28+V28, the compressive strength of HSC1 and HSC2 with the SC28+V56 increased by 8.5% and 3.7%,
respectively. The results indicate that the longer the exposure to vacuum, the greater the increase in the compressive strength of
concrete, but the magnitude gradually decreased. When exposed to the LVE, the compressive strength of concrete does not decrease,
but rather increases to some extent.
Table 5 shows that the energy absorption capacity of SC28+V28 in HSC1 and HSC2 is 0.357 and 0.272 times greater than that of
SC56, respectively, while the accumulated dissipated energy is 0.264 and 0.201 times lower. According to the energy absorption
capacity, concrete specimens exposed to LVE are more resistant to external pressure than standard curing specimens. The accumulated
dissipated energy of concrete can be used to characterize its brittleness and plastic deformation capacity. The low vacuum increases the
brittleness of concrete, reduces plastic deformation capacity, and accelerates the failure process. The descending section curve
parameter β simulated by the Guozhenhai model can also reflect the plastic deformation characteristic of concrete. In Table 5, the
effect of low vacuum exposure on the β value is similar to the accumulated dissipated energy. The greater the β value could lessen the
plastic deformation of concrete and lower the residual strength, which also mean that the faster failure process.

3.2. Flexural strength of concrete exposed to LVE

It can be observed that bending failure of HSC1 and HSC2 specimens occurred in the pure bending section, resulting in an obvious

(a) 180
Standard curing
(b) 180
Standard curing
Low vacuum condition Low vacuum condition
150 150
Compressive strength / MPa

Compressive strength / MPa

Cycle condition Cycle condition

120 120

90 90

60 60

30 30

0 0
28 56 84 28 56 84
Age / day Age / day
Fig. 7. The cube compressive strength of concrete at different ages: (a) HSC1, (b) HSC2.

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main crack. The HSC1 failed due to rapid brittle fracture under different treatment conditions. The standard curing specimen of HSC2
would burst instantly when it was damaged. When the load was up to half of the failure load of the standard curing specimen after
being exposed to LVE, the crack quickly formed from the tensile zone on the lower surface and extended upwards. However, the crack
did not reach the upper surface, and the specimen was not completely broken. There was still a small amount of force present at this
point to cause the specimen to continue producing bending deformation.
Fig. 8 shows the result of flexural strength of concrete at different ages. Specimens exposed to LVE significantly reduce its flexural
strength, in which HSC2 exhibiting a greater reduction range than HSC1. Compared with the SC28 specimen, the flexural strength of
HSC1 with SC28+V28 and SC28+C28 decreased only by 2% and 1%, while the flexural strength of HSC2 decreased by 50% and 47.5%,
respectively. When compared to the SC56, the flexural strength of HSC1 and HSC2 with the SC28+V28 decreased by 16.7% and 62.4%,
respectively. However, the flexural strength did not continue to decrease or even rebound after a continuous exposure to LVE. When
compared to the SC28+V28, the flexural strength of HSC1 and HSC2 with the SC28+V56 increased by 14% and 7.3%, respectively. In
conclusion, low vacuum environment has significant adverse effects on the flexural strength of concrete.

3.3. Shear strength of concrete exposed to LVE

Under the action of vertical shear load, the HSC1 and HSC2 specimens experienced shear failure along the vertical plane. When the
HSC1 specimen was sheared, the cracks typically propagated along the shear region to form a single shear failure surface, and the shear
surface was relatively complete during failure. When the HSC2 specimen was sheared, multiple cracks appeared on the shear surface,
and thus caused the falling of large debris. When two groups of concrete exposed to LVE were sheared, the aggregates on the shear
plane were not only damaged by shear but were also stripped along the interface.
Fig. 9 shows the results of shear strength of concrete at different ages. The results shown in Fig. 9 indicate that exposure to low
vacuum will significantly reduce the shear strength of concrete. Compared with the SC28 specimen, the shear strength of HSC1 with
SC28+V28 and SC28+C28 decreased only by 3% and 2.5%, and the shear strength of HSC2 decreased by 9.2% and 7.4%, respectively.
However, the shear strength of HSC1 and HSC2 with the SC28+V28 decreased by 18% and 18.3% when compared to the SC56,
respectively. As further extending time of exposure to LVE, Shear strength of specimen, like flexural strength, did not continue to
decrease. When compared to the SC28+V28 specimen, the shear strength of HSC1 and HSC2 with the SC28+V56 increased by 3.4%
and 0.5%, respectively. It can be seen that LVE will significantly decrease the shear strength, but the deterioration effect does not
persist as the exposure time is increased.

4. Discussion
The above results show that the treatment by LVE has a significant impact on the mechanical properties of concrete. Furthermore,
the compressive strength of the specimen shows a different change tendency from the flexural and shear strength under exposure to
LVE. These macroscopic property differences are closely related to the initial state of concrete mixes, curing state, and serviced
environmental condition. The corresponding mechanisms will be explained and discussed in the following sections using other
experimental and theoretical analysis.

4.1. Drying characteristics of concrete exposed to LVE

The strong drying effect is the main reason for the effect of the vacuum environment on the mechanical properties of concrete. To
explore the drying characteristics of concrete under LVE, concrete specimens (100mm × 100mm × 100 mm) after standard curing for
28 days were selected and exposed to a 100Pa vacuum test chamber for another 28 days. It can be observed that the appearance and

(a) 15 Standard curing

(b) 15 Standard curing
Low vacuum condition Low vacuum condition
12 Cycle condition 12 Cycle condition
Flexural strength / MPa

Flexural strength / MPa

9 9

6 6

3 3

0 0
28 56 84 28 56 84
Age / day Age / day
Fig. 8. The flexural strength of concrete at different ages: (a) HSC1, (b) HSC2.

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(a) 15 (b) 15
Standard curing Standard curing
Low vacuum condition Low vacuum condition
12 Cycle condition 12 Cycle condition
Shear strength / MPa

Shear strength / MPa

9 9

6 6

3 3

0 0
28 56 84 28 56 84
Age / day Age / day
Fig. 9. The shear strength of concrete at different ages: (a) HSC1, (b) HSC2.

color of the specimens did not change under above experiment conditions, and there were no obvious cracks, peeling, or missing
corners on the surface. In order to obtain the quantitative analytical results, the mass of specimens under different exposure times was
weighed. The mass loss ηt (the ratio of mass difference to initial mass) and the mass loss rate v (mass loss per unit time and per unit
surface area) at different times were calculated. The results are shown in Fig. 10.
It can be seen from the results shown in Fig. 10 that as exposure time increases, the mass loss of concrete also increases, while the
mass loss rate gradually decreases. According to the changing curve of mass loss rate with exposure time, the drying process of concrete
exposed to LVE may be separated into three phases, i.e., the initial transient increase period, the rapid decreasing period, and the
drying equilibrium period. Under natural conditions, moisture can move rapidly beneath the wet-concrete surface in the early stages of
evaporation and drying, and the internal diffusion rate matches the surface evaporation rate. At this point, external heat resistance and
moisture transport resistance influence drying rate [15]. When concrete is exposed to LVE in the initial stage (0~1h), according to the
Clausius-Clapeyron equation [30], reducing the air pressure can accelerate the water vaporization speed. This makes the water on the
concrete surface vaporize and gradually reduce, forming a humidity difference corresponding to the interior. At this time, internal
moisture accelerates its diffusion to the surface due to the humidity difference and vaporizes on the surface. Because of the limitations
of concrete’s internal heat and mass transfer characteristics, the concrete drying speed will quickly reach its maximum in the early
stage, which is classified as the initial transient increase period. There is also a pressure difference in LVE during this period, which
accelerates the movement of the vaporized water molecules into the vacuum space. As the drying process progresses, the internal
diffusion rate of concrete becomes less than the surface evaporation rate. Then, the concrete surface forms a drying area, and the water
evaporation moves towards the concrete interior. Internal resistance affects the drying process, and the heat and mass transfer paths
are lengthened. Simultaneously, the internal temperature of concrete rises, the pressure difference between the evaporation surface
and space decreases. Thus, the mass loss rate gradually decreases, entering the rapid decreasing period (about 1–150 h). When the

Fig. 10. Relationship between mass loss and mass loss rate with time.

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Journal of Building Engineering 63 (2023) 105438

Fig. 11. Cross-sectional view of concrete after flexural failure: (a) HSC1, (b) HSC2.
M. Shangguan et al. Journal of Building Engineering 63 (2023) 105438

exposure time exceeds 150 h, the mass loss rate of concrete is extremely low and remains essentially constant in the third period,
namely the drying equilibrium period. Under the same treatment time, the mass loss and mass loss rate of HSC1 are higher than those
of HSC2. After 28 days of vacuum treatment, the ηt and v of HSC1 are 2.19 and 2.30 times higher than those of HSC2, respectively. This
shows that the difficulty of water diffusion differs between the two types of concrete. Because HSC2 has a denser internal structure and
lower porosity than HSC1, the internal water migration path is more complex. According to Ref. [31], the dry state is reached when the
specimen’s mass loss rate is less than 0.002kg/(h⋅m2). Then it takes more than 400 h for HSC1 to reach the dry state, while it only takes
about 60 h for HSC2.
Fig. 11 shows the cross-sectional views of concrete after flexural failure under different conditions. It can be seen from Fig. 11(a)
that the color of the matrix is similar on the cross section of the standard curing concrete for 56 days. However, the matrix area on the
cross section of the concrete exposed to LVE has an obvious color stratification phenomenon. The surrounding area is lighter in color
than the central area (the yellow line area), and the area of light color increases with longer exposure to LVE. This also verifies that
continuous exposure to LVE will cause the concrete to significantly dry out. The drying process deepens from the outside to the inside,
and the vaporized surface of the water moves to the inside. Fig. 11(b) shows that the matrix of HSC2 has a darker color and a denser
internal structure. When exposed to LVE for the same amount of time (SC28+V56), the area of the light-colored dry area distin­
guishable by HSC2 is significantly smaller than that of HSC1.

4.2. Strength of hardened paste exposed to LVE

Concrete is a multiphase composite material composed of hardened paste or matrix, aggregates, interfaces, and pores at the
microscopic level [14]. Among them, aggregate contributes to concrete deformation resistance, and the interface is a frequent zone of
crack initiation and expansion, which belongs to the weak strength area. In addition, hardened paste is the primary source of concrete
strength, which needs to be explored first. Cement cube specimens (40mm × 40mm × 40 mm) with water-cement ratios (w/c) of 0.2
and 0.4 were poured to investigate the strength evolution of hardened paste exposed to LVE. Fig. 12 shows the compressive strength of
hardened paste under different treatment conditions. Compared to standard curing, the compressive strength of hardened paste
exposed to LVE with w/c = 0.2 and w/c = 0.4 increased by 12%~19% and 37%~37.7%, respectively. The result indicated that the
improvement to performance of hardened paste at LVE. Vacuum drying reduces internal humidity of hardened paste, resulting in a
decrease in the thickness of the interlayer water between the C–S–H gel particles and an increase in surface energy. Furthermore, the
gaps of C–S–H gel layers will close, and the solid phase structure of the gel matrix will improve to some extent [32,33]. This is also the
primary reason for the significant increase in the strength of vacuum-exposed hardened paste.

4.3. Microstructural characteristics of concrete exposed to LVE

As shown in Fig. 13(a), the concrete pore system is composed of open pores filled with water and closed pores isolated from water.
Under natural conditions, the diffusion rate of water in open pores matches the evaporation rate of water on the concrete surface,
resulting in a relatively balanced state. As described in Section 4.1, when the vacuum degree of the external environment decreases, the
water vaporization temperature also decreases. The water on the concrete surface begins to vaporize and gradually decreases, forming
a humidity difference between the surface and the interior of the concrete. Under the action of the humidity difference, as shown by the
blue arrow in Fig. 13(b), the internal water will continue to diffuse and migrate to the surface, where it will vaporize. When the
humidity in the open pores decreases, so does the pressure on the pore wall. The outer hardened paste or matrix produces inward
compressive stress on the pore wall, as shown by the red arrow in Fig. 13(b), resulting in matrix shrinkage and the formation of fine
cracks. The interface between aggregate and matrix contains coarse crystalline products and high porosity, indicating that the rela­
tively weak area is formed. When the matrix shrinks as a result of the deformation difference between the aggregate and the matrix,

180
W/C=0.2
150 W/C=0.4
Compressive strength / MPa

120

90

60

30

0
SC56 SC28+V28 SC28+V56
Fig. 12. Compressive strength of hardened pastes under different treatment conditions.

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M. Shangguan et al. Journal of Building Engineering 63 (2023) 105438

(a) (b)

Closed pores
Open pores Water

Matrix
Microcracks
Aggregate

Fig. 13. Schematic diagram of the formation of microcracks in concrete after exposure to LVE: (a) under normal conditions; (b) exposed to LVE.

new microcracks are more likely to form and expand in the interface area [34]. The bonding ability between the matrix and the
aggregate is reduced accordingly. When the water in the open pores near the surface migrates to the surface and vaporizes, the pores on
the migration path will shrink appropriately with the shrinkage of the outer cementitious matrix. As water migrates from a more
central position to the surface, the migration resistance increases and the transmission path extends, which resulting in a significant
reduction in water migration rate. Because the vaporization rate of surface water and the migration rate of internal water cannot match
after continuous exposure to vacuum, the vaporized surface of water will gradually move to the interior. The concrete drying rate will
be progressively reduced, eventually reaching a near-dry state. The area outside the vaporized surface of water produces a dry area
when the vaporized surface migrates inward [31]. In the corresponding dry area, the interface between the aggregate and the matrix
will gradually produce micro-cracks. The number of micro-cracks gradually increases as the dry area moves towards the concrete
interior. In comparison to HSC1, HSC2 has a lower water-cement ratio, a denser internal structure, and a more complicated initial
water migration path [34,35]. When exposed to LVE for the same time period, HSC2 reaches the dry state faster and has a smaller dry
area than HSC1.
After the specimen was damaged during the compressive strength test, a sheet-like specimen in the range of 10–15 mm from the
surface was selected for SEM observation [36], as shown in Fig. 14. As shown in Fig. 14(a), when compared to specimens curing under
standard conditions for 56 days, the interface of aggregate and matrix of HSC1 exposed to LVE forms an obvious microcrack. Fig. 14(b)
also shows that after 56 days of standard curing, the cement hydration product was tightly bonded to the aggregate at the interface of
HSC2. However, there were multiple crisscross microcracks at the HSC2 interface under SC28+V28 conditions, whereas the crack
width was larger under SC28+V56 conditions. This demonstrates that LVE will cause more cracks at the already weak concrete
interface, affecting the performance of the concrete.

4.4. Mechanical response of concrete exposed to LVE

When compared to standard curing concrete, concrete exposed to LVE showed different mechanical property evolution charac­
teristics under different loading methods. Fig. 15 shows the physical model describing the effect of different loads on the mechanical
properties of concrete under two treatment conditions.
When concrete is exposed to LVE, the internal matrix of the concrete will shrink. And the same time, the distance between the
C–S–H gel particles is shortened and thus the solid phase density of the matrix will increase [32], which will affect on the mechanical
properties of concrete. Furthermore, vacuum drying causes pore water reduction in concrete as well as the formation of numerous
microcracks in the interface transition zone, which also resulted in a difference in the mechanical strength of concrete exposed to LVE.
As shown in Fig. 15(a), under normal conditions, the standard curing concrete will have a shallow dry area due to the evaporation
of water on the surface of the concrete. There are few micro-cracks in the concrete, and there is a lot of water in the pores and a few
cracks. The crack development speed in concrete is relatively slow under the action of compressive loads. Free water can reach the
crack tip through the gel pores or the interface between the gel and the aggregate. This is like the wedge’s wedging effect, which
promotes anisotropic crack opening. The water in the crack exerts a tensile effect on the crack, promoting crack growth and new crack
initiation [37–39]. Under the action of tensile loads, the water existing in the crack has an inward viscous force, and the crack is
difficult to open. In the interface transition zone, the aggregate and the matrix are tightly bonded, and there are few microcracks.
Under the action of shear loads, the matrix can effectively transmit shear force due to the lateral restraint, and the aggregate will be
damaged by shearing.
As shown in Fig. 15(b), Concrete exposed to LVE has a deeper dry area. Many microcracks appear between the aggregate and the
matrix in the dry area, and there is little water in the microcracks and pores. Under compressive load, the tensile force generated by
water in pores or microcracks decreases, and microcracks tend to close and are difficult to expand. The interior of the microstructure

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M. Shangguan et al. Journal of Building Engineering 63 (2023) 105438

Fig. 14. SEM topography of concrete: (a) HSC1, (b) HSC2.

can also realize redistribution. Thus, the internal weak parts are gradually withdrawn from the force, and the effective force-bearing
skeleton is further optimized and adjusted [40]. Therefore, the deterioration effect of strength due to microcracks is small. As a result,
when compared to standard curing concrete, concrete exposed to LVE can withstand greater external compressive load and have
higher compressive strength. However, while the concrete absorbs more energy from the outside, the propagation speed of the crack
tip does not significantly increase. Thus, the effectively dissipation of internal energy is prevented. As a result, when the concrete fails,
the brittleness increases significantly, and the effect on HSC2 with higher strength is greater.
When concrete is subjected to a flexural test, the top of the specimen is subjected to an inward compressive load and the bottom is
subjected to an outward tensile load [41]. Concrete is more prone to new cracks under tensile load. The initiation and growth of new
cracks will reduce the available load-carrying area of the specimen. This causes an increase in the stress at the critical crack tip [42,43],
allowing the tip to continue to extend. After LVE treatment, the viscous effect of water on microcracks decreases, and the bottom
tensile load makes the microcracks easier to open. New and existing cracks will continue to converge to form main cracks and expand
from bottom to top along the weak transition zone and other micro-crack gathering areas. The crack eventually penetrated the entire
section, causing the specimen to fail. Therefore, the flexural strength of concrete exposed to LVE will significantly deteriorate.
However, because HSC2 has more and wider interfacial microcracks, the cracks are easier to expand and converge, resulting in a
greater reduction in flexural strength.
After LVE treatment, new microcracks appear in the interface transition zone, and the bonding force between aggregate and matrix
decreases. When the concrete is subjected to a shear test, the aggregate will not be damaged by the shear force transmitted from the
matrix. However, aggregates tend to tumble and peel, resulting in stress concentration at the interface and matrix tensile cracking. At
the same time, the aggregate cannot be destroyed during the process of the matrix bearing and transmitting shear force. The shear force
must bypass the aggregate and continue to transmit, which promotes crack expansion and extension [44]. As a result, the shear
strength of concrete exposed to LVE is lower than that of standard cured concrete.

5. Conclusion
The following conclusions were drawn based on above investigation.
(1) The compressive strength of concrete exposed to LVE increased significantly, and the increase effect is more significant with the
improve of strength grade. Compared with concrete under 28 days standard curing, the compressive strength of HSC1 and HSC2
continuously exposed to LVE increased by 16–29.2% and 34–58.3%, respectively. The concrete brittleness increases and plastic
deformation capacity decreases at LVE with respect to standard curing.

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M. Shangguan et al. Journal of Building Engineering 63 (2023) 105438

Fig. 15. Effect of different loads on mechanical properties of concrete under different treatment conditions: (a) under normal conditions; (b) exposed to LVE.

(2) The flexural strength and shear strength of concrete exposed to LVE show a certain decrease. Compared with concrete under 28
days standard curing, the flexural strength of HSC1 and HSC2 continuously exposed to LVE decreased by 1–2% and 47.5–50%,
and the shear strength of HSC1 and HSC2 decreased by 2.5–3% and 7.4–9.2%. However, the strength remained essentially
unchanged after 28 days of LVE exposure.
(3) The drying process of concrete exposed to LVE based on water-loss rate may be separated into three stages: the initial transient
increase period, the rapid decreasing period, and the drying equilibrium period. The water vaporization surface moved from the
outside to the inside. Strong drying effect on concrete will cause hardened paste to shrink, pore water to decrease, and a lot of
microcracks to form in the interfacial transition zone within the concrete.
(4) The decrease of water reduces the disjoining force of water to crack tip and the viscous effect of water to crack, which contribute
the increase of compressive strength and decrease of tensile strength of concrete exposure to LVE. The micro/nano-
microstructure characteristics of the concrete under LVE needs to be further analyzed in next investigation.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Minghui Shangguan: Investigation, Conceptualization, Writing-Original draft, and Writing-review & editing. Youjun Xie: Re­
sources, Supervision, Validation. Shengqiao Xu: Investigation, Conceptualization, Project administration. Ce Gao: Data curation,
Formal analysis, Writing-review & editing. Guangcheng Long: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, and

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M. Shangguan et al. Journal of Building Engineering 63 (2023) 105438

Writing-review & editing. Fan Wang: Formal analysis, Writing-review & editing. Mengjing Liu: Methodology.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.11790283) and the Fundamental
Research Funds for the Central Universities of Central South University (2022ZZTS0621). The authors wish to express their sincere
gratitude to them. The financial support by China Railway Engineering Design and Consulting Group Co., Ltd. is also
acknowledgement.

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