Influence of applied loads on the permeability behavior of ultra

high performance concrete with steel fibers

Zhiming Ma, Tiejun Zhao, Xiaochuan Yao
Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology, volume 14 ( 2016 ), pp. 770-781

Self-healing capability of fiber reinforced cementitious composites

Daisuke Homma , Hirozo Mihashi, Tomoya Nishiwaki
Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology, volume 7 ( 2009 ), pp. 217-228

Experimental Study on Self-Healing Capability of FRCC Using Different Types of Synthetic Fibers
Tomoya Nishiwaki, Marina Koda, Hirozo Mihashi , Takatsune Kikuta
Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology, volume 10 ( 2012 ), pp. 195-206
Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology Vol. 14, 770-781, December 2016 / Copyright © 2016 Japan Concrete Institute 770

Scientific paper

Influence of Applied Loads on the Permeability Behavior of Ultra High

Performance Concrete with Steel Fibers
Zhiming Ma1*, Tiejun Zhao2 and XiaochuanYao3

Received 29 June 2016, accepted 13 December 2016 doi:10.3151/jact.14.770

Abstract
Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) with steel fibers not only possesses the higher compressive strength can be up
to above 100MPa, but also has better tensile strength and ultimate strain because of the addition of steel fibers com-
pared with ordinary concrete. However, the permeability behavior of UHPC is frequently ignored in the durability dsign
or repair, especially for that with a mass of cracks after suffering short-lived vibration, shock or explosion. This paper is
developed to investigate the permeability behavior of UHPC after suffering tensile and compressive loadings, and the
water as well as chloride permeability are determined. The results show applied tensile and compressive loadings in-
crease the water and chloride permeability of UHPC. Particularly for the UHPC after suffering high loading damage,
the increase of permeability becomes more obvious. Self-healing treatment is also applied to the UHPC with loading
damage, and the permeability resistance of UHPC is improved by the treatment of self-healing, which provides an ef-
fective method to repair the UHPC with loading damage. In addition, the relation between permeability behavior and
applied loads or cracks development are established in this paper, which can be used to evaluate the permeability be-
havior of UHPC suffered loading damage.

1. Introduction mechanical and durability properties of reactive powder

With the development of construction technology and
materials, more attentions have been paid to improve the
concrete strength (Collins et al. 1993; Reda et al. 1999;
Yi et al. 2012). However, increased strengths have been
accompanied by brittle failure, inevitably, which limited
the application of high strength concrete in many struc-
tures. Developed ultra-high performance concrete
(UHPC) with fibers has both higher strength and ductility
through the incorporation of a large amount of fibers
(Habel et al. 2006; Yang et al. 2009; Yu et al. 2015).
Attributing to the addition of fibers in cement-based
materials, UHPC possesses an excellent strain-hardening,
and the progressive multiple cracks are achieved rather
than the brittle failure under applied loads conditions (Li
and Maalej 1996; Li et al. 2001; Park et al. 2012). Crack
and failure patterns of UHPC with fibers are different
from that of ordinary concrete, especially for those under
the tensile loading. Multiple cracks will develop in
UHPC under applied loading, instead of a few cracks in
normal concrete, and the numbers of cracks are much
higher than that in ordinary concrete, which provides
more passageways for chloride and aggressive ion
penetrations into UHPC. Many scholars have studied the
1 rability without applied load; however, the permeability
PhD candidate, Department of Structural Engineering,
Tongji University, Shanghai, China. *Corresponding
author, E-mail: 10351163mzm@tongji.edu.cn
2
Professor, College of Civil Engineering, Qingdao
University of Technology, Qingdao, China.
3
Master student, College of Civil Engineering, Qingdao
University of Technology, Qingdao, China.
concretes or UHPC with fibers based on the use of
various types of UHPC, over more than 10 years
(Moranville 1998; Roux 1996; Toutlemonde et al. 2010).
Kang and Charron studied the tensile stress of UHPC
with fibers, and the development of crack was also de-
termined (Charron et al. 2008; Kang et al. 2010); Hassan
investigated the compressive stress of UHPC with fibers
(Hassan et al. 2012); Wang determined the durability of
UHPC with fibers after progressive aging, and Rabehi
conducted the durability of UHPC with fibers (Rabehi et
al. 2016; Wang et al. 2014). The results of previous re-
searches conclude that the UHPC with fibers possesses
high tensile and compressive strength, as well as has an
excellent ductility under applied loads conditions. In
addition, the UHPC with fibers has the good resistivity to
chloride ions penetration.
As it is well known, the increasing of cracks and ap-
plied loads increase the permeability of cement-based
materials (Aldea et al. 1999; Wang et al. 1997). Espe-
cially for the ECC and SHCC who possess high
strain-hardening property, more cracks develop with the
increase of strain under applied loads conditions, which
provides more passageways for water and chloride
penetrations as well as increases the permeability (Şah-
maran and Li 2009). Previous studies of UHPC with
fibers mainly focus on the mechanical properties or du-
behavior under applied loading or after unloading is
frequently ignored, which may reduce the durability of
UHPC, especially for the UHPC with the coupling effect
of harsh environment.
Attributing to the addition of fibers, fiber reinforced
cementitious composites include ECC, SHCC and UHPC
Z. Ma, T. Zhao and X. Yao / Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology Vol. 14, 770-781 2016 771

Table 1 Main composition of binding materials (%).

Composition
Binding materials
CaO SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 SO3 K2O Na2O TiO2
Cement 60.09 20.90 6.55 5.43 2.44 1.61 1.07 0.01
Fly ash 1.78 49.75 36.81 5.93 0.31 1.78 0.25 2.29
Silica fume 0.98 95.64 0.40 0.22 0.18 1.51 0.20 0.02

3
Table 2 Mixture proportions of UHPC (kg/m ).
Cement Fly ash Silica fume Silica flour Silica sand Water Steel fibers
526.4 225.6 263.2 203.1 791.9 201 150

with fibers possess the characteristic of self-healing after
unloading, and the micro cracks caused by loading
damage can be closed under the shrinkage and bridge
action of fibers (Granger et al. 2007; Kan and Shi 2012;
Homma et al. 2009). Processing the treatment of
self-healing is an effective way to improve the properties
of fiber reinforced cementitious composites.
The aim of this paper is to investigate the influence of
applied loads on the permeability behavior of UHPC
with steel fibers, based on the introduction above. Ac-
cording to the previous testing methods for investigating
the influence of applied loads on the concrete perme-
ability (Wang and Li, 2014; Zhang et al. 2014); the water
and chloride permeability as well as cracks area of
UHPC were determined after unloading. The permeabil-
ity after suffering the damage of short-lived vibration,
shock or explosion can be determined, and the perme-
ability under loading can also be estimated through the
change of crack areas. Different tensile and compressive
loadings were first applied to the UHPC, and then the
applied loads were unloaded. After that, the capillary
absorption test was carried out in water, and the chloride
penetration test was conducted in 5% NaCl solution,
meanwhile. The absorbed water amount and chloride
content were determined, respectively. The impact of
self-healing treatment on the permeability behavior of
UHPC after suffering loading damage was also con-
ducted, and different periods of self-healing were applied
to the UHPC after unloading. Finally, the relation be-
tween the permeability behavior and applied loads or
cracks area is established in this paper, which can be used
to evaluate the permeability behavior when different
loads are applied to UHPC.
2. Experimental program
2.1 Materials and specimens
A dumbbell-shaped specimen was used in uniaxial ten-
sile test, and the specific size can be seen from Fig.1(a).
Specimen size used in compressive strength test was a
cuboid with the size of 100×100×300mm3, and then it
was cut into the dimension of 50×50×100 mm3 used in
the permeability test after suffering compressive loading.
Table 1 describes the main composition of binding ma-
terials used in preparing UHPC, and the specific mixture
proportions of UHPC with 0.20 w/c are listed in Table 2.
The specimens were moved into a curing room after
hardening.

(a) Specimens size used in uniaxial tensile test (b) Capillary absorption test in water and chloride penetration test
in 5% NaCl solution
Fig. 1 Experimental specimens and permeability test after suffering tensile loading.
Z. Ma, T. Zhao and X. Yao / Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology Vol. 14, 770-781 2016
2.2 Permeability test of UHPC after tensile
loading
Before the uniaxial tensile test, the UHPC specimens
were first dried at oven with 50℃for 5d to make them
completely dry. The ultimate tensile stress was first
measured through uniaxial tensile test, and the ultimate
stress was the average value of three testing results. 0%,
30%, 50% and 80% percentages of ultimate tensile stress
were applied to the UHPC, respectively, and then they
were unloaded after keeping the certain loading for
15min. Finally, for a part of specimens, the capillary
absorption test contacted with water was carried out for
24h; for another part of specimens, the chloride penetra-
tion test was conducted in 5% NaCl solution for 7d and
28d. Considering the water and NaCl solution may out
flow from the specimen sides, the specimen sides were
sealed except for the side contacted with water and NaCl
solution. Figure 1(b) gives the schematic diagram of
capillary absorption test and chloride penetration test
after suffering tensile loading.
Capillary absorption coefficient is a major parameter
for concrete durability that can reflect the water perme-
ability ratio, and the lower capillary absorption coeffi-
cient is more beneficial for the concrete durability. If
gravity is neglected, the capillary absorption can be de-
scribed in a simple way by the following equations. In
equation (1), ΔW stands for mass increase (g) of absorbed
water by the surface area (S), and ΔW with the unit as
(g/m2) can be determined. A with the unit as g/(m2 h0.5)
represents the coefficient of capillary absorption, and A
can be calculated by equation (2) (Kelham 1988).
ΔW=(m1-m0)/S
ΔW = A t
The chloride content of UHPC power was determined by
chemical analysis in accordance with JTJ270 and ASTM
C1218. The water-soluble chloride concentration Cws (%
Cl- relative to the concrete mass) can be calculated ac-
cording to Eq.(3), where Cws (%) is the water-soluble
chloride content divided by the mass of sample, CAgNO3
(mol/l) is the concentration of AgNO3 solution, G (g)
represents the mass of concrete powder, V3 (ml) is the
water mass used to dissolve concrete powder, V4 stands
for the mass of filter liquor and V5 (ml) is the mass con-
sumption of AgNO3 solution (Simčič et al. 2015; Wang
et al. 2011).
Cws = CAgNO3×V5×0.03545 G×V4/V3 /
⎡ ⎛ x ⎞⎤
C ( x, t ) = C0 + (C5 − C0 ) ⎢1 − erf ⎜ ⎟⎥
⎢ ⎜ 2 Dap ⋅ t ⎟⎥
⎣ ⎝ ⎠⎦
Chloride penetration into concrete meets the Fick’s
second law, and the high precision prediction model can
be described as equation (4), where C(x, t) presents the
total content of chloride at a depth x and exposure time t
772
(s); CS is the surface chloride concentration (%); Co is the
initial chloride concentration in concrete (%). Addition-
ally the chloride diffusion coefficient titled Dap can be
obtain by fitting chloride profiles with the least-squares
method.
2.3 Permeability test of UHPC after suffering
compressive loading
This section aims to evaluate the permeability behavior
of UHPC after suffering compressive loading. Ultimate
compressive strength of UHPC specimen was firstly
determined, and the value was obtained from the average
value of three testing results. Different percentages of
ultimate compressive strength were applied to UHPC
specimen, subsequently, and the specimens were
unloaded after keeping the certain compressive loading
for 15min. For some part of specimens, the chloride
penetration test contacted with 5% NaCl solution was
conducted for 28d. For another part of specimens, cap-
illary absorption test contacted with water was carried
out after they were completely dry, and the set-up of
capillary absorbed tests can be shown in Fig. 2.
2.4 Self-healing treatment of UHPC after
unloading
Shrinkage stress provided by steel fibers can close the
cracks of UHPC after unloading because of the addition
of steel fibers, and the properties of UHPC suffered
loading damage can be improved by the self-healing
treatment. For investigating the influence of self-healing
treatment on the permeability behavior of UHPC, the
specimens after unloading were moved into the saturated
(1) Ca(OH)2 solution where provided the repair environment
that made the cracks heal. The periods of self-healing
(2)
treatment were 7 days and 28 days. After that, capillary
absorbed and chloride penetration tests were carried out
according to the testing method mentioned above, re-
spectively, which aims to evaluate the permeability be-
havior of UHPC after self-healing treatment.
3. Results and discussion
3.1 Mechanical properties of UHPC under ap-
plied loading
Figure 3(a) shows the stress-strain curve of UHPC under
uniaxial tensile loading. Because of the existence of
bridging traction between steel fibers and cement-based
material, obvious strain hardening is presented for UHPC
(3)
comparing with that for high performance concrete
without steel fibers. Three distinct stages are shown in
the stress-strain curves, including elastic stage, strain
hardening stage and strain softening stage, which mani-
(4) fests UHPC has good tensile resistance under uniaxial
tensile loading. Table 3 describes the mechanical pa-
rameters of UHPC under uniaxial tensile loading. The
UHPC possesses high tensile and bending strengths
because of the addition of steel fibers in cement-based
material, and exhibits strain-hardening, quasi-ductile
Z. Ma, T. Zhao and X. Yao / Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology Vol. 14, 770-781 2016 773

Table 3 Mechanical behaviors of UHPC under uniaxial tensile loading.

Type Cracking stress (MPa) Cracking strain(10-6) Elasticity modulus(MPa) Ultimate Stress(MPa)
3
Adding 0kg/m steel fibers 6.81 211 3.23×104 6.81
Adding 150kg/m3 steel fibers 10.35 328 3.16×104 11.55

behavior. The cracking stress and strain of UHPC added
with 150 kg/m3 steel fibers are approximately 1.52 and
1.56 times as high as that without steel fibers, and the
elasticity modulus of UHPC with steel fibers are lower
than that without steel fibers, which demonstrates that
UHPC with steel fibers possesses the higher elastic de-
formation. Figure 3(b) gives the stress-strain curve un-
der uniaxial compressive loading, and the compressive
strength is about 126MPa.
From the results of mechanical behaviors mentioned
above, it is clearly that UHPC prepared in this paper both
possesses higher strength and strain due to the addition of
steel fibers, compared with ordinary concrete. More
cracks and pores are easy to form with the increase of
applied loads, and they provides more passageways for
water and aggressive ion penetrations into UHPC, which
obviously increases the permeability and durability deg-
radation. Consequently, the water and chloride perme-
ability of UHPC suffered loading damage should be
considered seriously.
3.2 Water permeability of UHPC after suffering
tensile loading
Figure 4 shows the absorbed water curves of UHPC
suffered tensile loading. The maximum amount of ab-
sorbed water increases with the increase of applied ten-
sile loading, and the increasing range becomes more
obvious for the UHPC suffered the high tensile loading.

Fig.2 Experimental specimens and permeability test after suffering compressive strength.

(a) Stress-strain curve under tensile loading (b)Stress-strain curve under compressive loading
Fig. 3 Stress-strain behavior of UHPC under tensile and compressive loadings.
Z. Ma, T. Zhao and X. Yao / Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology Vol. 14, 770-781 2016 774

Such as, the maximum amount of absorbed water at 30%, suffering tensile loading. Figure 4(b) describes the ab-
50% and 80% of ultimate tensile stress are 1.03, 1.78 and sorbed water curves of UHPC after suffering tensile
9 times as high as that at 0% of ultimate tensile stress, loading and 28 days self-healing. The maximum amount
respectively. Analyzing the reason is that the amount of of absorbed water also increases with the increase of
micro cracks and new pores increase with the increase of applied tensile loading; however, the maximum amount
applied tensile loading, and they provide passageways of absorbed water after self-healing is lower than that
for water penetration into UHPC. Moreover, the closed after unloading, comparing with the results in Figs. 4(a)
pores in UHPC are connected with each other under and (b). For example, the maximum amount of absorbed
tensile loading, which also provides passageways for water after unloading is about 1.35 times as high as that
water penetration. Although the obvious cracks cannot after unloading and seal-healing when 80% of ultimate
be seen, the micro cracks and damage caused by the tensile stress is applied to UHPC. The reason is attributed
applied tensile loading are still existed in the inner of to the cracks caused by applied load can be closed be-
specimens both under loading and after unloading, and cause of the existence of steel fibers, and the cracks can
they increase with the increase of applied tensile loading, also be filled with the hydration products in Ca(OH)2
which increases the water permeability, significantly. solution. The passageways for water penetration into
The increase of the maximum amount of absorbed water UHPC is decreased; as a result, the amount of absorbed
is not obviously when the applied tensile stress is below water is reduced after the treatment of self-healing.
30% of ultimate tensile stress; however, it becomes no- Capillary absorption coefficient that represents water
ticeable when the applied tensile stress reaches 80% of penetration ratio is an important parameter to evaluate
ultimate tensile stress because of the multiple micro the water permeability of cement-based materials, and
cracks are formed in UHPC. the results can also be seen from Fig. 4. Both for speci-
Self-healing treatment and capillary absorbed tests mens after unloading and self-healing, the capillary ab-
were respectively carried out to investigate the influence sorption coefficient increases with the raise of applied
of self-healing on water permeability of UHPC after tensile loading, and the increase becomes more remark-
The maximum absorbed water amount, g/m2

The maximum absorbed water amount, g/m2

Capillary absorption coefficient, g/(m2h1/2)

Capillary absorption coefficient, g/(m2h1/2)

500 120 10
10 500 120 10
10

100 100
8 8

80 80
400 6 8 400 6 8
Increasing rate

Increasing rate
60 60

4 4
40 40

300 2
6 300 2
6
20 20
Increasing rate

Increasing rate
0 0 0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

200 Percentage of ultimate stress (%) 4 200 Percentage of ultimate stress (%) 4

100 2 100 2

0 0 0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Percentage of ultimate stress (%) Percentage of ultimate stress (%)

(a) After unloading (b) After unloading and 28 days self-healing
Capillary absorption coefficient, g/(m2h1/2)

100
Capillary absorption coefficient, g/(m2h1/2)

After unloading 100

After unloading and 28d selfhealing

80 80
2
As=X Ps +X Ps+A0
1 2

60 60

40 40

20 20

0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Percentage of ultimate stress (%) Cracking area (mm2)

(c) Relation between the capillary absorption coefficient (d) Relation between the crack area and capillary
and applied tensile stress absorption coefficient
Fig. 4 Water permeability of UHPC after suffering different tensile loadings.
Z. Ma, T. Zhao and X. Yao / Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology Vol. 14, 770-781 2016 775

able when the applied load reaches 80% of ultimate presents the percentages of ultimate tensile stress.
tensile stress. For UHPC after unloading, the capillary Crack development is closely related to the water
absorption coefficient at 30%, 50% and 80% of ultimate permeability of cement-based materials, and the relation
tensile stress are 1.02, 2.03 and 9.1 times as high as that between capillary absorption coefficient and crack area is
without applied loads, respectively; and the results be- established in this paper. Crack area of UHPC was de-
come 0.92, 1.69 and 6.80 times for UHPC after 28 days termined through tensile strain multiplying the width of
self-healing. The capillary absorption coefficient after specimen, and the results show that crack area increases
unloading is higher than that after self-healing compared with the increase of applied tensile loading. Figure 5(b)
with the results in Figs. 4(a) and (b). manifests that there exits a binomial distribution between
Relation between water permeability and suffered the crack area and capillary absorption coefficient, and it
tensile loading is established to evaluate the permeabil- can be used to evaluate the water permeability of UHPC
ity behavior of UHPC after suffering loading damage, as with different crack area. Comparing with the results in
shown in Fig. 4(c). The results manifest that capillary Figs. 4(c) and (d), the influence of applied tensile stress
absorption coefficient increases with the raise of applied and crack area on the water permeability of UHPC are
tensile loadings. Additionally, the capillary absorption similar.
coefficient and applied tensile loading follow binomial Wang has investigated the applied compressive load-
relation with high correlation, which provides an effec- ing on the capillary absorption behavior of ordinary
tive way to evaluate the water permeability of UHPC concrete, and the results show that the capillary absorp-
after suffering tensile loading. The specific formula can tion rate of concrete after suffering 80% of ultimate ten-
be seen from Fig. 4(c), where As is capillary absorption sile stress can be up to 1.7 times as high as that without
coefficient after suffering tensile loading, A0 is the initial applied load (Wang and Li 2014). Comparing with the
capillary absorption coefficient without applied load, Ps results by Wang and that in this paper, the UHPC has Chloride diffusion coefficient, Dap(10 m /s)

15 12
2
-12
Chloride diffusion coefficient, Dap(10 m /s)

15 12
2

10
1.0 12 4.5
-12

1.0 12
10
4.5 8

8
9
4.0

Increasing rate
9
4.0 6
Surface chloride content, Cs (%)
Increasing rate

6 0.8 6
Surface chloride content, Cs (%)

4 3.5
0.8 6
4
3.5
3
2
3.0

Increasing rate
3
2
3.0
Increasing rate

0.6 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
0

0.6 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
0
Percentage of ultimate stress (%) 2.5
Percentage of ultimate stress (%)
2.5

2.0
2.0
0.4
0.4
1.5
1.5

1.0 1.0
0.2 0.2

0.5 0.5

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Percentage of ultimate stress (%) Percentage of ultimate stress (%)

(a) After unloading (b)After unloading and After unloading and 28 days self-healing
After loading
Chloride diffusion coefficient, Dap(10 m /s)

Chloride diffusion coefficient, Dap(10 m /s)

After loading and 28d self-healing 12

2

10
-12

-12

2
Daps=X Ps +X Ps+Dap0 1 2
10
8

6
6

4
4

2
2

0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
2
Percentage of ultimate stress (%) Cracking area (mm )
(c) Relation between chloride diffusion coefficient and (d) Relation between chloride diffusion coefficient
applied tensile stress and crack area
Fig. 5 Chloride permeability of UHPC after suffering different tensile loadings.
Z. Ma, T. Zhao and X. Yao / Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology Vol. 14, 770-781 2016 776

Table 4 Chloride content of UHPC after 7d chloride penetration (%).

Percentages of ultimate tensile Chloride penetration depth (mm)
loading, % 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 12
00% 0.103 0.058 0.041 0.039 0.037 0.037 0.037 0.036 0.037
30% 0.115 0.066 0.049 0.039 0.037 0.038 0.039 0.036 0.036
After unloading
50% 0.213 0.159 0.098 0.071 0.057 0.047 0.044 0.041 0.037
80% 0.328 0.288 0.214 0.142 0.066 0.057 0.044 0.038 0.037
30% 0.102 0.062 0.048 0.039 0.038 0.038 0.037 0.036 0.037
After unloading and
50% 0.162 0.138 0.065 0.069 0.051 0.050 0.038 0.037 0.038
28 days self-healing
80% 0.296 0.233 0.196 0.095 0.059 0.057 0.041 0.039 0.036

Table 5 Chloride content of UHPC after 28d chloride penetration (%).

Percentages of ultimate tensile Chloride penetration depth (mm)
loading, % 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 12
00% 0.143 0.079 0.064 0.059 0.054 0.047 0.037 0.037 0.036
30% 0.165 0.089 0.078 0.062 0.057 0.052 0.044 0.038 0.036
After unloading
50% 0.383 0.194 0.176 0.150 0.127 0.085 0.048 0.041 0.036
80% 0.502 0.355 0.312 0.307 0.286 0.232 0.144 0.064 0.037
30% 0.143 0.079 0.068 0.055 0.049 0.048 0.044 0.038 0.036
After unloading and
50% 0.343 0.218 0.176 0.110 0.842 0.082 0.045 0.039 0.036
28 days self-healing
80% 0.482 0.345 0.232 0.237 0.217 0.211 0.135 0.112 0.037

the higher water permeability behavior than ordinary
concrete because of the addition of steel fibers in UHPC.
The high strain performance of UHPC produces more
micro cracks under applied loads conditions; as a result,
the water permeability of UHPC is much higher than
ordinary concrete after suffering the same percentages
of ultimate tensile stress, which should be considered
seriously in the repair of UHPC after suffering the
damage of tensile loading.
3.3 Chloride permeability of UHPC after suffer-
ing tensile loading
Chloride penetration into concrete is considered to be the
primary cause of steel corrosion in reinforced concrete,
and the steel corrosion in a concrete structure produces
corrosion products that are approximately two to six
times greater in volume than the original steel, which
induces expansive pressure on the surrounding concrete
and eventually causes crack of the concrete cover pro-
gressing toward the concrete surface (Marcotte and
Hansson 2007). Chloride content of UHPC after various
suffering tensile loadings and chloride penetration time
are determined, and the results are shown in Table 4 and
Table 5. The maximum chloride content decreases with
the increase of penetration depth, and it raises with the
increase of applied tensile loading and chloride penetra-
tion time. Such as, the maximum chloride content at 0%,
30%, 50% and 80% of ultimate tensile stress are 0.143%,
0.165%, 0.383% and 0.502% when the chloride pene-
tration time is 28d, respectively. This is attributed to the
chloride penetrates into UHPC primarily by the medium
of water penetration. Water penetration increases with
the increase of applied tensile loadings; consequently,
the chloride content is found to increase with the raise of
applied tensile loading.
Chloride permeability parameters of UHPC after suf-
fering tensile stress are calculated according to the
equation (4), and the results are shown in Fig. 5. Surface
chloride content and chloride diffusion coefficient both
increase with the increase of applied tensile stress. Es-
pecially for UHPC after suffering 80% of ultimate tensile
stress, the increment is more remarkable compared with
that without applied load. For example, the surface
chloride content at 80% of ultimate tensile stress is about
2.65 times as high as that without applied load, and the
result becomes 11.5 times for chloride diffusion coeffi-
cient. In particular, the surface chloride content and
chloride diffusion coefficient of UHPC after self-healing
significantly are lower than that after unloading, which
demonstrates the self-healing treatment can improve the
resistance to chloride penetration, obviously. Comparing
with results shown in Fig. 5(a) and (b), when the applied
load reaches 80% of ultimate tensile stress, the surface
chloride content after self-healing decreases by 8.9%
compared with that after unloading, and the result be-
comes 21.78% for chloride diffusion coefficient. The
relation between chloride diffusion coefficient and ap-
plied tensile loading is established in this paper, as shown
in Fig. 5 (c), to investigate the correlation between the
chloride permeability and applied tensile loading. Chlo-
ride diffusion coefficient increases with the increase of
applied tensile loading, and there exists a good correla-
tion between them. The specific equations can also be
seen form Fig. 5 (c), where Daps is chloride diffusion
coefficient after suffering tensile loading, Dap0 is chloride
diffusion coefficient without applied load. Ps presents the
percentages of ultimate tensile stress, which can be used
to evaluate the chloride permeability of UHPC after
suffering applied tensile loading. Furthermore, the rela-
tion between crack area and chloride diffusion coeffi-
cient of UHPC is also established, as shown in Fig. 5 (d),
which can be used to evaluate the chloride permeability
of UHPC after suffering tensile loading through the
change of crack area.
Z. Ma, T. Zhao and X. Yao / Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology Vol. 14, 770-781 2016 777

3.4 Water permeability of UHPC after suffering unloading, and the self-healing time were 7d and 28d,
compressive loading respectively, as shown in Fig. 6 (b) and (c). Comparing
This section mainly discusses the permeability behavior with the results of Figs. 6 (a), (b) and (c), it is obvious
of UHPC after suffering compressive loading. Figure 6 that the self-healing treatment can reduce the amount of
(a) gives the absorbed water curves of UHPC after suf- absorbed water, and the decrease is more obvious with
fering various compressive loadings, and the results the increase of self-healing time. When the applied
show that the amount of absorbed water increases with compressive stress is 80% of ultimate compressive
the increase of applied compressive loading. For exam- strength, the maximum amount of absorbed water after
ple, the maximum amount of absorbed water for UHPC 28 days self-healing decreases by 24.7% compared with
after suffering 30%, 50% and 80% of ultimate compres- that after unloading.
sive strength are about 1.33, 1.57 and 2.03 times as high Capillary absorption coefficients of UHPC after suf-
as that without applied load. The reason is due to the fering compressive stress are also given in Fig. 6. Cap-
cracks and pores are developed with the increase of ap- illary absorption coefficient increases with the raise of
plied compressive loading, and more passageways are applied compressive loading, and the increment becomes
provided for water penetration into UHPC; consequently, noticeable for UHPC after suffering high compressive
the amount of absorbed water raises with the increase of loading. For example, the absorption coefficient of
applied compressive loading. Especially for UHPC after UHPC with 80% of ultimate compressive strength is
suffering high compressive loading that above 80% of about 2.47 times as high as that without applied load.
ultimate compressive strength, the increase becomes Moreover, the self-healing treatment can reduce the
more obvious. For investigating the effect of self-healing capillary absorption coefficient of UHPC after suffering
treatment on the water permeability of UHPC, the compressive loading, and the result becomes more ob-
self-healing treatment was applied to the UHPC after vious with the increase of applied self-healing time.
Capillary absorption coefficient, g/(m2h1/2)

Capillary absorption coefficient, g/(m2h1/2)

150 3.0
150 3.0
The maximum absorbed water amount, g/m2

The maximum absorbed water amount, g/m2

300 120
2.5 3.0 300 2.5 3.0
120

2.0
2.0
90
Increasing rate

90

Increasing rate
250 1.5
2.5 250 1.5
2.5
60
60
1.0 1.0

30 30
200 0.5
2.0 200 0.5
2.0
0 0.0 0 0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Increasing rate

Increasing rate
Percentage of ultimate stress (%) Percentage of ultimate stress (%)
150 1.5 150 1.5

100 1.0 100 1.0

50 0.5 50 0.5

0 0.0 0 0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Percentage of ultimate stress (%) Percentage of ultimate stress (%)

(a) After unloading (b) After unloading and 7 days self-healing
Capillary absorption coefficient, g/(m2h1/2)

100
Capillary absorption coefficient, g/(m2h1/2)

150 3.0 After unloading

After unloading and 7d self-healing
The maximum absorbed water amount, g/m2

300 120
2.5 3.0
90 After unloading and 28d self-healing
2.0
Increasing rate

90

250 1.5
2.5 2
60
1.0
80 Ac=X Pc +X Pc+A0 1 2

30
200 0.5
2.0
70
0 0.0
Increasing rate

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Percentage of ultimate stress (%)

150 1.5 60

100 1.0 50

50 0.5 40

0 0.0 30
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Percentage of ultimate stress Percentage of ultimmater compressive strength (%)

(c) After unloading and28 days self-healing (d)Relation between capillary absorption coefficient
and suffered compressive strength
Fig.6 Water permeability of HSC after suffering various compressive loadings.
Z. Ma, T. Zhao and X. Yao / Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology Vol. 14, 770-781 2016 778

Table 6 Chloride content of UHPC after suffering various compressive loading (%).
Percentages of ultimate Chloride penetration depth (mm)
compressive loading, % 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 12
00% 0.156 0.084 0.078 0.054 0.049 0.038 0.035 0.035 0.037
30% 0.351 0.223 0.130 0.123 0.088 0.058 0.051 0.042 0.041
After unloading
50% 0.430 0.213 0.192 0.167 0.120 0.086 0.046 0.043 0.038
80% 0.466 0.255 0.202 0.201 0.180 0.147 0.060 0.045 0.043
30% 0.325 0.195 0.108 0.114 0.101 0.074 0.045 0.038 0.037
After unloading and
50% 0.417 0.210 0.171 0.160 0.129 0.109 0.053 0.045 0.037
7 days self-healing
80% 0.456 0.255 0.201 0.197 0.174 0.146 0.067 0.046 0.044
30% 0.253 0.123 0.105 0.069 0.057 0.038 0.035 0.036 0.036
After unloading and
50% 0.312 0.160 0.131 0.117 0.104 0.086 0.041 0.040 0.039
28 days self-healing
80% 0.347 0.197 0.174 0.135 0.125 0.112 0.067 0.046 0.039

Capillary absorption coefficient of UHPC specimen after pressive strength. Analyzing the reason is that the prop-
7 days and 28 days self-healing respectively decrease by erties of mortar and aggregate play the major role to
2.6% and 23.9% compared with that without applied load. resist the compressive loading, and the impact of influ-
Self-healing treatment and shrinkage properties of ence of steel fibers becomes reduced. The crack devel-
UHPC after unloading both can decrease and repair the opments in ordinary concrete and UHPC are also similar
cracks caused by applied compressive loading, which after suffering the same percentage of ultimate com-
makes the capillary absorption coefficient decrease. pressive strength; as a result, water permeability of
Figure 6(d) shows the relation between capillary ab- UHPC is similar with that of ordinary concrete.
sorption coefficient and applied compressive loading, For investigating the relation between cracks and
and there exists a good correlation between them, and it permeability behavior of UHPC, the crack area per unit
can be used to evaluate the water permeability of UHPC cross-sectional area also named crack area titled (εc) is
after suffering compressive loading. Specific formula is frequently used to evaluate the cracks development in
also shown in Fig. 6(d), where Ac is capillary absorption concrete under the action of compressive loading in
coefficient after suffering compressive loading, A0 is terms of the Loo’s theory, which represents a ratio be-
capillary absorption coefficient without applied load and tween the area change caused by the crack development
Pc presents the percentage of ultimate compressive and the cross-sectional area of concrete (Loo 1992). The
strength. specific formula can be seen from equation (6), where εc
The influence of applied compressive loading on the is specific crack area, ΔSc is area change caused by crack
capillary absorption behavior of ordinary concrete has development, S stands for the cross-sectional area, εx is
been conducted by Wang, and the results demonstrate transverse strain, μe represents Poisson's ratio and εy is
that the capillary absorption rate of concrete after suf- longitudinal strain.
fering 80% of ultimate compressive strength is about
2.3 times as high as that without applied load (Wang and εc =ΔSc / S=εx-μeεy (6)
Li 2014). Comparing with the results of capillary ab-
sorption behavior of ordinary concrete and UHPC in Figure 7 gives the relation between the capillary ab-
this paper, it is clearly that the UHPC has the similar sorption coefficient and εc of UHPC after suffering
capillary absorption behavior with ordinary concrete various compressive loadings. The capillary absorption
after suffering the same percentage of ultimate com- coefficient increases with the increase of εc, and the in-
fluence of εc on the capillary absorption coefficient is not
50 50
obvious when the applied load bellows 50% of ultimate
compressive stress. However, the εc increases, signifi-
40
cantly, as well as capillary absorption coefficient when
40
30 the applied load is above 80% of ultimate strength. Ana-
lyzing the reason is that the residual specific crack area of
εm(με)

20
30
UHPC after suffering 80% of ultimate compressive
strength cannot be ignored, and the residual damage
10
εc (με)

20 0
becomes more serious, which provides more cracks for
40 50 60 70 80

Capillary absorption coefficient, g/(m 2h 1/2 )

90 100
water penetration into UHPC.
10

3.5 Chloride permeability of UHPC after suffer-

0 ing compressive loading
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Table 6 describes the chloride content curves of UHPC
Capillary absorption coefficient, g/(m 2 h 1/2 ) after suffering compressive loading, and the applied
Fig. 7 Relation between capillary absorption coefficient compressive loading has an obvious impact on the chlo-
and specific crack area for UHPC after suffering com- ride permeability of UHPC. The maximum chloride
pressive loading. content of UHPC with 30%, 50% and 80% of ultimate
Z. Ma, T. Zhao and X. Yao / Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology Vol. 14, 770-781 2016 779

compressive strength are respectively 2.25, 2.76 and 2.99 ordinary with the same applied percentage of ultimate
times as high as that without applied load. In addition, the compressive strength, which is attributed to the UHPC
maximum chloride content of UHPC after suffering the has higher density as well as better resistance to chloride
self-healing treatment presents a decrease compared with penetration.
that after unloading. Such as, when the applied com- The relation between chloride diffusion coefficient
pressive reaches 80% of ultimate compressive strength, and applied compressive stress is also established in this
the UHPC after 28 days self-healing treatment decrease section, and the results are given in Fig. 9(a), which aims
by 25.5% compared with that after unloading. Moreover, to evaluate the chloride permeability of UHPC after
the UHPC after the longer period of self-healing pos- suffering various compressive loadings. The chloride
sesses the better resistance to chloride penetration. diffusion coefficient raises with the increase of applied
Figure 8 shows the parameters of chloride perme- compressive stress, and there exists a good correlation
ability of UHPC after suffering compressive loading. between them. Additionally, the specific equations can
Surface chloride content and chloride diffusion coeffi- also be described in Fig. 9(a), where Dapc is chloride
cient of UHPC both increase with the raise of applied diffusion coefficient after suffering compressive stress,
compressive loading, and they decrease with the increase Dap0 is chloride diffusion coefficient without applied load.
of self-healing time under the same applied load condi- Pc presents the percentages of ultimate compressive
tion. Zhang has investigated the chloride permeability of strength, which can be used to evaluate the chloride
ordinary concrete after suffering the damage of com- permeability of UHPC after suffering compressive
pressive loading, as shown in Fig. 8(d) (Zhang et al. loading. Figure 9(b) shows the relation between chloride
2014). Comparing with the results obtained by Zhang diffusion coefficient and specific crack area of UHPC
and tested in this paper, the applied compressive loading after suffering compressive loading, and they follows the
above 80% of ultimate compressive strength increases binomial relation with a good correlation, which can be
the chloride diffusion coefficient both for the ordinary used to evaluate the chloride permeability of UHPC after
concrete and UHPC, significantly; however, the UHPC suffering compressive loading.
possesses the lower chloride diffusion coefficient than
5 4.0
Chloride diffusion coefficient, Dap(10 m /s)
2

5 4.0
Chloride diffusion coefficient, Dap(10 m /s)

3.5
2

-12

3.5
1.0 4.5
-12

4
4 3.0
1 .0 3.0 4 .5
2.5
3
4.0

Increasing rate
2.5
3
Increasing rate

4 .0 2.0
Surface chloride content, Cs (%)

2.0

0.8 2
1.5
Surface chloride content, Cs (%)

0 .8
2
1.5 3.5
1.0
3 .5 1.0
1
1
0.5
0.5 3.0
3 .0
0
-10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
0.0 0.6 0
-10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
0.0

0 .6 2.5

Increasing rate
Pe rc entage of ultim a te stress Percentage of ultimate stress
2 .5
Increasing rate

2.0
2 .0 0.4
0 .4
1.5
1 .5

1.0
1 .0 0.2
0 .2

0 .5 0.5

0 .0 0 .0 0.0 0.0
-1 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Percen tag e of u ltim ate stress Percentage of ultimate stress

(a) After unloading (b) After unloading and 7d self-healing
5 4.0
Chloride diffusion coefficient, Dap(10 m /s)

Chloride diffusion coefficient, Dap(10 m /s)

2

3.5
-12

18 Ordinary concrete with 26MPa obtained by Zhang

2

4
1.0 3.0 4.5
Ordinary concrete with 49MPa obtained by Zhang
-12

2.5

HPC with 126MPa in this paper

3
Increasing rate

2.0 4.0
15
Surface chloride content, Cs (%)

2
1.5
0.8
1.0
3.5
1
0.5 12
3.0
0 0.0
0.6 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Percentage of ultimate stress

2.5
Increasing rate

9
2.0
0.4
1.5 6

1.0
0.2
3
0.5

0.0 0.0 0
-10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Percentage of ultimate stress Percentage of ultimate compressive strength (%)

(c) After unloading and 28d self-healing (d) Comparing results between UHPC in this paper
and ordinary concrete according to the reference
Fig. 8 Chloride permeability of UHPC after suffering various compressive strength.
Z. Ma, T. Zhao and X. Yao / Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology Vol. 14, 770-781 2016 780
50
Chloride diffusion coefficient, Dap(10 m /s)
4.5
2

A fter unloading
-12

A fter unloading and 7d healding 40

4.0
A fter unloading and 28d healding
3.5 2
D apc =X P c +X P c + D ap0
1 2 30
3.0

εc(με)
2.5 20

2.0
10
1.5

1.0 0

0.5
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
-12 2
Percentage of u ltim m ater com pressive streng th (% ) Chloride diffusion coefficient, Dap(10 m /s)
(a) Relation between chloride diffusion coefficient (b) Relation between chloride diffusion coefficient
and suffered compressive strength and specific crack area
Fig.9 Relation between the chloride permeability and applied compressive stress.

4. Conclusions effective method to repair the UHPC after suffering

loading damage.
UHPC with steel fibers possesses good tensile and
compressive strengths. However, the permeability be- Acknowledgement
havior should be considered seriously for UHPC suf- The authors gratefully acknowledge substantial support
fered loading damage, which increases the durability of ongoing projects Chinese National 973 Plan
degradation. This paper is developed to investigate the (2015CB655100), National Natural Science Foundation
permeability behavior and self-healing properties of of China (51608383).
UHPC after suffering applied loading. Based on the
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