MAHATMA GANDHI INSTITUTE

OF TECHNOLOGY

REACTIVE POWDER CONCRETE

BY

K.VIKAS
16261A0191
CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION
• REACTIVE POWDER CONCRETE
• COMPONENTS OF RPC
• COMPOSITION OF RPC
• COMPARISON OF RPC
• PROPERTIES OF RPC
• ADVANTAGES & LIMITATIONS
• FACTORS AFFECTING
• SOCIAL RELEVANCE
INTRODUCTION

The concept of reactive powder concrete was first developed by P. Richard

and M. Cheyrezy
Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is ultra-high strength and high ductile
composite material with advanced mechanical properties.
Reactive powder concrete is a concrete without coarse aggregate.
REACTIVE POWDER CONCRETE

• Reactive powder concrete is a special type of concrete that very

dense matrix is achieved by the granular packing of the dry fine
powders.
COMPONENTS OF RPC
CEMENT
SAND
QUARTZ POWDER
SILICA FUME
STEEL FIBERS
SUPER PLASTICIZER
CEMENT
Ordinary Portland cement of
medium fineness is suitable for
making RPC.
Its particle size ranges from 1µm to
100µm.
Optimum cement properties are
i. C3S: 60%
ii. C2S: 22%
iii. C3A: 3.8%
iv. C4AF: 7.4%
SAND
• Natural river bed or crushed
sand of particle size 150 to 600
micron is recommended.
• It should be of good hardness
and readily available at low cost.
• In reactive powder concrete,the
size of the sand particles is larger
hence, their function is to give
strength to the concrete mix.
QUARTZ POWDER
Generally quartz powder is
available in crystalline form.
The particle size should be 5
microns to 25 microns.
The main function of quartz is to
give maximum resistance to the
concrete against heat.
SILICA FUME

The particle size of silica fume is

about 0.1 micron to 1 micron.
Its function is to fill the small
voids and also to enhance flow
properties of concrete and to
increase the strength.
STEEL FIBERS
Steel fibers of length 13 to 25
mm and 0.15 to 0.2 mm
diameter are selected to prepare
RPC.
It improves ductility of the
concrete.
COMPOSITION OF REACTIVE
POWDER CONCRETE
COMPOSITION OF RPC 200Mpa COMPOSITION OF RPC 800Mpa
INGREDIENT Ingredient Quantity (kg/m3)
OPC ( Type V) 1000
OPC ( Type V) 955
Fine Sand (150 – 400
500
Fine Sand (150 – 400 micron)
1051
micron) Quartz powder 390
(4 microns)
Silica Fume 229 Silica Fume 230
Super Plasticizer 13 Super Plasticizer 18
Steel Fibers 630
Steel Fibers 191
Water 180
Water 153
COMPARISON OF RPC 200Mpa &
800Mpa
Property RPC 200 Mpa RPC 800 Mpa

Compressive strength (using 170 to 230 490 to 680

quartz,sand), Mpa

Compressive strength (using steel

– 650 to 810
fibres aggregate), Mpa

Flexural strength, Mpa 30 to 60 45 to 141

PROPERTIES OF RPC
• COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH
Normal RPC provides compressive strength upto 200Mpa.
By the optimum use of quartz sand, steel aggregate and heat
treatment, compressive strength 600-800Mpa is obtained.
• FLEXURAL STRENGTH
Here the increase of flexural strength of RPC with the addition of
fibers.
RPC 200Mpa should have an approximate flexural strength of 40
Mpa.
FACTORS AFFECTING STRENGTH OF
RPC
• SILICA FUME PERCENTAGE
• QUARTZ POWDER
• CURING REGIME
ADVANTAGES
Due to its High ductility property it always compete with steel.
Fine ingredients makes the concrete void proof.
There is a reduction of dead load of structure due to higher shear
capacity along with superior strength.
RPC members have great resistance against seismic forces.
LIMITATIONS
There is no official code provided for Reactive powder concrete mix
design.
Aggregate replacing materials used in RPC are slightly expensive
which increases the project cost.
STRUCTURES BUILT USING RPC

SHERBROOKE PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

QUINGHAI-TIBET RAILWAY BRIDGE
 SOCIAL RELEVANCE

• This type of concrete is especially Suitable for construction in extreme

climatic conditions.
• Reactive Powder Concrete can be used at that place where
application of normal concrete is not possible.
• It can be generally used as a repair material and also in the earth
quake prone areas structures.
REFERENCES
• theconstructor.org
• theconcreteportal.com
• www.sciencedirect.com