Effects of High Temperature on the Residual Performance of Portland Cement Concretes

Authors:
Open Access
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In this work we analyzed the "residual" performance of Portland cement concretes heat-treated at 600 °C after cooling down to room temperature. Concretes with characteristic compressive strength at 28 days of 45 MPa and of 60 MPa were studied. The heat-treatment was carried out without any imposed load. We measured the residual compressive strength and modulus of elasticity. The geometry of the structure was described by mercury intrusion porosimetry and nitrogen sorption tests. We observed a decrease of residual compressive strength and modulus of elasticity, with the raise of heat-treatment temperature, as a result of heat-induced material degradation. The results also indicated that the microstructural damage increased steadily with increasing temperature. Based on the results of this experimental work we concluded that residual mechanical properties of concrete are dependent of their original non heat-treated values