Synthesis and Flocculation of Polyacrylamide with Low Water Absorption for Non-dispersible Underwater Concrete

The polyacrylamide which is directly added into concrete shows strong water absorption property.Thus the construction of underwater constructure would demand high amount of water,resulting in poor workability of concrete and strength shrinkage after hardening.Herein,a kind of anionic polyacrylamide(APAM)grafted with water reducing functional group(-COOH)was synthesized at low temperatures by partial factor design and response surface design.The structure and morphology of APAM were characterized by UV,FTIR and SEM methods.The experimental results show that the molecular weight of the synthesized APAM could reach 11 million,under the condition that the temperature was 35℃,the pH value was 8,the monomer concentration was 27wt%,the initiator dosage was 0.6wt%,and the monomer ratio(n(AM):n(AA))was 3.When the APAM was applied into the underwater slurry,it presented good flocculation and low water demand.When the dosage was 1%of the mass of the cement,the water demand increased by 12%,which could meet the self-leveling and anti-dispersity of the underwater slurry at the same time.This technology provides technical guidance for the large-scale industrial production of polyacrylamide for underwater concrete construction while achieving environmental protection during production.

Analysis on Pore Structure of Non-Dispersible Underwater Concrete in Saline Soil Area

In this paper,mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP)is used to test the pore structure of non-dispersible underwater concrete so as to study the influence of pouring and curing environment,age and slag powder on the pore characteristics of concrete,analyze the pore characteristics,porosity and pore distribution of concrete in different hydration stages,and reveal the relationship between pore structure and permeability of concrete.The results show that the pore-size distribution of concrete in fresh water condition is better than that in sulfate environment and mixed salt environment,and therefore,sulfate as well as mixed salt are not conducive to the development of pore structure of non-dispersible underwater concrete;chlorine salt has little effect on the pore structure of nondispersible underwater concrete;under the three conditions of sulfate,chlorine and mixed salt,the porosity of concrete mixed with slag powder is lower than that of concrete without slag powder.The results indicate that the addition of slag powder can ameliorate the pore size distribution of non-dispersed underwater concrete,reduce the porosity,and make the concrete structure more compact,which is beneficial to improve the permeability resistance of concrete at the macro level.

Effect of GGBS on performance deterioration of non-dispersible underwater concrete in saline soil

In saline soil areas,there are a large number of ions in soil or water environments,such as Cl^(-)and SO_(4)^(2-),which have strong corrosive interactions with buildings.To study the deterioration of non-dispersible underwater concrete in sulfate,chloride,and mixed salt environments,the compressive strength and deterioration resistance coefficient of the studied concrete mixed with different amounts of ground granulated blast-furnace slag(GGBS)were analyzed in this paper.At the same time,the micro morphology and corrosion products distribution of the studied concrete were observed by means of SEM,plus XRD diffraction,TG-DTG and FT-IR analyses to explore the influence of corrosive solutions on the hydration products of concrete.We also analyzed the mechanism of improving the deterioration resistance of the studied concrete by adding GGBS in a saline soil environment.The results show that the compressive strength of the studied concrete in a chloride environment was close to that in a fresh water environment,which means that chloride has no adverse effect on compressive strength.The deterioration of the studied concrete was most serious in a sulfate environment,followed by mixed salt environment,and the lowest in a chloride environment.In addition,by adding GGBS,the compressive strength and deterioration resistance of the studied concrete could be effectively improved.

Calculation of Mass Concrete Temperature Containing Cooling Water Pipe Based on Substructure and Iteration Algorithm

Mathematical physics equations are often utilized to describe physical phenomena in various fields of science and engineering.One such equation is the Fourier equation,which is a commonly used and effective method for evaluating the effectiveness of temperature control measures for mass concrete.One important measure for temperature control in mass concrete is the use of cooling water pipes.However,the mismatch of grids between large-scale concrete models and small-scale cooling pipe models can result in a significant waste of calculation time when using the finite element method.Moreover,the temperature of the water in the cooling pipe needs to be iteratively calculated during the thermal transfer process.The substructure method can effectively solve this problem,and it has been validated by scholars.The Abaqus/Python secondary development technology provides engineers with enough flexibility to combine the substructure method with an iteration algorithm,which enables the creation of a parametric modeling calculation for cooling water pipes.This paper proposes such a method,which involves iterating the water pipe boundary and establishing the water pipe unit substructure to numerically simulate the concrete temperature field that contains a cooling water pipe.To verify the feasibility and accuracy of the proposed method,two classic numerical examples were analyzed.The results showed that this method has good applicability in cooling pipe calculations.When the value of the iteration parameterαis 0.4,the boundary temperature of the cooling water pipes can meet the accuracy requirements after 4∼5 iterations,effectively improving the computational efficiency.Overall,this approach provides a useful tool for engineers to analyze the temperature control measures accurately and efficiently for mass concrete,such as cooling water pipes,using Abaqus/Python secondary development.

Identification of the Diffusion Coefficients of Pollutants ( N O 3 - and Mn2+) through the Walls of Concrete Tank and Vulnerability of the Stored Water Quality

The populations of urban centers in Congo-Brazzaville have decided to develop various methods of water storage (concrete or masonry underground tanks) for domestic use, due to shortages in the distribution of water through the public network. However, questions remain as to the physico-chemical quality of the water stored in these tanks, when these structures are built in wet and relatively polluted areas. This paper presents a model of pollutant diffusion through the cementitious matrix (concrete) of tank walls simulated at a buried reservoir. The results of the experimental and numerical simulations show that certain concrete parameters, such as porosity, permeability and diffusivity, have a significant influence on the transfer of pollutants through the concrete walls, thus altering the physico-chemical quality of the stored water. The numerical models (1D) used to predict pollutant transfer and the quality of the stored water are consistent with those of the optimal control for identifying the diffusion coefficient. Major ion concentrations appear to be correlated with system porosity and diffusion coefficient. Nevertheless, the identification of the diffusion coefficient from the optimal control method, based on an explicit numerical resolution of a finite volume PDE for the approximation of the experiment, is not consistent with that of the optimal control method.

Study of damage to a high concrete dam subjected to underwater shock waves

To study the effect of a strong underwater shock wave on a concrete dam, this research aims to improve hammer impact methods in model tests. Six 1:200 scale models were designed and tested under distributed impact loads. A device was deployed for a direct measurement of the impact force at the upstream face of the dams. The model dam bases were anchored to prevent displacement. The experimental results indicate that the top part of the concrete dam is a weak zone, and the impact failure initiates with a fracture on the top of the dam. The peak value of impact stress increases when the second crack appears in the concrete dam from the upstream face to the downstream face. And, the level of the second crack in the dam body is lower as the peak value of impact stress increases. In this study, dynamic analysis was conducted by calculating the results to verify the effectiveness of a device to directly measure the impact force. This method may be used to approximately forecast the damage of concrete dam and may also be useful in other engineering applications.

Effect of Hydration Aging and Water Binder Ratio on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Sprayed Concrete

In order to study the durability of sprayed concrete （shotcrete）, effects of different hydration aging and water-binder ratio （w/b） on the microstructure of cement paste and basic mechanical properties of test specimens were investigated. The phase composition, mass percentage of ettringite and portland in hydration production and microstructure were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, thermo gravimetry-differential scanning calorimetry （TG-DSC） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, respectively. The experimental results showed that changes in phase composition was more significant than those of water-binder ratio. With hydration aging and water-binder ratio increased, the mass percentage of ettringite and portland was decreased from 4.42%, 1.49% to 3.31%, 1.35%, respectively and the microstructure of paste was significantly compacted. Likewise, the mechanical properties including cubic compressive strength and splitting tensile strength were rised obviously.

Influence of subsequent curing on water sorptivity and pore structure of steam-cured concrete

Steam-cured condition is found to cause larger porosity and worse properties of concrete compared with normal curing condition. For the sake of seeking effective measurements to eliminate this bad effect of steam-cured condition on concrete, the water sorptivity and pore structure of steam-cured concretes exposed to different subsequent curing conditions were investigated after steam-curing treatment. The capillary absorption coefficient and porosity of the corresponding concretes were analyzed, and their mechanisms were also discussed. The results indicate that water sorptivity and pore structure of steam-cured concrete are greatly influenced by the curing condition used in subsequent ages. Exposure steam-cured concrete to air condition has an obviously bad effect on its properties and microstructures. Adopting subsequent curing of immersing steam-cured concrete into about 20℃ water after steam curing period can significantly decrease its capillary absorption coefficient and porosity. Steam-cured concrete with 7 d water curing has minimum capillary absorption coefficient and total porosity. Its water sorptivity is decreased by 23% compared with standard curing concrete and the porosity is 9.6% lower. Moreover, the corresponding gradient of water sorptivity and porosity of steam-cured concrete both decrease, thus mictostructure of concrete becomes more homogeneous.

Mechanical Properties of Sea Water Sea Sand Coral Concrete Modified with Different Cement and Fiber Types

The mechanical properties of modified sea water sea sand coral concrete(SWSSCC)under axial compression were experimentally studied.Two different parameters were considered in this test:types of cement and fiber.An experimental campaign was developed involving uniaxial compression tests and the use of digital image correlation(DIC)method to analyze the strain distribution and crack propagation of specimen.Test results indicated that the compressive strength and elastic modulus of SWSSCC were improved by adding stainless steel fibers(SSF),while polypropylene fibers(PF)enhanced the SWSSCC peak deformation.It was found that the elastic modulus and strength of SWSSCC using ordinary Portland cement(OPC)were higher compared to specimen with low alkalinity sulphoaluminate cement(LAS).Typical strain distribution changed with the variation of fiber types.The propagation and characteristics of cracks in SWSSCC containing PF were similar to those of cracks in SWSSCC.However,the propagation of cracks and the development of plastic deformation in SWSSCC were effectively hindered by adopting SSF.Finally,an analytical stress-strain expression of specimen considering the influences of fibers was established.The obtained results would provide a basis for the application of SWSSCC.

Effect of Alkaline Electrolyzed Water on Performance Improvement of Green Concrete with High Volume of Mineral Admixtures

The strength and durability of concrete will be significantly reduced at high volume of mineral admixture,and the poor early strength of concrete also still needs to be solved.In this investigation,a highly active alkaline electrolyzed waters was used as mixing water to improve the early strength and enhance the durability of green concrete with high volume mineral admixture,the influences of alkaline electrolyzed water(AEW)on hydration activity of mineral admixture and durability of concrete were determined.The results showed that compared with natural tap water,AEW can accelerate early hydration process of cement in concrete and produce comparatively more hydrated products,leading to a 13.6%higher compressive strength than that of ordinary concrete at early age,but the improvement effect of AEW concrete was relatively reduced at long-term age.Meanwhile,the activity of mineral admixtures could be stimulated by AEW to some extent,the strength and durability performance of AEW concrete after double doping 25%slag and 25%fly ash can still reach the level of ordinary cement concrete without mineral admixtures.The SEM micromorphology of 7 d hydrated natural tap water cement paste was observed to be flaky and tabular,but the AEW cement pastes present obvious cluster and granulation phenomenon.The SEM microstructure of AEW concrete with mineral admixtures is more developed and denser than ordinary tap water concrete with mineral admixtures.Therefore,the AEW probably could realize the effective utilization of about 50%mineral admixture amount of concrete without strength loss,the cement production cost and associated CO_(2) emission reduced,which has a good economic and environmental benefit.

Additional water use influencing strength and fluidity of recycled concrete

Through adding different additional water use,the compressive strength,splitting tensile strength and fluidity of recycled concrete of three aggregate combination forms were studied by experiment respectively.The experimental results show that with the increase of adding additional water use,the compressive strength and splitting tensile strength of recycled coarse aggregate concrete decrease,but that of recycled fine aggregate concrete and recycled all aggregate concrete increase firstly then decrease.When additional water use is added more 15% or 20% than that of basic ordinary concrete,the recycled coarse aggregate concrete and fine one can get pretty good fluidity.When it is added more 30%,the recycled all aggregate concrete has fluidity that is just satisfied.

Non-Contact Terahertz Inspection of Water Content in Concrete of Infrastructure Buildings

Concrete is the most widely used for construction materials in the world. Water content of concrete is an important parameter in terms durability of concrete structures. Terahertz (THz) waves, for which concrete is a porous and absorbable material, have been studied in order to establish a new non-contact inspection technology for maintenance of concrete structures. In this study, THz transmittance and reflectance of concrete in drying process were measured with a 60 GHz GUNN diode and absorption coefficient is analyzed for concrete with various water contents. It is shown that quantitative detection below 10% is possible for the water content at surface area of concrete.

Internal Curing Using Water-releasing Material for High Strength Micro-expansive Concrete

Due to its low water content, it is difficult for expansive agent to have an effective expansive effect on high strength concrete to compensate its extensive shrinkage and form a certain expansion. To solve this problem, water-releasing material with water storage and releasing characteristics was incorporated into high strength micro-expansive concrete to provide internal curing, and expansive effect of expansive agent was improved. Migration of water from initially saturated water-releasing material to the surrounding hydrating cement paste was investigated. Based on a given efficient diffusion distance of water stored in water-releasing material, the mass and real water-cement ratio of cured cement paste were estimated. At the same time, the effect of internal curing of water-releasing material on the volume deformation of high strength micro-expansive concrete was investigated.

Water Absorption and Chloride Ion Penetrability of Concrete Damaged by Freeze-thawing and Loading

In order to investigate water and chloride ion transport in damaged concrete, three types of concrete were prepared, freeze-thawing（F-T） cycling and compressive loading were adopted to induce damage to concrete. Ultrasonic pulse velocity technique was used for evaluating the damage degree of concrete, and the defects of damaged concrete were also detected by X-CT. Water absorption and chloride ion penetrability were used for describing the transport properties of damaged concrete. Effects of damage degree on the water absorption rate and chloride ion penetrability were investigated in detail and the relationships were also established. The results show that the water absorption of concrete makes various responses to damage degree due to the difference of concrete type and damage method. For same concrete with similar damage degree, the water absorption rate of F-T damaged concrete is usually larger than that of concrete damaged by loading. The chloride ion penetrability of damaged concrete increases linearly with increasing damage degree, which is more sensitive to damage degree if the original penetrability of sound concrete is higher.

Water Permeability in Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete

This research investigated the water permeability coefficient of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete. The effect of sodium hydroxide （Na（OH）） concentrations and Si/AI ratios on water permeability and compressive strength of geopolymer concretes were studied. The geopolymer concrete were prepared from Mae Moh fly ash with sodium silicate （Na2SiO3） and sodium hydroxide （Na（OH）） solutions. In the first group, concentration of Na（OH） was varied at 8, 10, 12, and 14 molar and the Si/AI ratio was kept constant at 1.98. In the second group, a concentration of Na（OH） was kept constant at 14 molar and the Si/AI ratio was varied at 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, and 2.8. The hardened concretes were air-cured in laboratory. The compressive strength and water permeability were tested at the age of 28 and 60 days. The results showed that compressive strengths of geopolymer concrete significantly increased with the increase of a concentration of Na（OH） and Si/AI ratio. The water permeability coefficients increase with the decrease of compressive strength. In addition, the high reduction of water permeability coefficients with time was found in geopolymer concrete with lower Na（OH） concentration than that higher Na（OH） concentration.

Tests on Alkali-Activated Slag Foamed Concrete with Various Water-Binder Ratios and Substitution Levels of Fly Ash

To provide basic data for the reasonable mixing design of the alkali-activated (AA) foamed concrete as a thermal insulation material for a floor heating system, 9 concrete mixes with a targeted dry density less than 400 kg/m3 were tested. Ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) as a source material was activated by the following two types of alkali activators: 10% Ca(OH)2 and 4% Mg(NO3)2, and 2.5% Ca(OH)2 and 6.5% Na2SiO3. The main test parameters were water-to-binder (W/B) ratio and the substitution level (RFA) of fly ash (FA) for GGBS. Test results revealed that the dry density of AA GGBS foamed concrete was independent of the W/B ratio an RFA, whereas the compressive strength increased with the decrease in W/B ratio and with the increase in RFA up to 15%, beyond which it decreased. With the increase in the W/B ratio, the amount of macro capillaries and artificial air pores increased, which resulted in the decrease of compressive strength. The magnitude of the environmental loads of the AA GGBS foamed concrete is independent of the W/B ratio and RFA. The largest reduction percentage was found in the photochemical oxidation potential, being more than 99%. The reduction percentage was 87% - 93% for the global warming potential, 81% - 84% for abiotic depletion, 79% - 84% for acidification potential, 77% - 85% for eutrophication potential, and 73% - 83% for human toxicity potential. Ultimately, this study proved that the developed AA GGBS foamed concrete has a considerable promise as a sustainable construction material for nonstructural element.

Thermal field in water pipe cooling concrete hydrostructures simulated with singular boundary method

The embedded water pipe system is often used as a standard cooling technique during the construction of large-scale mass concrete hydrostructures. The prediction of the temperature distribution considering the cooling effects of embedded pipes plays an essential role in the design of the structure and its cooling system. In this study, the singular boundary method, a semi-analytical meshless technique, was employed to analyze the temperature distribution. A numerical algorithm solved the transient temperature field with consideration of the effects of cooling pipe specification, isolation of heat of hydration, and ambient temperature. Numerical results are verified through comparison with those of the finite element method, demonstrating that the proposed approach is accurate in the simulation of the thermal field in concrete structures with a water cooling pipe.

The damage to model concrete gravity dams subjected to water explosions

Over the past century,the safety of dams has gradually attracted attention from all parties.Research on the dynamic response and damage evolution of dams under extreme loads is the basis of dam safety issues.In recent decades,scholars have studied the responses of dams under earthquake loads,but there is still much room for improvement in experimental and theoretical research on small probability loads such as explosions.In this paper,a 50-m-high concrete gravity dam is used as a prototype dam,and a water explosion model test of a 2.5-m-high concrete gravity dam is designed.The water pressure and the acceleration response of the dam body in the test are analysed.The pressure characteristics and dynamic response of the dam body are assessed.Taking the dam damage test as an example,a numerical model of concrete gravity dam damage is established,and the damage evolution of the dam body is analysed.By combining experiments and numerical simulations,the damage characteristics of the dam body under the action of different charge water explosions are clarified.The integrity of the dam body is well maintained under the action of a small-quantity water explosion,and the dynamic response of the dam body is mainly caused by the shock wave.Both the shock wave and the bubble pulsation cause the dam body to accelerate,and the peak acceleration of the dam body under the action of the bubble pulsation is only one percent of the peak acceleration of the dam body under the action of the shock wave.When subjected to explosions in large quantities of water,the dam body is seriously damaged.Under the action of a shock wave,the dam body produces a secondary acceleration response,which is generated by an internal interaction after the dam body is damaged.The damage evolution process of the dam body under the action of a large-scale water explosion is analysed,and it is found that the shock wave pressure of the water explosion causes local damage to the dam body facing the explosion.After the peak value of the shock wave,the impulse continues to act on the dam body,causing cumulative damage and damage inside the dam body.

Effects of secondary water curing on the long-term strength and durability of concrete after steam-autoclave curing

To study the effects of secondary water( SW) curing of 20 ℃ for 7 d on concrete long-term strength and durability after steam-autoclave curing, concrete specimens were fabricated and subjected to standard,steam-autoclave or steamautoclave + SW curing. The compressive strength,accelerated carbonation depth, and Coulomb electric charges of the specimens were tested at the ages of 28,90,180,and 360 d.Furthermore,mercury intrusion porosimetry experiments on the specimens were conducted at the age of 180 d. Results indicate that compared with standard curing,steam-autoclave curing can enhance the early-age strength of concrete; however, it is detrimental to the development of later-age strength, and reduces chloride and carbonation resistance. Due to the replenishment of water into concrete,SW curing can refine the micro-pore size and decrease the ratio of harmful and more harmful pores in concrete. As a result,SW curing is effective in improving the long-term strength and durability of steamautoclaved concrete,and makes it approach that under standard curing. The improvement amplitudes of SW curing on the concrete compressive strength, chloride and carbonation resistance at 360 d can reach 20. 3%,48. 6%,and 80. 9%,respectively.

The Impact of Marine Water on Different Types of Coarse Aggregate of Geopolymer Concrete

This research studies the impact of different types of coarse aggregate on the behavior of geopolymer concrete based on both fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) in different marine environments. Aiming to solve the problems caused by the construction and demolition waste and the depletion of natural aggregates, in the present study coarse recycled aggregates is used to produce new green concrete with a fly ash-slag based geopolymer. By this examination, the research seeks to improve the quality and productivity of concrete used in construction and hydraulic projects. For this research, four mixtures containing different types of coarse aggregate in two different water environments were used. The utilized mixtures contained natural aggregate concrete (NAC) such as basalt and crushed marble. Also, recycled coarse aggregate concrete (RAC), which totally replaced natural aggregate, was presented in this paper such as crushed concrete and crushed ceramic. For this study, in the sieve analysis;specific and unit weights, was recorded. Furthermore, the mechanical properties were determined, using a compressive test that was conducted on the 7th, 28th, 56th and 90th days at different water environments;potable water (PW) and sea water (SW). Durability test was also performed for total absorption measurement. Results indicated that geopolymer concrete exhibits better strength in marine environments than in those of potable water. Results also showed that crushed marble (CMA) exhibits higher compressive strength and durability.