Thermal performance of cast-in-place piles with artificial ground freezing in permafrost regions

During the construction of cast-in-place piles in warm permafrost,the heat carried by concrete and the cement hydration reaction can cause strong thermal disturbance to the surrounding permafrost.Since the bearing capacity of the pile is quite small before the full freeze-back,the quick refreezing of the native soils surrounding the cast-in-place pile has become the focus of the infrastructure construction in permafrost.To solve this problem,this paper innovatively puts forward the application of the artificial ground freezing(AGF)method at the end of the curing period of cast-in-place piles in permafrost.A field test on the AGF was conducted at the Beiluhe Observation and Research Station of Frozen Soil Engineering and Environment(34°51.2'N,92°56.4'E)in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau(QTP),and then a 3-D numerical model was established to investigate the thermal performance of piles using AGF under different engineering conditions.Additionally,the long-term thermal performance of piles after the completion of AGF under different conditions was estimated.Field experiment results demonstrate that AGF is an effective method to reduce the refreezing time of the soil surrounding the piles constructed in permafrost terrain,with the ability to reduce the pile-soil interface temperatures to below the natural ground temperature within 3 days.Numerical results further prove that AGF still has a good cooling effect even under unfavorable engineering conditions such as high pouring temperature,large pile diameter,and large pile length.Consequently,the application of this method is meaningful to save the subsequent latency time and solve the problem of thermal disturbance in pile construction in permafrost.The research results are highly relevant for the spread of AGF technology and the rapid building of pile foundations in permafrost.

Effect of lattice distortion on spin admixture and quantum transport in organic devices with spin–orbit coupling

With an extended Su–Schrieffer–Heeger model and Green's function method, the spin–orbit coupling(SOC) effects on spin admixture of electronic states and quantum transport in organic devices are investigated. The role of lattice distortion induced by the strong electron–lattice interaction in organics is clarified in contrast with a uniform chain. The results demonstrate an enhanced SOC effect on the spin admixture of frontier eigenstates by the lattice distortion at a larger SOC,which is explained by the perturbation theory. The quantum transport under the SOC is calculated for both nonmagnetic and ferromagnetic electrodes. A more notable SOC effect on total transmission and current is observed for ferromagnetic electrodes, where spin filtering induced by spin-flipped transmission and suppression of magnetoresistance are obtained.Unlike the spin admixture, a stronger SOC effect on transmission exists for the uniform chain rather than the organic lattices with distortion. The reason is attributed to the modified spin-polarized conducting states in the electrodes by lattice configuration, and hence the spin-flip transmission, instead of the spin admixture of eigenstates. This work is helpful to understand the SOC effect in organic spin valves in the presence of lattice distortion.

EFFECT OF COMPOSITE MINERAL ADMIXTURES ON RESTRAINING ALKALI-SILICA REACTION

The expansion and micro-cracks of the mortar with composite mineral admixtures （fly ash, zeolite and slag） due to the alkali-silica reaction （ASR） are studied. Results show that composite mineral admixtures cannot absolutely diminish the ASR of mortar bars with the low-alkali cement and a highly reactive aggregate. But the expansion rate and the deleterious expansion of the mortar bar are mostly reduced with increasing composite mineral admixture. The influence of mineral admixtures on the fluidity of the paste and the strength of the mortar is also studied.

Preparation and activity research of ecological nano mineral admixture from rice husk charcoal

The rice husk ash （ RHA） and silica （ Si02） nanoparticles are prepared from rice husk charcoal （RHC） by the methods of ventilated calcining and chemical precipitation, respectively, to remove the residual carbon which is harmful to cement composites. The structures and morphologies of these products are investigated by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning/ transmission electron microscopy and N2 adsorption- desorption analyzer. The results show that the as-produced RHA and Si02 nanoparticles exist in amorphous phase without residual carbon, and exhibit porous structures with specific surface areas of 170.19 and 248. 67 m2 /g , respectively. The micro particles of RHA are aggregated by numerous loosely packed Si02 gel particles with the diameter of 50 to 100 nm. The Si02 nanoparticles are well dispersed with the average size of about 30 nm. Both the RHA and Si02 nanoparticles can significantly reduce the conductivity of saturated Ca（OH）2 solution and increase the early strength of the cement composites. They also exhibit high pozzolanic activity, indicating that they can be used as ecological nano mineral admixtures.

Self-Healing Concrete with Crystalline Admixture——A Review

The scope of the present paper is to understand the effects of crystalline admixture on the selfhealing capacity of the cementitious composites. Previous studies were examined and a conclusion was drawn to the effect that different additives to crystalline admixture tend to improve self-healing of concrete for larger cracks. It is recommended that initial treatment with chemical admixture can stimulate and heal further cracks and it has the better repeatability trend in mixing with the concretes and mechanical recovery is possible even under repetitive preloading. Effective self-healing with chemical admixtures even under open-air exposure, leads to study the importance of a service ability design parameter including the maximum allowable crack width by repeatability analysis as a function of the exposure with the concept of sealable crack width.

Effect of chemical admixtures on properties of high-calcium fly ash geopolymer

Owing to the high viscosity of sodium silicate solution, fly ash geopolymer has the problems of low workability and rapid setting time. Therefore, the effect of chemical admixtures on the properties of fly ash geopolymer was studied to overcome the rapid set of the geo-polymer in this paper. High-calcium fly ash and alkaline solution were used as starting materials to synthesize the geopolymer. Calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, sodium sulfate, and sucrose at dosages of 1wt% and 2wt% of fly ash were selected as admixtures based on concrete knowledge to improve the properties of the geopolymer. The setting time, compressive strength, and degree of reaction were recorded, and the microstructure was examined. The results show that calcium chloride significantly shortens both the initial and final setting times of the geopolymer paste. In addition, sucrose also delays the final setting time significantly. The degrees of reaction of fly ash in the geopolymer paste with the admixtures are all higher than those of the control paste. This contributes to the obvious increases in compressive strength.

Effect of Anti-freezing Admixtures on Alkali-silica Reaction in Mortars

The influence of anti-freezing admixture on the alkali aggregate reaction in mortar was analyzed with accelerated methods. It is confirmed that the addition of sodium salt ingredients of anti-freezing admixture accelerates the alkali silica reaction to some extent, whereas calcium salt ingredient of anti-freezing admixture reduces the expansion of alkali silica reaction caused by high alkali cement. It is found that the addition of the fly ash considerably suppresses the expansion of alkali silica reaction induced by the anti-freezing admixtures.

INFLUENCE OF MINERAL ADMIXTURES ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE CONCRETE

The improvements of the mechanical properties, including bulk density of fresh mixtures, elastic modulus, and compressive strengths of four high-performance concrete mixtures, made with the addition of fly ash, refined ground blast - furnace microslag (microslag) and silica fume are studied. The concrete mixtures were determined based on the dispersion testing results. The study indicates that the elastic modulus at 28 and 91 days, and compressive strengths of the concretes are improved a lot when fly ash and microslag by 25 percent by weight of cement are added into the mixtures individually. The improvement is especially evident when silica fume by 5 percent and fly ash by 25 percent by weight of cement are added together into the mixture, while the fresh concrete mixture keeps a good workability. Through the analysis of chemically combined water ratios of the four mixtures at various hydration ages, it is found that the addition of all these mineral mixtures are beneficial to the hydration process, especially, at later stages, which might be one of the reasons for the improvement of mechanical properties. (Author abstract) 4 Refs.

Influence of shrinkage-reducing admixture on drying shrinkage and mechanical properties of high-performance concrete

High-performance concrete （HPC） has specific performance advantages over conventional concrete in strength and durability. HPC mixtures are usually produced with water/binder mass ratios （mW/mB） in the range of 0.2-0.4, so volume changes of concrete as a result of drying, chemical reactions, and temperature change cannot be avoided. For these reasons, shrinkage and cracking are frequent phenomena. It is necessary to add some types of admixture for reduction of shrinkage and cracking of HPC. This study used a shrinkage-reducing admixture （SRA） for that purpose. Concrete was prepared with two different mW/mB （0.22 and 0.40） and four different mass fractions of SRA to binder （w（SRA） = 0%, 1%, 2%, and 4%）. The mineral admixtures used for concrete mixes were： 25% fly ash （FA） and 25% slag by mass of binder for the mixture with mW/mB = 0.40, and 15% silica fume （SF） and 25% FA for the mixture with mW/mB = 0.22. Tests were conducted on 24 prismatic specimens, and shrinkage strains were measured through 120 days of drying. Compressive strength, splitting strength, and static modulus of elasticity were also determined. The results show that the SRA effectively reduces some mechanical properties of HPC. The reductions in compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and elastic modulus of the concrete were 7%-24%, 9%-19%, and 5%-12%, respectively, after 90 days, compared to concrete mixtures without SRA. SRA can also help reduce drying shrinkage of concrete. The shrinkage strains of HPC with SRA were only as high as 41% of the average free shrinkage of concrete without SRA after 120 days of drying.

Influence of Cement Types and Mineral Admixtures on Resistance of Mortar to Sulfate Attack under Lower Temperature

Mortar prisms made with different cements or mineral admixtures plus 30% mass of limes tone filler were stored in 2% magnesium sulfate solution at 5±1 ℃ for 1 year and their visual appearance,strength development were measured at intervals.The formation of thaumasite was checked and confirmed by XRD and FTIR.The results show that the relative resistance to thaumasite form of sulfate attack of the cements is outlined below,from best to worst:sulphoaluminate cement,sulfate resisting Portland cement,OPC.The resistance to thaumasite form of sulfate attack of mortar is remarkably improved by the addition of silica fume or ground granulated blastfurnace slag (SL),and the better the resistance to thaumasite form of sulfate attack,the more the addition of SL is.The thaumasite form of sulfate attack is decreased to a certain degree by a lower replacement of cement with fly ash,but it is accelerated by the addition of a higher amount of fly ash due to its lower reactivity.

Effects of Admixtures on the Anti-oxidation Property of MgO/Si_3N_4 Composite Refractory

The effect of the admixtures of Al and Si metals and B4 C and MgAlON compounds on the oxidation of MgO/ Si3N4 composite refractory has been studied, which is a promising carbon free refractory for steel-making application . The four kinds of admixtures can be used as anti-oxi-dants for Si3N4, but the mixture of Al and Si achieved the best result. The mixture can not only play the role as anti-oxidant, but also assist the sintering process and help form dense sintering layer, improving the property of the composite.

Grey Clustering Theory to Assess the Effect of Mineral Admixtures on the Cyclic Sulfate Resistance of Concrete

Concrete specimens made with ordinary portland cement or ordinary portland cement incorporating fly ash with the replacement of 10% or 20%, ground blast furnace slag with the replacement of 15% or 30%, or 15% fly ash and 15% ground blast furnace slag were made and exposed to a cyclic sulfate environment. Concrete properties including relative dynamic elastic modulus, chloride ion diffusion coefficient, compressive strength and flexural strength were measured. Effect of mineral admixtures on the cyclic sulfate resistance of concrete was assessed based on the grey clustering theory. The experimental results indicate that the cyclic sulfate resistance of concrete incorporating ground blast furnace slag belongs to the higher grey grade, which exhibits that it possesses excellent cyclic sulfate resistance. With increasing addition of fly ash, the cyclic sulfate resistance of concrete changes from the medium grey grade to the lower grey grade, which shows that incorporation of fly ash is disadvantageous for the cyclic sulfate resistance of concrete.

Refreezing of cast-in-place piles under various engineering conditions

In the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Power Transmission Line （QTPTL）, cast-in-place piles （CIPPs） are widely applied in areas with unfavorable geological conditions. The thermal regime around piles in permafrost regions greatly affects the stability of the towers as well as the operation of the QTPTL. The casting of piles will markedly affect the thermal regime of the surrounding permafrost because of the casting temperature and the hydration heat of cement. Based on the typical geological and engineering conditions along the QTPTL, thermal disturbance ofa CIPP to surrounding permafrost under different casting seasons, pile depths, and casting temperatures were simulated. The results show that the casting season （summer versus winter） can influence the refreezing process of CIPPs, within the first 6 m of pile depth. Sixty days after being cast, CIPPs greater than 6 m in depth can be frozen regardless of which season they were cast, and the foundation could be reffozen after a cold season. Comparing the refreezing characteristics of CIPPs cast in different seasons also showed that, without considering the ground surface conditions, warm seasons are more suitable for casting piles. With the increase of pile depth, the thermal effect of a CIPP on the surrounding soil mainly expands vertically, while the lateral heat disturbance changes little. Deeper, longer CIPPs have better stability. The casting temperature clearly affects the thermal disturbance, and the radius of the melting circle increases with rising casting temperature. The optimal casting temperature is between 2 ℃ and 9 ℃.

Effect of Functional Chemical Admixtures on the Performance of Cement Asphalt Mortar Used in Ballastless Track

Chemical admixtures are of paramount importance to the performance of modern cement based composites. In this paper, we performed a series of tests to investigate the effects of chemical admixtures on the cement asphalt mortar(CA mortar), i e, compressive strength, frost resistance, permeability, fatigue resistance, pore structure and microstructure. In particular, two types of chemical admixtures were tested, i e, defoamer(tributyl phosphate(TBP)) and polycarboxylate superplasticizer(PS). The results indicate that the addition of TBP and PS eliminates big bubbles and promotes small non-connected pores forming in matrix. Besides, an optimum dosage of TBP and PS may be determined with respect to the frost resistance, permeability and fatigue resistance of CA mortar. Further elaborative discussions are presented as well as experimental evidences from mercury intrusion porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy.

Coupled effect of viscosity enhancing admixtures and superplasticizers on rheological behavior of cement paste

The coupled effect of viscosity enhancing admixtures(VEA)and superplasticizer(SP)on the rheological behavior of cement paste was investigated in this work.Two types of VEAs,including hydroxypropyl methylcellulose(HPMC)and Welan gum,and two types of SPs,i.e.polycarboxylate(PCA)and polynaphthalenesulfonate(PNS)were used as admixtures for cement paste.Rheological curves of cement paste and simulated pore solution containing VEA and SP were tested.Simulated pore solution test results show that molecules of different SPs may generate different effects on the viscosity of VEA solutions.Hershel-Bulkley(H-B)model was used to fit rheological curve of cement paste.Strong interaction between PNS and HPMC was observed in this work.

Preparation of High Impermeable and Crack-resistance Chemical Admixture and Its Mechanism

A kind of high impermeable and crack-resistance chemical admixture ( HICRCA) was prepared , which is a compound chemical admixture composed of an expansion ingredient, density ingredient, and organic hydrophobic poreblocking ingredient. The results of the experiments indicate that the addition of HICRCA improves mortar and concrete in the following performances: (1) perfect workability: slump is more than 22cm, theslump afar 3h is about 16cm; (2) high impermeability:for the mortar, the pervious height under a water pressure of 1.5MPa is 1.5cm,for the concrete, the pervious height under a water pressure of 5.0MPa is 2. 2cm;(3) high crack-resistance: there is a micro-expansion at the age of 90d; (4) high compressivestrength: compared with the controlled concrete, the compressive strengths at the age of 3d and 2Sd are improved by 66.4% and 62.0% , respectively. At the same time, the effects of different curing condition on mortar and concrete expansive andshrinkage performance were studied. In addition, the impermeable and crack-resistance mechanism, was investigatedin the present paper.

Properties and Microstructure of Marine Concrete with Composite Mineral Admixture

The influences of compositing mineral admixtures on the regularity of mechanical property, workability, durability and microstructure of C50 marine concrete were investigated. The results show that the incorporation of mineral admixtures can improve the mechanical properties and workability of C50 marine concrete, 3 min-doped mineral admixture had excellent resistance to chloride ion permeability. The microscopic structure mixing mineral admixtures system was well-distributed and compact, little macroporeare can be found.

Beneficial use of stainless steel EAF slag as composite cement admixture and its heavy metals leaching risk analysis

This study analyzes the feasibility of using stainless steel electric arc furnace （EAF） slag as composite cement admixture and the risk of leaching-out of heavy metals. The results show that the stainless steel EAF slag, mainly made up of Ca2 SiO4, Ca3 Mg （ SiO4 ） 2, some Cr-containing minerals and in small particle size, is easily ground and has cementitious activity. EAF slag, when used as cement admixture, can be added with a maximum percentage of 32%. It can meet the strength requirements of the standard P · C 32.5 cement. When the mixing percentage is decreased to 25 % , the strength of the cement can be increased to that of P · C 42.5 cement. Other main quality indexes of composite cement, such as the setting time and stability, also satisfy standard requirements. The results also show that most of the heavy metals in the stainless steel EAF slag exist in a stable speciation. The concentration of heavy metals that leach out from the stainless steel EAF slag and the composite cement products is far lower than the standard limit of hazardous wastes. The main heavy metal, chromium, exists as less hazardous trivalent chromium. Therefore, the risk of heavy metals leaching out from the stainless steel EAF slag is low. The internal exposure index （IRa） and the external exposure index （Iγ） of the stainless steel EAF slag are both lower than 1.0, satisfying the standard requirements of the state for the radionuclides of building materials. Therefore, stainless steel EAF slag can be safely used as admixture to produce composite cement.

Numerical study on characteristics of radio-frequency discharge at atmospheric pressure in argon with small admixtures of oxygen

In this paper, a 1D fluid model is developed to study the characteristics of a discharge in argon with small admixtures of oxygen at atmospheric pressure. This model consists of a series of equations, including continuity equations for electrons, positive ions, negative ions and neutral particles, the energy equation, and the Poisson equation for electric potential. Special attention has been paid to the electron energy dissipation and the mechanisms of electron heating, while the admixture of oxygen is in the range of 0.1%-0.6%. It is found that when the oxygen-to-argon ratio grows, the discharge is obviously divided into three stages： electron growth, electron reduction and the electron remaining unchanged. Furthermore, the cycle-averaged electric field, electron temperature, electron Ohmic heating, electron collisionless heating, electron energy dissipation and the net electron production are also studied in detail, and when the oxygen-to- argon ratio is relatively larger （R = 0.6%）, double value peaks of electron Ohmic heating appear in the sheath. According to the results of the numerical simulation, various oxygen-to-argon ratios result in different amounts of electron energy dissipation and electron heating.

Effect of Mineral Admixture on Fracture Behavior of Concrete under Freeze-Thaw Cycles

According to GBJ82-85 test method for frost resistance of concrete,four-point bending tests were used to examine the effects of mineral admixture(silica fume and fly ash)on fracture toughness,fracture energy and dynamic elastic modulus of concrete subjected to rapid freeze-thaw cycles The microstructure of the concrete was also analyzed.The results show that with the increase of the number of freeze-thaw cycles,the fracture toughness of concrete,and the loss of fracture energy as well as the l0ss of relative dynamic elastic modulus showed a downward trend.The air content of fresh concrete is the most important parameter to improve frost resistance of concrete There existed distinct difference for silica fume and fly ash to enhance fracture performance and microstructure of the concrete under freeze-thaw cycles.The l0ss of fracture energy and the loss of relative dynamic elastic modulus kept a good linear relationship.