Impact of using different materials, curing regimes, and mixing procedures on compressive strength of reactive powder concrete - A review

Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is an ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) with an enhanced microstructure. Over the past few years, the demand for RPC has increased due to its superior properties. However, RPC is characterized by its low water-to-binder ratio, high cement and silica fume (SF) content, and absence of coarse aggregates which not only harm sustainable development, but also increase the production costs of RPC and generate shrinkage problems. Within this framework, many studies attempted to use different materials to address these problems and produce eco-friendly RPC with similar performance to that of the traditional RPC. The primary objective of this paper is to present an updated review of the literature on the list of materials used for RPC production and assess their viability as partial and full replacement of cement, SF, and quartz sand/ powder to produce ultra-high strength RPC. The effects of employing different curing regimes and mixing procedures on the compressive strength of RPC will also be reviewed. The results highlight that 1) the use of alternative mineral admixtures (glass powder, limestone & phosphorous slag) can successfully replace cement by up to 50%; 2) replacing SF with mineral admixtures such as slag and fly ash is possible and can yield comparable results by monitoring the molar Ca/Si ratio of the mixes; 3) Quartz sand/powder can successfully be replaced with other types of aggregates/fillers (titanium slag, glass sand, glass powder, rice husk ash, etc); 4) Waste steel fibers can yield comparable strength results to that of steel fibers and the hybridization of glass-steel and polypropylene-steel improves the strength compared to steel or other types alone; and 5) Four-stage mixing yields better strength properties (up to 22% enhancement) compared to three-stage mixing, but further research is required to confirm this finding and establish standard guidelines for the mixing of RP

Microstructure and Mechanical Property Evaluation of Dune Sand Reactive Powder Concrete Subjected to Hot Air Curing

: The use of different sustainable materials in the manufacture of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is becoming increasingly common due to the unabating concerns over climate change and sustainability in the construction sector. Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is an UHPC in which traditional coarse aggregates are replaced by fine aggregates. The main purpose of this research is to produce RPC using dune sand and to study its microstructure and mechanical properties under different curing conditions of water curing and hot air curing. The effects of these factors are studied over a long-term period of 90 days. Quartz sand is completely replaced by a blend of crushed and dune sand, and cement is partially replaced by using binary blends of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and fly ash (FA), which are used alongside silica fume (SF) to make a ternary supplementary binder system. Microstructural analysis is conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and engineering properties like compressive strength and flexural strength are studied to evaluate the performance of dune sand RPC. Overall, the results affirm that the production of UHPC is possible with the use of dune sand. The compressive strength of all mixes exceeded 120 MPa after 12 h only of hot air curing (HAC). The SEM results revealed the dense microstructure of RPC. However, goethite-like structures (corrosion products) were spotted at 90 days for all HAC specimens. Additionally, the use of FA accelerated the formation of such products as compared to GGBS. The effect of these products was insignificant from a mechanical point of view. However, additional research is required to determine their effect on the durability of RPC