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Mechanical Characterization of Concrete Reinforced with Different Types of Carbon Nanotubes

  • Research Article - Civil Engineering
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Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to characterize the mechanical properties of concrete reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNT). For this, an extensive experimental program was carried out involving the production and characterization of concrete mixes with five types of CNT, in terms of flexural, splitting tensile and compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, elastic modulus and fracture toughness. The dispersion ability of CNT in a wide range of pH aqueous suspensions was evaluated prior to their incorporation in concrete. It was found that 0.05–0.1% of CNT were effective to improve all tested properties, increasing the compressive, flexural and splitting tensile strength, as well as the fracture energy and elastic modulus up to 23%, 18%, 27%, 42% and 15%, respectively. The CNT showed great potential to improve the crack resistance and the fracture toughness of concrete, especially in the pre-peak performance of concrete. In relative to other types of CNT, concrete containing higher dosages of lower aspect ratio CNT had the highest improvement of mechanical strength. This is explained by the lower structural damage and higher dispersion capacity of this type of CNT in high pH environments. Nevertheless, higher aspect ratio CNT showed better contribution for the fracture energy, due to their more efficient bridging effect.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank research group CERIS for funding the study, as well as the companies BASF and SECIL for supplying the materials used in the experiments. The authors are grateful for the support of Centre for Imaging and Structure of Materials at Aveiro Institute of Materials-University of Aveiro and Department of Physics at Instituto Superior Técnico-University of Lisbon for providing equipment of Zeta potential and Raman spectroscopy tests, respectively. The first author also would like to thank Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Portugal) for the financial support through Scholarship No. 125745.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CERIS, DECivil, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal

    A. Hawreen, J. A. Bogas & R. Kurda

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Technical Engineering College, Erbil Polytechnic University, Kurdistan Region, Erbil, Iraq

    A. Hawreen & R. Kurda

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  1. A. Hawreen
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  2. J. A. Bogas
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Correspondence to A. Hawreen.

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Hawreen, A., Bogas, J.A. & Kurda, R. Mechanical Characterization of Concrete Reinforced with Different Types of Carbon Nanotubes. Arab J Sci Eng 44, 8361–8376 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-019-04096-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-019-04096-y

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