Define Ultra-High-Performance Concrete and show its historical development?

In the United States, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) defines UHPC as a
cementitious composite material composed of an optimized gradation of granular constituents, a
water-to-cementitious materials ratio less than 0.25, and a high percentage of discontinuous
internal fiber reinforcement. The mechanical properties of UHPC include compressive strength
greater than 150MPa and sustained post-cracking tensile strength greater than 5MPa.

(ACI Committee 239), defined UHPC as concrete that has a specified compressive strength of
at least 150 MPa (22,000 psi) with specified durability, tensile ductility and toughness
requirements; fibers are generally included to achieve specified requirements.

The Association Francaise de Genie Civil (AFGC) Interim Recommendations define UHPC as
a material with a cement matrix and a characteristic compressive strength that is greater than 150
MPa, containing steel fibers in order to achieve a ductile behavior and a high binder content with
special aggregates.

The Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) define the UHPC as a type of cementitious
composite reinforced by fibers with characteristic values in excess of 150MPa in compressive
strength, a minimum first cracking strength of 4MPa. The UHPC matrix should be composed of
aggregates; whose maximum particle size is less than 2.5mm, cement and pozzolans, and water-
to-powder ratio less than 0.24.

ASTM C1856 defines UHPC as a cementitious mixture with a specified compressive strength of
at least 120 MPa accompanied with specified durability, ductility, and toughness requirements.

Historical Development Ultra-High-Performance Concrete

Bouygues was the first to start research in Reactive Powder Concrete, a kind of UHPC from 1990
to 1995. The pre-stressed hybrid pedestrian bridge at Sherbrooke in Canada completed in 1997
was the first engineering structure application of UHPC. In 1997 and 1998, UHPCs were cast in
beams of Cattenom and Civaux power plants as the first industrial application. The first UHPC
road bridge was designed and constructed in France in 2001.

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Theoretical principles for production of UHPC

1-Reduction in porosity
Pore size distribution, shape and position of pores plays an important role in determining the
strength of hardened cement-based materials.
a) Close packing of raw materials
Porosity and pore size distribution can be effectively improved by use of superplasticizer, and
incorporation of very fine mineral admixtures, and thus improve the performance of concrete

b) Water reduction using high performance superplasticizer

 The use of superplasticizer can significantly reduce required w/c for given workability,
thus effectively reduce porosity and increase strength.
 Water-to-binder ratio (w/b) for UHPC ranges between 0.14 and 0.20
 Selection and use of superplasticizer is a critical step for the production of high quality
UHPC.
2-Improvement in microstructure:
 UHPC has a very dense and uniform microstructure due to following effects:
1. Close packing of solid particles.
2. Hydration and pozzolanic reactions in cementitious materials.
3. Improvement of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between aggregates and bulk matrix.
3- Enhancement in homogeneity
 Due to difference in thermal and mechanical properties between aggregates and paste
matrix, tensile stresses occur and result in micro-cracks at ITZ.

 Quartz sand which significantly decrease size of micro-cracks in UHPC. ITZ in UHPC
looks as same as matrix, which indicates homogeneity of its microstructure.

4-Increase in toughness

 The excellent toughness and impact resistance of UHPC due to the presence of fibers, the
fiber used in concrete mainly includes carbon and steel fibers.

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  Steel fibers can improve the toughness of UHPC. UHPC specimens incorporated with
polypropylene and glass fibers showed lower strength than the control UHPC.

Types of Ultra-High-Performance Concrete

UHPC mix designs exhibit the properties of 3 different types of special concrete mixes.

1- The flowing and passing abilities of self-consolidating concrete (SCC), also known as self-
compacting concrete.

2- The superior strength and long-term performance of high-performance concrete (HPC).

3- The increased ductility and post-cracking strength of fiber reinforced concrete (FRC).

Compositions of UHPC

1- Cement

➢ A relatively high proportion of cement is used in UHPC compared to that in normal-

strength (NS) and high-performance concrete (HPC), an optimum cement content
around 800-1000 kg/m3.
➢ Cement with moderate Blaine fineness (4000 cm2/g) and C3A content lower than 6 %
is preferred due to its lower water demand.
2- Silica fume
➢ Optimum silica fume content between 20% and 30% of the cement, which improve
compressive strength.

➢ Filling the voids in the granular of cement.

➢ Enhancing flowability of the mix due to the perfect sphericity of the basic particles.

3-Fly ash

➢ Class C fly ash is typically preferred in UHPC concrete mix development because it
provides the strength and durability characteristics

➢ Pozzolanic reactions between Ca(OH)2 and SiO2 in fly ash continue, but slowly to increase
the later-age strength.

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4-Rice husk ash (RHA)
➢ RHA is an agricultural waste obtained by burning rice husk.

➢ RHA contains 90–96% silica in amorphous form and can be considered as a highly active
pozzolans.

➢ Average particle size of RHA usually ranges from 5 to 10 lm with very high specific surface
area more than 250 m2/g.

5-Aggregates

➢ Generally, aggregates are relatively inexpensive concrete making material. Refined quartz
sand with diameter less than 0.6 mm used in concrete mixing as a general filler that reduces
the mix permeability (voids) result in more dense mix, to achieve better performance
UHPC, but its cost is high.

6-Superplasticizers

➢ Polycarboxylates was the most effective superplasticizers for UHPC. Polycarboxylate

based superplasticizers are suitable in the range of 2.0–3.5 wt.%, based on the amount of
the binding material.

➢ The addition of superplasticizers also influenced the workability and increased the
flowability of fresh UHPC.

7-Water

➢ Normal water-cement ratios for UHPC range between 0.14% and 0.25%.
8-Fibers

➢ Steel and carbon fibers are commonly used in UHPC matrices because of their superior
tensile strengths.

➢ Steel fibers of more than 2% (by volume), the most commonly used size of steel fibers is
10mm to 20mm in length and 0.1mm to 0.25mm in diameter

➢ Increased amount of fibers increased interaction of fibers with each other during mixing,
caused balling and decreased workability of mixture, and hence mechanical performances.

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Mixing procedure for UHPC

1) Dry blend all granular materials, including aggregates, cement, silica fume, slag, and quartz
powder (1 min).

2) Sprinkle steel fibers onto the dry mix, and thoroughly mix all the ingredients (1 min).

3) Mix water and superplasticizer, add half of the solution to the pre-blended granular matter, and
mix for 1 min.

4) The remaining of the water/superplasticizer solution second half added gradually over a period
of 1 min.

5) Continue mixing until a homogeneous mix with stable workability is achieved (4–5 min).

Fresh properties of UHPC

Spread flowing ability

 UHPC mixes have self-consolidating properties. Average spread diameter for UHPC

ranges from 55 – to 75cm

 Owing to its low w/b ratio, UHPC demonstrates low flowability, which causes difficulty

during casting. In order to attain flowing ability, sufficient dosage of HRWR is used. Flow

of UHPC significantly decreased with the increase in steel fiber percentage.

Effects of Steel Fiber Percentages and Aspect Ratios on Slump Main reason for reduced
slump is summarized as follows:

• Increased steel fiber amount creates interlocking among steel fibers and ultimately leads to

reduced workability

• If length of fiber is more than aggregate size, surface area of fiber becomes larger and

creates a cohesive force between fibers.

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 Factors affecting on properties of ultra-high-performance concrete
➢ W/B
➢ Curing regime
➢ Steel fiber volume
➢ Fiber hybridization
➢ Specimen size

Curing regimes for UHPC

1- Normal or standard curing
1- Curing regime is also the most widely used and research showed that a large part of
cementitious materials is not hydrated at room temperature.
2- The research showed that under normal curing, the compressive strength of UHPC is
difficult to exceed 150 MPa.
2-Hot water curing

1-It can promote the hydration of cementitious materials.

2- It can stimulate (C-S-H gel), which are beneficial to the improvement of strength.

3- The duration of hot water curing is generally less than 48 h.

3- Steam/ Autoclave curing

➢ It can provide a more ideal environment for the hydration of cementitious materials (the
compressive strength of UHPC can reach more than 250Mpa, Increase the elastic
modulus, and reduce the weight of concrete per unit volume).

It has some disadvantages:

1. The early strength will increase; the later strength will decrease.
2. The restrained shrinkage will increase
3. Expensive, which is not conducive to largescale use.

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4- Dry-hot air curing

➢ Dry-hot curing can accelerate the reaction of cement and admixture, and improve the
mechanical performance of UHPC.
➢ Temperature is generally controlled at about 250 ℃. In addition, the duration of dry-hot
curing is generally 72 h.

Hydration Rate (degree of hydration)

Ratio of the amount of hydrated cement to that of the initial anhydrous cement. There are several
experimental approaches to determine the degree of hydration of cement such as:

• Scanning electron microscopy (SEM-BSE).

• X-ray diffraction (XRD).
• Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA).
• Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).
• Compressive strength.
Durability

UHPC exhibited superior permeability resistance to water and chloride-ion penetration,

carbonation, and other chemical attacks due to the low W/B and dense structure, depending on key
factors, such as mixture proportion, curing regime, medium solution concentration, steel fiber
volume, and testing age.

Water permeability
➢ High water permeability of concrete can give chemical substances, such as chloride ions, the
privilege to permeate into concrete and eventually results in corrosion of steel rebars and/or
fibers.
Compared to CC and HPC, UHPC is characterized by:
1) Lower porosity and denser microstructure
2) Very high mechanical properties and superior durability.
3) Self-healing ability, owing to the plenty amount of un hydrated cement Particles.

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Corrosion of steel reinforcement
➢ The chloride-induced corrosion of steel reinforcements in concrete composites is the main cause
of deterioration. Since the chloride ion permeability in UHPC is extremely low, UHPC shows
high resistance against corrosion. The addition of nano-silica also effectively reduced the
corrosion rate of steel bars embedded in UHPC.

Carbonation
 Carbonation is the chemical reaction of CO2 in the environment with hydration products,
such as calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2,in the presence of sufficient moist. This reaction
produces CaCO2 and lowers the pH value of concrete to around 9. At such pH value, the
protective oxide layer surrounding the reinforcing steel breaks down, leading to steel
corrosion and eventually cracking of concrete structures.
 W/B, compressive strength grade, and porosity of concrete play significant roles in
carbonation rate. The greater the W/B, the higher the porosity, and the faster the carbonation
rate. Due to very low W/B and limited water content in UHPC, its microstructure is very
dense with a very small most probable pore size. It is stated that carbonation rarely happens
on UHPC, either under standard or heat-curing.
Freeze-thaw resistance

Freeze-thaw damage occurs in concrete when water molecules freeze and expand beyond the
volume constraints of concrete. This leads to distress in concrete, especially when the pressure
developed exceeds the tensile strength of concrete, eventually resulting in rupture of cavities.
Typical deterioration of concrete.
The superior freeze–thaw resistance of UHPC came from its highly impermeable matrix with
reduced capillary porosity. Several studies revealed that UHPC demonstrated no deterioration after
300 or 600 freeze–thaw cycles and has a durability factor of 100 or greater with nearly zero mass
loss.
Chemical attack resistance
UHPC structures exposed to marine environments suffer from chemical attacks, such as sulphates,
chlorides, etc., leading to corrosion and spalling. Different successive altered layers, including
carbonation, magnesium attack, and sulfate attack with the formation of gypsum, are found in a
concrete structure exposed to seawater for several years.

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 Fire resistance
UHPC is characterized by three following distinct stages:
(1) initial stabilizing and regaining stage from 150 to 350 C.
(2) strength loss stage ranging from 350 400 to 800 C.
(3) total strength loss stage starts after 800 C. The initial increase in compressive
strength is due to dry hardening and continued hydration of unhydrated cement particles.

The use of proper content of synthetic fiber with low melting-point can prevent sever violent
spalling. Fiber hybridization of steel and polypropylene fibers in UHPC is the most common and
effective approach in preventing spalling because of improved connectivity of pores and channels
associated with the melting of polypropylene fibers. However, aggregates with stored moisture
should be carefully used to prevent sever violent spalling due to the introduction of additional
water.

Application of UHPC

1. Pedestrian bridge at Sherbrooke Canada (UHPC Structure).

2. Rood bridge at Bourg Les Valence France (90% reduction on steel reinforcement).
3. Foot bridge at south Korea.
4. Rood bridge at Mars Hill Bridge, United states (no shear reinforcement, simple
construction).
5. Cladding UHPC panels at Foundation louis Vuitton France (innovative design).
6. Column & Façade at Marseille France
7. Roof at Canada (little maintenance, Light weight, Ease construction)
8. Roof & Façade at jean Bouin stadium Paris (Precast UHPC element, Waterproof roof
& façade, slender structure with unique structure).