Effects of elevated temperature exposure on heating characteristics, spalling, and residual properties of high performance concrete

This paper describes results of NIST's experimental program that focuses on effects of elevated temperature exposure on residual mechanical properties of HPC. Residual mechanical properties were measured by heating the 102×204 mm cylinders to steady state thermal conditions at a target temperature, and loading them to failure after the specimens had cooled to room temperature. The test specimens were made of four HPC mixtures with water-to-cementitious material ratio (w/cm) ranging from 0.22 to 0.57, and room-temperature compressive strength at testing ranges from 51 MPa to 93 MPa. Two of the four HPC mixtures contained silica fume. The specimens were heated to a maximum core temperature of 450°C, at a heating rate of 5°C/min. Experimental results indicate that HPCs with higher original strength (lowerw/cm) and with silica fume retain more residual strength after elevated temperature exposure than those with lower original strength (higherw/cm) and without silica fume. The differences in modulus of elasticity are less significant. However, the potential for explosive spalling increased in HPC specimens with lowerw/cm and silica fume. An examination of the specimens' heating characteristics indicate that the HPC mixtures which experienced explosive spalling had a more restrictive process of capillary pore and chemically bound water loss than those which did not experience spalling.