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Effect of silica fume, steel fiber and ITZ on the strength and fracture behavior of mortar

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Abstract

Two sets of parameters known to affect the quality and thickness of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ), i.e. water/binder ratio and content of silica fume were varied in a series of mortars without and with steel fiber. Compressive and three-point bending tests were performed and the dissipated energies were calculated. Nanoindentation characteristics of the steel fiber–matrix and fiber–matrix-aggregate interfacial zones in the steel fiber reinforced mortars were studied. Influence of water/binder ratio, steel fiber, silica fume and ITZ on the strength and toughness of the mortar was analyzed, respectively. It is found that mortar compressive strength can be increased with low volume addition of steel fiber if the air content is well controlled; the interfacial characteristic and microstructural morphology near the fiber surface play a critical role on the three-point bending strength and the toughness of the steel fiber reinforced mortar.

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Acknowledgements

This research was done at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), when the first author is working at the Department of Structural Engineering as a visiting Professor for one year. The first author gratefully thank the support by the Norwegian Research Councils a part of the Cultural Agreement between Norway and China—Government scholarships 2007/2008 (No. 26X35003) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50508020). The invitation provided by Professor Stefan Jacobsen in NTNU to cooperate with this research work is gratefully appreciated. In addition, the financial support from the COIN (Concrete Innovation Centre) Project 3-3.5—Nanotechnology applied to Cement-based Materials is greatly appreciated. Help given by Dr. Hilde Lea Lein, engineer Ove Edvard Loraas, engineer Arild Monsøy and Wilhelm Dall in NTNU is also acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Xiao Hui Wang

  2. Department of Structural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    Xiao Hui Wang, Stefan Jacobsen, Siaw Foon Lee, Jian Ying He & Zhi Liang Zhang

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  1. Xiao Hui Wang
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Correspondence to Xiao Hui Wang.

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Wang, X.H., Jacobsen, S., Lee, S.F. et al. Effect of silica fume, steel fiber and ITZ on the strength and fracture behavior of mortar. Mater Struct 43, 125–139 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-009-9475-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-009-9475-1

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