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Factors influencing fire spalling of self compacting concrete

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Abstract

The influence of age on the fire spalling behaviour of high performance concrete is not known in detail. The present study shows that in three out of four mixes of self compacting concretes tested, the fire spalling tendency decreases at higher age whereas for the fourth mix the spalling did not decrease. The fourth mix, with the highest limestone content, spalled more after 4 years storage than the other mixes despite the fact that the moisture content was in the same region as the other mixes tested. Important findings are also that an addition of polypropylene fibres could expunge the spalling behaviour and that the specimen size and application of compressive load on the test specimens used in this type of studies influence the spalling behaviour strongly.

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Notes

  1. R is the load bearing capacity and EI is the integrity and insulation criterion.

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Acknowledgments

The research projects have been financially supported by the Development Fund of the Swedish Construction Industry (SBUF), the Swedish Fire Research Board (Brandforsk), the Swedish Research Council (FORMAS), the Swedish Road Administration, the Swedish Rail Administration, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and several industrial partners. The authors also want to acknowledge Prof. Johan Silfwerbrand and Dr. Margaret McNamee for their valuable input on the article.

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  1. SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Brinellgatan 4, 501 15, Borås, Sweden

    Robert Jansson & Lars Boström

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  1. Robert Jansson
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Correspondence to Robert Jansson.

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Jansson, R., Boström, L. Factors influencing fire spalling of self compacting concrete. Mater Struct 46, 1683–1694 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-012-0007-z

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