j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmrt

Original Article

Study on the mechanical and rheological properties

of ultra-high performance concrete

Ying Chen a,b,d, Peng Liu b,d,f,g,*, Fei Sha c,**, Jian Yin a, Sasa He e,
Qianghui Li e, Zhiwu Yu b,d, Hailong Chen f
a
School of Civil Engineering, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, 498 Shaoshan Road, Changsha,
410004, China
b
School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, 22 Shaoshan Road, Changsha, 410075, China
c
College of Engineering, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao, 266100, China
d
National Engineering Laboratory for High Speed Railway Construction, Central South University, Changsha,
410075, China
e
Hunan Zhongda Design Institue Co. Ltd., 68 Shaoshan Road, Changsha, 410075, China
f
Chenzhou Changxin Residence Technology Co., Ltd., 8 Huihuang Road, Chenzhou, 423000, China
g
Prefabricated Construction Engineering and Technological Research Center of Hunan Province, 22 Shaoshan Road,
Changsha, 410075, China

article info abstract

Article history: The ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) was prepared by using the limestone coarse
Received 2 May 2021 aggregate and ordinary Portland cement. The effects of sand ratio, water to cement ratio
Accepted 30 December 2021 (W/C), cementitious materials, type and content of fiber, dosage of water reducer and
Available online 4 January 2022 defoamer on the mechanical and rheological properties of the UHPC were investigated. The
correlations among influence factors and performances of UHPC were discussed. More-
Keywords: over, the internal relationship between loading rate and elasticity modulus of UHPC was
Ultra-high performance concrete also studied. The results indicate that the compressive strength of UHPC first increases and
Strength then decreases with the increase of sand ratio, and a maximum compressive strength of
Slump flow UHPC was found at the sand ratio of 41%. The water reducer content of fresh UHPC firstly
Modulus of elasticity decreases and then increases with the increase of sand ratio. The compressive strength of
Rheological property UHPC firstly increases and then decreases with the increase of W/C, which also increases
with the increase of cementitious materials. The elasticity modulus of UHPC decreases
with increase of sand ratio and cementitious materials content, and the compressive
strength and elasticity modulus of UHPC cured for 28 d increase with the increase of
defoamer dosage. The slump flow of fresh UHPC first increases and then decreases with the
increase of water reducer dosage. An optimum fiber content of UHPC can enhance the
tensile strength and adhesive property, which can play the restraining deformation and
toughening effect.
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

* Corresponding author.
** Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (P. Liu), [email protected] (F. Sha).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2021.12.139
2238-7854/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
112 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4

approach based on tabular generative adversarial networks to

1. Introduction provide insight into the strength development mechanisms of
UHPC and the significance of various influence parameters.
Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) is an advanced Meng et al. [28] developed a rheology control method to
cementitious composite material that exhibits excellent improve steel fiber distribution and flexural performance of
rheological behaviors including workability, self-placing and UHPC by adjusting the rheological properties of the suspend-
self-densifying properties, improved in mechanical and ing mortar of UHPC before steel fibers were added. Meng et al.
durability with very high compressive strength, and non- [29] proposed a mix design method for UHPC prepared with
brittleness behavior [1e4]. French interim recommendations high-volume supplementary cementitious materials and
(AFGC 2002) defined UHPC as a concrete with a characteristic conventional concrete sand. Some researchers also investi-
compressive strength of at least 150 MPa with the use of steel gated the compositions, influence factors and performance of
fiber reinforcement to ensure ductile behavior under tension UHPC, and many classic outcomes have been achieved, e.g.,
[5]. UHPCs with compressive strength of 130 MPae150 MPa He et al. [30] discussed the effect of lithium slag to replace
strengthened with either steel or other fibers are considered silica fume partially by weight that was used as a supple-
as lower strength UHPC [6]. ASTM C1856 defines UHPC as a mentary cementitious material (0%, 5%, 10% and 15% of
cementitious mixture with a specified compressive strength binder) on the compressive strength and microstructure evo-
of at least 120 MPa accompanied with specified durability, lution of UHPC. Huang et al. [31] discussed the effect of lime-
ductility, and toughness requirements [7]. It typically consists stone on the hydration and microstructural development of
of a combination of Portland cement, fine aggregate, silica UHPC with different levels of replacement, their results
fume, high-range water-reducing admixture and fibers [1,4]. showed that the hydration degree of the cement increased
The UHPC has been widely used in bridge engineering, super from 39% for classical UHPC to 66% for the UHPC with 54% of
high building and long-span structures, and so on. Aboukifa limestone. Meng et al. [32] studied the effects of saturated
et al. [8] presented an experimental investigation of the lightweight sand content on key characteristics of UHPC. Kang
structural and seismic behavior of large-scale full UHPC col- et al. [33] used rice husk ash as reactive filler to prepare the
umns reinforced with conventional and high strength steel UHPC. Li et al. [34] investigated the individual and combined
reinforcement, and the results demonstrated that UHPC col- effects of polypropylene fibers, steel fibers, and aggregate size
umns had reasonable ductility and drift capacity. Wang et al. on spalling behavior and pore pressure build-up of UHPC
[9] investigated the static and fatigue flexural performance of exposed to elevated temperature. Kim et al. [35] studied the
ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete decks on the implications of the fiber type and the distance between fibers
basis of a 500 m cable-stayed bridge, namely, the Malukou on the pullout behavior of steel fibers embedded in UHPC. Su
Bridge. Al-Osta et al. [10] used ultra-high performance fiber et al. [36] revealed the effects of nanoscale materials and steel
reinforced concrete to strengthen the reinforced concrete fibers on properties of ultra-high performance concrete, and
beams. Flores et al. [11] investigated the use of locally pro- their results highlighted the superior material ductility and
duced, non-proprietary ultra-high-performance concrete as a blast resistant capacity of UHPC. Hoang and Fehling [37]
grouting material to repair deteriorated shear keys. However, investigated the effect of steel fiber contents of 1.5% and 3%
the application of UHPC in engineering construction is limited with different aspect ratios on the uniaxial tensile and
due to its higher cost, relatively little is known about the compressive behavior of UHPC. Wu et al. [38] presented the
mechanical behavior of UHPC in different components [12]. effect of steel fiber content and shape on mechanical strength,
Currently, there is a growing interest in larger UHPC applica- toughness, and autogenous and drying shrinkage of UHPC.
tions and new designs of full structural members as the UHPC Wu et al. [39] investigated the effects of the hybrid steel fiber
market keeps growing and material becomes more available. reinforcements on the static and dynamic compressive
It is very significant to investigate the preparation technology properties of UHPC, and their test results indicated that UHPC
and performances of UHPC. with 1.5% long fiber reinforcements and 0.5% short fiber re-
A larger number of achievements have been obtained, inforcements demonstrated the best static and dynamic me-
which focus on composition, design method, type and content chanical properties. He et al. [40] used carbon nanofibers to
of fibers, mechanical property, environmental impact, dura- strengthen the interface transition zone and to enhance the
bility, damage mechanism, deformation capacity and fracture interface frictional bond strength between polyethylene fibers
[13e22], and so on. Plenty of achievements of design method and cement-based matrix. Shafieifar et al. [41] studied the
and theoretical analysis of UHPC have also been carried out tensile and compressive behavior of UHPC, and a comparison
[23], for example, Fan et al. [24] proposed a novel approach for was made with normal strength concrete for the development
designing a green UHPC with advanced particles packing of a numerical model to simulate the behavior of UHPC using
meso-structure, their experimental results showed that the the finite element.
optimized UHPC had higher wet packing density and lower Some researchers also studied the effect of curing regime
porosity, leading to excellent mechanical properties. Li et al. and preparation technology on the performance of UHPC. For
[25] designed the UHPC by using the particle packing theory example, Wu et al. [42] investigated the effects of curing re-
and considering optimal powder proportion. Ouyang et al. [26] gimes (standard, hot water, and steam curing) on mechanical
proposed an analytical model based on composition through properties of UHPC with different supplementary cementi-
using a multi-scale model and homogenization method to tious materials, and their test results indicated that the in-
analyze the effective elastic moduli of UHPC at micro-, meso-, crease in ground granulated blast-furnace slag or fly ash
and macro-scales. Marani et al. [27] proposed a novel content had limited or negative influence on the compressive
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4 113

Table 1 e Characteristic parameters of fibers.

Items Average length/ Average diameter of Apparent density/ Compressive Elasticity modulus/
mm monofilament/mm g$cm3 strength/MPa GPa
Carbon 6 6~14 0.4 4900 240
fiber
PVA 12 20~21 6~8 1400~1600 35~39
PP 12 18~48 >15 >358 >3.5
Steel fiber 32 2000 7.65 >1100 200~210

strength of UHPC in terms of curing regime type. Li et al. [43] superplasticizers containing solid content of 30% were also
studied the effects of a novel heat curing regime and longi- used to prepare the UHPC.
tudinal reinforcement ratio on early-age shrinkage of UHPC, The mixture with a mass ratio of cement: silica: fly
and a slight shrinkage was observed when the heat curing ash ¼ 0.70:0.12:0.18 was used as the cementitious materials
duration was less than 60 min and curing temperature for UHPC, which was determined by simplex-centroid design
reached to 48
C. Meng et al. [26] prepared UHPC under stan- method. The mass contents of steel fiber in UHPC were 1%, 2%
dard curing condition and heat curing, and their results and 3%, respectively. The volume contents of carbon fiber,
showed that the optimized UHPC could develop compressive PVA and PP used as flexible fiber in UHPC were 1‰, 2‰ and 3‰,
strength of 125 MPa at 28 days under standard curing condi- respectively. Table 2 lists the mix proportion design of UHPC.
tion and that of 168~178 MPa by heat curing for 1 day.
Although plenty of achievements of UHPC such as the (2) Experimental process and testing
composition, mix proportion design and various perfor- According to GB/T 50080-2016 [45], the rheological
mances have been obtained, which still has not been widely properties of UHPC including slump and slump flow
applied in engineering constructions due to high cost, harsh were measured. The mean value of the three mea-
preparation technology and lopsided theory of UHPC. More- surements of slump was taken as the final result, and
over, there are numerous challenges before widespread the average value of horizontal and vertical slump flow
implementation due to lack of commonly accepted standards of fresh concrete was considered as a single final mea-
for testing methods and design guidance for engineers [44]. surement result. According to GB/T 50081e2016 [46], the
The objective of this study is to prepare the high performance UHPC specimens of 100 mm  100 mm  100 mm and
cost ratio of UHPC by using the limestone coarse aggregate 100 mm  100 mm  300 mm were cast to test the
and ordinary Portland cement. The effects of sand ratio, water elasticity modulus and compressive strength of con-
to cement ratio (W/C), cementitious materials, type and con- crete. The specimens were cured at standard condition
tent of fiber, dosage of water reducer and defoamer on the for 24 h, i.e., temperature of (20 ± 1)
C and RH of
mechanical and rheological properties of UHPC were investi- (95 ± 5)%. Then, the UHPC specimens were demoulded
gated. The correlations among influence factors and perfor- and cured in water for different test ages, i.e., 3 d, 7 d
mances of UHPC were also discussed. The conclusion drawn and 28 d at (20 ± 1)
C. Finally, the specimens were taken
from the research can provide a theoretical foundation and out from water for mechanical properties test with a
technical support for the design of UHPC. loading rate of 0.6 MPa/s ~1.5 MPa/s.
According to GB/T 50081e2016 [46], the elasticity
modulus of concrete specimen was tested by TM-2 type
2. Experimental procedure elastic modulus tester. Two position lines with a dis-
tance of 75 mm were drawn from the top and bottom of
(1) Raw materials the 100 mm100 mm300 mm specimen, and the bolt
card buckle of elastic modulus tester was fixed at the
The P$O 52.5R early strength ordinary Portland cement was center of the position lines. The dial indicator was used
supplied by Jiangxi Company, and the I-level fly ash was to measure the distance of the bolt card buckle of elastic
produced by Xiangtan Power Plant. The silica was purchased modulus tester, so the distance difference can be used
from Shanxi Company. The particle sizes of I- and II- type of to characterize the strain of the middle part of concrete
limestone used as coarse aggregate were 5 mm~20 mm and specimen with a length of 150 mm. The specific exper-
10 mm~30 mm, respectively. The organic silicon defoamer imental process is as follows.
was purchased from Hengfa Company. The carbon fiber was Firstly, the essential load F0 of 0.5 MPa was applied on
prepared by long carbon fiber produced by Tobang Chemical the specimen for 90 s. Subsequently, the 1/3 axial
Industry Co., Ltd. The polyvinyl alcohol fiber (PVA) and poly- compressive strength Fa of specimen was put on spec-
propylene fiber (PP) were obtained from Shanghai Chenqi imen with a loading rate of 0.9 MPa/s for 90 s. Then, the
Company and Hunan Huixiang Company, respectively. The load was unloaded to F0 with the same loading rate, and
hooked end steel fiber was provided by Hebei Demai Co., Ltd. the external load was sustained for 60 s. The data of dial
The characteristic parameters of fibers are listed in Table 1. indicator was recorded, and the corresponding strain
Moreover, the river sand with a fineness modulus of 2.3, tap was calculated during test. The above test procedure
water and polycarboxylic acid series of high-efficiency was named as an alignment procedure. When the strain
 114
Table 2 e The mix proportion design of UHPC.
Items W/ Total cementitious Cement/ Fly ash/ Silica/ I type of coarse II type of coarse Sand/ Sand Defoamer Fiber type Fiber Water
C materials weight/kg$m3 kg$m3 kg$m3 kg$m3 aggregate/kg$m3 aggregate/kg$m3 kg$m3 ratio/% dosage/% content/ reducer/%

j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4
%
S1 0.2 600 420 108 72 258.9 866.7 554.4 33 3.40
S2 0.2 600 420 108 72 243.4 815.0 621.6 37 2.80
S3/F2/ 0.2 600 420 108 72 228.0 763.2 688.8 41 2.60
H3
S4 0.2 600 420 108 72 212.5 711.5 756.0 45 3.40
F1 0.2 550 385 99 66 236.1 790.5 713.4 41 3.00
F3 0.2 650 455 117 78 219.8 736.0 664.2 41 2.20
F4 0.2 700 490 126 84 211.7 708.7 639.6 41 1.50
F5 0.2 750 525 135 90 203.6 681.5 615.0 41 0.90
H1 0.16 600 420 108 72 228.0 763.2 688.8 41 6.40
H2 0.18 600 420 108 72 228.0 763.2 688.8 41 5.30
H4 0.22 600 420 108 72 228.0 763.2 688.8 41 2.50
H5 0.24 600 420 108 72 228.0 763.2 688.8 41 1.50
X1 0.2 600 420 108 72 228.0 763.2 688.8 41 0.5 e
X2 0.2 600 420 108 72 228.0 763.2 688.8 41 1 e
X3 0.2 600 420 108 72 228.0 763.2 688.8 41 1.5 e
C1 0.2 600 420 108 72 228 763.2 688.8 Carbon fiber 0.1 3.90
C2 0.2 600 420 108 72 228 763.2 688.8 0.2 5.30
C3 0.2 600 420 108 72 228 763.2 688.8 41 1.5 0.3 5.80
P1 0.2 600 420 108 72 228 763.2 688.8 PP 0.1 5.70
P2 0.2 600 420 108 72 228 763.2 688.8 0.2 7.10
P3 0.2 600 420 108 72 228 763.2 688.8 0.3 7.90
V1 0.2 600 420 108 72 228 763.2 688.8 PVA 0.1 4.20
V2 0.2 600 420 108 72 228 763.2 688.8 0.2 4.10
V3 0.2 600 420 108 72 228 763.2 688.8 0.3 3.90
G1 0.2 600 420 108 72 228 763.2 688.8 Steel fiber 1 2.70
G2 0.2 600 420 108 72 228 763.2 688.8 2 3.80
G3 0.2 600 420 108 72 228 763.2 688.8 3 4.20

Noted: The volume content was used for steel fiber, and the mass content was used for other fibers. S stands for sand ratio, i.e., S1, S2, S3 and S4 are the sand ratio of 33%, 37%, 41% and 45%,
respectively. F is the fly ash content, H is the water to cement ratio, X is the defoamer dosage. Moreover, C, P, V and G are the contents of carbon fiber, PP, PVA and steel fiber, respectively.
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4 115

packing density of coarse aggregate after mixing could be

determined by Eq. (2).

G1  G2
F¼  100% (2)
rV

where F is the packing density of coarse aggregate after

mixing, i.e., the volume ratio of coarse aggregate to barrel. G1
is the total weight of coarse aggregate and barrel. G2 is the
weight of barrel. r is the apparent density of coarse aggregate,
and V is the volume of barrel.

(3) Test equipment and device

The SBY-64B type curing chamber for cement specimen

was manufactured by Tianjin Huatong Test Instrument Fac-
tory. The WAW-DP type of Universal Tester and SHT4106G
Fig. 1 e Curves of sieving rate of coarse aggregate with series of Electric Servo-hydraulic Material Test system were
different mixing ratios. produced by Shanghai Sansi Co. Ltd in China. The HJW-30 type
of single horizontal forced concrete mixer was manufactured
by Hebei Yuhong Co. Ltd in China.
deviation of both side of specimen was more than 20%
average strain, the alignment procedure should be
repeated. 3. Results and discussion
The load was added to Fa for 60 s, and unloaded to Fa
for 60 s. The above process was repeated for twice, and 3.1. Analysis of packing density of the coarse aggregate
the strain of specimen was recorded by dial indicator. after mixing
The above operation process was named as preloading
procedure. Then, the load was also applied to Fa on the The sieving rate of coarse aggregate through different sizes,
specimen with the same loading rate for 90 s. Lastly, the i.e., 2.36 mm, 4.75 mm, 9.5 mm, 16 mm, 19 mm, 26.5 mm,
measuring equipment of modulus elasticity was 31.5 mm and 37.5 mm, was investigated. Moreover, the
dismantled, and the test was conducted until the packing density of coarse aggregate after mixing with
specimen was broken. Therefore, the elasticity modulus different contents of I type was measured. Figure 1 shows the
of UHPC can be determined by Eq. (1). curves of sieving rate of coarse aggregate with different mix-
Fa  F0 L ing ratios, and Fig. 2 indicates the effect of I type coarse
Ec ¼  (1) aggregate on the packing density of mixed coarse aggregate.
A Dn
As seen from Fig. 1, the sieving rate of coarse aggregate
where Ec is the modulus of elasticity of UHPC specimen, Fa is
after mixing increases with the increase of the content of type
the 1/3 axial compressive strength of concrete specimen, F0 is
I coarse aggregate, which may be due to the small diameter of
the essential load of 0.5 MPa. A is the cross-sectional area of
type I coarse aggregate. Therefore, the accumulated sieving
the concrete specimen, L is the gauge length of concrete
rate of coarse aggregate gradually increases within the small
specimen.
There were two types of limestone that was used as coarse
aggregate to prepare UHPC, i.e., I type with a size of
5 mm~20 mm, and II type with a size of 10 mm~30 mm. Ac-
cording to JGJ 52-2006 [47], the optimum packing density and
coarse aggregate gradation of UHPC were determined. The test
procedure was as follows. Firstly, two types of coarse aggre-
gate were mixed with different percentage, i.e., the mass
percentages of I type were 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35% and
40%. The coarse aggregate after mixing was put into a 5 L
cylindrical barrel with the inner diameter and height of
186 mm. During filling, the coarse aggregate was put into
barrel for three times, and it was compacted by concrete
vibrating stand with a frequency of 1 Hz for 25 s. Then, the
redundant coarse aggregate exceeding barrel mouth was
taken out, and the corresponding small coarse aggregate
would be used to fill the void. Lastly, the total mass of barrel
including coarse aggregate was weighed by electronic scale.
Repeating the test process for three times, and the average
Fig. 2 e Effect of I type coarse aggregate on the packing
value was regarded as the final test result. Therefore, the
density of mixed coarse aggregate.
116 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4

(1) Sand ratio

The effect of sand ratio on the compressive strength of

UHPC cured for different ages, i.e., 3 d, 7 d and 28 d, was
investigated based on the mix proportion of concrete in Table
2. Figure 3 shows the variation of compressive strength of
UHPC as a function of sand ratio.
As seen from Fig. 3, the compressive strength of UHPC
cured for 3 d decreases slightly with the increase of sand ratio.
With the increase of cured age, i.e., 7 d, the compressive
strength of UHPC gradually decreases with sand ratio, and the
corresponding compressive strength decreases significantly
when the sand ratio is more than 41%. The compressive
strength of UHPC cured for 28 d first increases and then de-
creases with sand ratio, and there exists a maximum value
about 100 MPa when sand ratio is 41%. That may be due to the
Fig. 3 e Compressive strength of UHPC as a function of reason that the compressive strength was dominated be hy-
sand ratio. dration products generated in the early cured age, which
formed plenty of cementitious hydration products over-
lapping with each other to constitute the micro structure of
size of sieve diameter. A conclusion can be drawn that the
hardened paste [48]. The pozzolanic reaction of admixtures
content of type I coarse aggregate can affect the shape and
can also be activated by calcium hydroxide (CH), which has
percentage distribution of sieving rate curves. It can be seen
been verified by Refs. [49,50]. Moreover, UHPC has a very
from Fig. 2 that the packing density of coarse aggregate after
compact interfacial transitional zone without obvious pores
mixing first increases and then decreases with the increase of
and low porosity [51]. Therefore, its compressive strength is
content of I type coarse aggregate. The maximum packing
higher than that of the normal concrete. The amount of hy-
density of coarse aggregate reaches to 61.4% when the content
dration products gradually decreases with cured age, and the
of I type coarse aggregate is about 25%. That may be due to the
sand ratio becomes the dominant control factor of mechanical
reason that the small diameter I type coarse aggregate fills the
property of UHPC. Therefore, an appropriate sand ratio can
void and increases the packing density. As seen from Fig. 2, a
effectively improve the micro structure and significantly
conclusion can be drawn that the appropriate contents of I-
reduce the porosity of UHPC, which can remarkably
and II- types coarse aggregate to obtain the denser packing
strengthen the mechanical property of UHPC. Figure 3 also
density of UHPC are 25% and 75%, respectively.
indicates that the compressive strength of UHPC increases
with cured age. That may be due to that the cementitious
3.2. Analysis of influence factors on compressive
minerals form plenty of hydration products which can
strength of UHPC
improve micro structure, interface characteristic and
compactness of hardened paste.
Many factors affect mechanical property of UHPC. The effects
of sand ratio, W/C, cementitious materials, type and content
(2) Cementitious materials content
of fibers, defoamer dosage on the compressive strength of
UHPC were investigated in details.
In general, the mechanical property of UHPC increases
with the increase of cementitious materials content. However,

Fig. 4 e Compressive strength of UHPC cured for different

age with cementitious material contents. Fig. 5 e Compressive strength of UHPC with W/C.
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4 117

Fig. 6 e Effect of type and content of fibers on compressive strength of UHPC.

too much cementitious material can lead to more hydration compressive strength when W/C equals 0.2. The shorter the
heat and shrinkage. Therefore, it is very significant to deter- cured age, the more significant the effect of W/C on
mine the optimum content of cementitious material for UHPC compressive strength of UHPC. The compressive strength
preparation. The effect of cementitious material content on values of UHPC cured for 3 d and 7 d are about 50% and 70% of
the compressive strength of UHPC cured for different ages was that cured for 28 d. That may be due to that the cementitious
investigate, Fig. 4 shows the variation of compressive strength minerals hydrate quickly in the early stage, and more water is
of UHPC as a function of cementitious material contents. needed to form hydration products. Therefore, the compres-
Figure 4 indicates that the compressive strength of UHPC sive strength of UHPC increases with the increase of W/C.
increases with the increase of cementitious material content Although much water can promote the hydration process,
and cured age. The compressive strength of UHPC cured for plenty of pores can be generated during hydration. Therefore,
28 d is larger than 100 MPa, which may reach to 110 MPa with a the compactness and compressive strength of UHPC de-
cementitious material content of 750 kg/m3. The hydration of creases with the increase of W/C. The compressive strength of
cementitious material in UHPC is complex due to the coexis- UHPC cured for 28 d basically becomes a constant when the
tence of cement hydration and the reactions of mineral ad- W/C is larger than 0.2. Therefore, the appropriate W/C for
mixtures. During the hydration process, three kinds of main UHPC preparation is about 0.2~0.22.
hydration products are formed, that is, calcium silicate hy-
drates (CSH), calcium hydroxide (CH) and ettringite (AFt) (4) Type and content of fiber
[52,53]. The admixtures can also be activated and more hy-
dration products are generated, which is due to its pozzolanic Although the fiber can effectively improve the tenacity,
reaction with CH. The above argument is in well accordance ductility and mechanical property of UHPC, the construction
with Refs. [54,55]. Moreover, Taylor et al. [56] pointed out that difficulty and fabricating cost are raised. Therefore, it has
the morphology of CSH in UHPC exhibited a “foil” like struc-
ture, which partially explains such a “refinement” and the
improved properties of blended materials. The sensibility of
compressive strength growth of UHPC gradually decreases
with increase of cementitious material content. That may be
due to that the coarse aggregate becomes the dominant con-
trol factor of compressive strength of UHPC. Considering the
cost, the appropriate content of cementitious materials is
about 550 kg/m3~650 kg/m3 to prepare UHPC with limestone
coarse aggregate.

(3) W/C

In order to reveal the effect of water to cement ratio (W/C)

on mechanical property of UHPC, the compressive strength of
UHPC with different W/C and cured ages was measured, as
plotted in Fig. 5.
Figure 5 shows that the compressive strength of UHPC
cured for different ages first increases and then decreases
Fig. 7 e Effect of defoamer dosage on compressive strength
with the increase of W/C. There exists a maximum
of UHPC.
118 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4

important engineering significance to determine the type and Additionally, Fig. 6 also shows that the compressive strength
content of fiber for preparing UHPC. The effects of the con- of UHPC increases with the increase of cured ages. That may
tents of steel fiber, PVA, PP and carbon fiber on compressive be caused by more hydration products generated with time,
strength of UHPC were investigated. Figure 6 shows the which can improve the compactness and mechanical prop-
compressive strength of UHPC with different content of fibers. erty of UHPC.
Figure 6 indicates that the type and content of fibers has
significant effect on compressive strength of UHPC, and the (5) Defoamer dosage
compressive strength of UHPC first increases and then de-
creases with the increase of the content of different fibers, and Redundant air was stirred in fresh UHPC to form the bubble
their relationship can be expressed as a quadratic function, as during the mixing process, which can increase porosity and
following: decrease mechanical property of UHPC. In this study, the
defoamer was used to control the air content of fresh con-
y ¼ ax2 þ bx þ c (3) crete, and the effect of defoamer dosage on compressive
where y is the compressive strength of UHPC. a, b and c are the strength of UHPC was investigated. Figure 7 shows the
fitted parameters, respectively. compressive strength of UHPC with defoamer dosage.
Compared to steel fiber, the contents of PVA, PP and carbon Figure 7 indicates that the relationship between defoamer
fiber have different effect on compressive strength of UHPC. A dosage and compressive strength of UHPC can be character-
conclusion can be drawn that the optimum content of steel ized by a quadratic function, formulated as Eq. (3). Although
fiber is about 2% by weight, which ranges from 1‰ to 2‰ by the compressive strength of UHPC cured for 7 d first increases
volume for others fibers. The tensile strength of UHPC can be and then decreases with the increase of defoamer dosage, the
enhanced by fibers which play a significant effect of strained compressive strength value of UHPC cured for 28 d increases.
deformation and toughening, so the mechanical property of The reason may be due to that the defoamer decreases the air
UHPC can be improved. The fibers can delay the formation and content and porosity, accordingly enhances the micro struc-
propagation of cracks, so the compressive strength increases ture and compactness. Simultaneously, the interfacial tran-
with increasing the fibers’ content [57]. The fiber reinforce- sition zone among coarse aggregate and hardened paste of
ment is related with material (steel, mineral or synthetic fi- UHPC can also be improved. However, the defoamer can be
bers), geometry, aspect ratio (fibre length divided by fiber adsorbed on surface of the cementitious materials to prevent
diameter) and mechanical properties [58]. However, more fi- and reduce the hydration. Therefore, redundant defoamer can
bers cause the difficulty of dispersion and mixing, larger vis- restrain the hydration of cementitious materials in early
cosity and poor workability of fresh concrete, which may stage, which is the reason for the low compressive strength of
result in plenty of marco-defect and micro-crack in UHPC. UHPC cured for 7 d. Plenty of hydration products were
Meng and Khayat [59] reported this effect when the fiber generated with the increase of cured age, i.e., 28 d, which can
content exceeded 3%. The negative impact on the compres- fill the pore and enhance the compactness of UHPC. Consid-
sive strength was explained by fiber agglomeration and ering the early mechanical property of UHPC, the optimum
entrapped air. Hoang et al. [37] also experienced fiber defoamer dosage is about 1%. Figure 7 also shows that the
agglomeration for the mixes with 3% of fibers. The modulus of defoamer can be used to improve the compressive strength of
elasticity and ultimate bearing capacity of UHPC with UHPC. This may be caused by the reason that the defoamer
different fibers differ from each other, so the effects of fibers represses the air content in fresh concrete, so the porosity is
on the mechanical property of UHPC are also different. decreased and the micro structure is enhanced.

Fig. 8 e Effect of sand ratio on the water reducer content of Fig. 9 e Effect of water reducer dosage on cementitious
fresh UHPC. materials content of fresh UHPC.
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4 119

3.3. Analysis of influence factors on rheological property shows the relationship between water reducer dosage and
of UHPC cementitious materials content of fresh UHPC.
Figure 9 presents that the water reducer content decreases
The rheological property of UHPC can be used as a key with the increase of cementitious materials content when the
parameter to characterize the workability and operation dif- slump and slump flow of fresh UHPC are the same. There
ficulty. The effects of sand ratio, W/C, cementitious materials, exists a negative linear relationship between them. The more
type and content of fibers on the rheological property of UHPC the cementitious materials content, the more the fresh paste.
were investigated with the same slump of 230 mm and slump Therefore, more cementitious materials can enhance the
flow of 420 mm. rheological property of UHPC [60]. Conversely, the amount of
fresh paste decreases with the decrease of cementitious ma-
(1) Sand ratio terials content, which results in a poor rheological property of
UHPC. However, excessive cementitious materials content
The sand ratio is one of the most influence factors affecting leads to a larger hydration heat and thermal damage, which
the rheological property of UHPC, and an appropriate sand can also increase the preparation cost. Combined the experi-
ratio can effectively improve the rheological property and mental results of compressive strength and rheological
decrease the water reducer content. In this study, the effect of property of UHPC, the appropriate cementitious materials
sand ratio on rheological property of fresh UHPC was inves- content of UHPC is about 600 kg/m3.
tigated by adjusting the water reducer content to obtain the
same slump and slump flow. Figure 8 is the curve of water (3) W/C
reducer content with sand ratio under the same rheological
property of fresh UHPC. The water to cement ratio (W/C) is one of the key influence
As seen from Fig. 8, the water reducer content first de- factors to dominate the performance of UHPC. In this study,
creases and then increases for preparing fresh UHPC with the the effect of W/C on rheological property of fresh UHPC was
same slump and slump flow. A quadratic function can be used investigated. The water reducer content was used as a control
to express the relationship between water reducer content variable to characterize the rheological property of fresh UHPC
and sand ratio, and the water reducer content of fresh UHPC with W/C. The slump and slump flow of fresh UHPC were set
with sand ratio ranging from 38% to 41% is less, which implies as the same values of 230 mm and 420 mm, respectively.
that the rheological property of UHPC is better. The paste of Figure 10 plots the relationship between water reducer con-
fresh UHPC becomes less when the sand ratio is no more than tent and W/C of fresh UHPC.
38%, which results in a worse rheological property and water As seen from Fig. 10, the water reducer content for pre-
retention capacity of UHPC. There appears a segregation and paring the same slump and slump flow of fresh UHPC de-
bleeding of fresh concrete when the sand ratio is larger than creases with the increase of W/C, and an exponential function
41%. Therefore, an appropriate sand ratio of fresh UHPC has a can be used to express the relationship between them,
micro-aggregate and water storage effect, which can improve formulated as Eq. (4). The water reducer content can be larger
the rheological property of UHPC. than 5.2% when the W/C is less than 0.18, and its value is
about 2% when the W/C is larger than 0.2. The hydration de-
(2) Cementitious materials content gree of cementitious materials becomes worse when the W/C
is less. Conversely, the porosity of UHPC becomes larger, and
The content of cementitious materials plays a significant
effect on the rheological property of fresh UHPC, and Fig. 9

Fig. 10 e Relationship between water reducer content and Fig. 11 e Relationship between fibers content and water
W/C of fresh UHPC. reducer content of fresh UHPC.
120 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4

effect on water reducer content of fresh UHPC. The reason is

that the large stiffness of steel fiber limits the rheological
property of fresh UHPC. The water reducer dosages of fresh
UHPC for different flexible fibers with the same content also
differ from each other, and the PVA has more significant effect
on water reducer dosage of fresh UHPC. The reason may be
due to the characteristic of fibers adsorbing different quantity
of water reducer. Moreover, different fibers also play different
effect on the rheological property of UHPC. The water reducer
dosage of fresh UHPC increases with the increase of fibers
content, which implies that the fiber can decrease the rheo-
logical property of UHPC. The fibers closely contact and lap
with the fresh paste, which enhances the consistency and
viscosity of fresh paste. The slenderness ratio of fiber has a
Fig. 12 e Curves of water reducer content with slump and larger effect on the rheological property of fresh UHPC with
slump flow of fresh UHPC. the same volume content. Considering both the compressive
strength and rheological property of fresh UHPC, the appro-
priate fiber content is no more than 0.2 vol.% for flexible fibers
the compactness of micro structure is loosened. Considering and less than 2 wt.% for steel fiber.
the preparing cost and rheological property of UHPC, the
appropriate W/C of UHPC ranges from 0.2 to 0.22. (5) Water reducer content
ax2 þbxþc
yw ¼ e (4)
The effect of water reducer content on the rheological
where yw is the water reducer content of fresh UHPC. a, b and c property of fresh UHPC was investigated. Figure 12 shows the
are the fitted parameters, respectively. change curves of water reducer content with slump and
slump flow of fresh UHPC.
(4) Type and content of fibers Figure 12 indicates that the water reducer content has a
significant effect on the rheological property of fresh UHPC.
The type and content of fibers play an important effect on The slump of fresh UHPC first increases and then decreases
the rheological property of fresh UHPC. The water reducer with the increase of water reducer dosage, and a Gauss
content was used as a control variable to characterize the function can be used to represent their relationship, written
rheological property of fresh UHPC with the increase of fibers. as Eq. (5). The reason may be that water reducer dosage in-
The slump and slump flow of fresh UHPC were set as the same creases the rheological property of fresh UHPC, so the corre-
values of 230 mm and 420 mm, respectively. Figure 11 shows sponding slump of fresh UHPC becomes larger. However, the
the relationship between fibers content and water reducer segregation and bleeding of fresh concrete can be caused by
content of fresh UHPC. using too much water reducer. Simultaneously, the slump
As seen from Fig. 11, the type and content of fibers have flow of fresh UHPC first decreases and then increases with the
different effect on the water reducer dosage of fresh UHPC. increase of water reducer content, and there exists a Boltzman
The water reducer dosage increases with the increase of fibers function relationship between them, formulated as Eq. (6).
content, and a cubic function can be used to represent their That may be due to that more water reducer content results in
relationship. Compared to steel fiber, the content of flexible
fibers including PVA, PP and carbon fiber has a significant

Fig. 14 e Curve of elasticity modulus of UHPC with

Fig. 13 e Effect of sand ratio on elasticity modulus of UHPC. cementitious materials content.
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4 121

the segregation and bleeding of fresh concrete, and the curve of elasticity modulus of UHPC with cementitious ma-
workability of fresh UHPC becomes poor. Therefore, the terials content.
appropriate content of water reducer of fresh UHPC is about It can be seen from Fig. 14 that the elasticity modulus of
2%~2.5%. UHPC decreases with the increase of cementitious materials
  content, and there exists a quadratic function between them.
Ab 2 xxc 2
Compared to hardened paste, the elasticity modulus of coarse
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi,e
w
ys ¼ y0 þ (5)
w p2 = aggregate is larger. The more the cementitious materials
content, the less the coarse aggregate content. Therefore, the
yk ¼ A2 þ ðA1  A2 Þ = ð1 þ expðx  x0 ÞdxÞ (6) elasticity modulus of UHPC decreases. Combined Figs. 13 and
14, a conclusion can be drawn that the elasticity modulus of
where ys and yk are the slump and slump flow of fresh UHPC,
UHPC is dominated by coarse aggregate and its content. The
respectively. A1, A2, Ab, w, xc and dx are fitted parameters.
low mechanical property of limestone used as coarse aggre-
gate of UHPC endows the limited elasticity modulus of UHPC.
3.4. Analysis of influence factors on elasticity modulus
of UHPC
(3) Type and content of fibers

The influence of sand ratio, cementitious materials, type and

The effect of type and content of fibers on the elasticity
content of fibers, defoamer dosage on elasticity modulus of
modulus of UHPC was also investigated, as shown in Fig. 15.
UHPC were also studied,.
As seen from Fig. 15, the elasticity modulus of UHPC in-
creases with the increase content of steel fiber, carbon fiber
(1) Sand ratio
and PVA fiber. It may be due to the reason that the fibers can
enhance the interaction of micro structure and hydration
The sand ratio plays a significant effect on the mechanical
products, and prevent the generation and connectivity of
property of UHPC. The relationship of elasticity modulus of
cracks [61,62]. However, the elasticity modulus of UHPC de-
UHPC with sand ratio was investigated, as plotted in Fig. 13.
creases with the increase of PP fiber content, and a large
Figure 13 shows that the elasticity modulus of UHPC de-
content of PP fiber significantly reduces the elasticity modulus
creases with the increase of sand ratio, and the relationship
of UHPC. That may be caused by the low elasticity modulus
between them can be characterized by a quadratic function. In
and ultimate bearing capacity of PP fiber. The elasticity
general, the elasticity modulus of coarse aggregate is larger
modulus of UHPC significantly decreases when the content of
than fine aggregate of sand. The less the sand ratio, the lower
PP fiber is more than 0.2%, which is due to the in intertwining
the fine aggregate content, and the higher the coarse aggre-
and birdnesting each other of soft PP fiber. Figure 15 also in-
gate content. Therefore, the elasticity modulus of UHPC would
dicates that more steel fiber and carbon fiber can reduce the
be dominated by coarse aggregate and hardened paste.
elasticity modulus of UHPC, which may be due to the difficulty
Figure 13 also indicates that the UHPC has a high elasticity
of dispersion and stirring of fibers in the fresh UHPC.
modulus larger than 55 GPa.

(4) Defoamer dosage

(2) Cementitious materials content

The defoamer can be used to control the air content of

The effect of cementitious materials on the elasticity
fresh UHPC, which can dominate the micro structure,
modulus of UHPC was also investigated, Fig. 14 shows the
porosity, compactness and mechanical property of UHPC. The

Fig. 15 e Curve of elasticity modulus of UHPC with fibers Fig. 16 e Effect of defoamer dosage on elasticity modulus of
content. UHPC.
122 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4

external loading. Therefore, the appropriate loading rate of

elasticity modulus of UHPC is about 0.9 MPa/s ~1.2 MPa/s.

4. Conclusions

The research conclusions are as follows.

(1) The effects of sand ratio and cementitious materials on

the compressive strength, rheological property and
elasticity modulus of UHPC were investigated. The re-
sults indicate that the compressive strength of UHPC
cured for 28 d firstly increases and then decreases with
the increase of sand ratio, and a maximum compressive
strength of UHPC is found at a sand ratio of 41%. At the
same slump and slump flow of fresh UHPC, the water
reducer content firstly decreases and then increases
Fig. 17 e Effect of loading rate on elasticity modulus of with the increase of sand ratio, and a quadratic function
UHPC. can be used to characterize their relationship. The
water reducer content of fresh UHPC is less, when the
sand ratio ranges from 38% to 41%. The compressive
effect of defoamer dosage on elasticity modulus of UHPC was strength of UHPC increases with the increase of
discussed, and the relationship between them is plotted in cementitious materials content, and the optimum
Fig. 16. cementitious materials content for mixing UHPC with
Figure 16 shows that the elasticity modulus of UHPC in- limestone is 550 kg/m3~650 kg/m3. The water reducer
creases with the increase of the defoamer dosage, and the dosage decreases with the increase of cementitious
relationship between them can be characterized by Boltzman materials content, and there exists a negative linear
function. The defoamer dosage plays a significant effect on function between them. Correspondingly, the elasticity
the elasticity modulus of UHPC when the defoamer dosage modulus of UHPC decreases with the increase of sand
ranges from 0.5% to 1%, beyond which the elasticity modulus ratio and cementitious materials content, and a
is slightly changed. The defoamer can decrease the air content quadratic function can be used to characterize their
and porosity, and improve the micro structure and compact- relationship.
ness, so the appropriate defoamer dosage can enhance the (2) The effects of W/C, type and content of fibers on
elasticity modulus of UHPC. The defoamer has limited effect compressive strength, rheological property and elas-
on the air content of fresh UHPC, when the defoamer dosage is ticity modulus of UHPC were studied. The experimental
too less or more. Therefore, the elasticity modulus of UHPC results show that the compressive strength of UHPC
tends to be a constant. firstly increases and then decreases with W/C, and there
exists a maximum compressive strength of UHPC at W/
(5) Loading rate C of 0.2. The shorter the cured age, the more significant
the effect of W/C on compressive strength. The water
The loading rate of concrete specimen is one of the key reducer content of fresh UHPC decreases with W/C
parameters for testing the elasticity modulus of UHPC, there under the same slump and slump flow, and there exists
exists difference of elasticity modulus of UHPC under different an exponential function between them. Combined the
loading rates. The effects of different specimens (X1, X2 and rheological property and cost, the appropriate W/C for
X3) and loading rates (0.3 MPa/s, 0.6 MPa/s, 0.9 MPa/s, 1.2 MPa/s UHPC is 0.2~0.22. The compressive strength of UHPC
and 1.5 MPa/s) on the elasticity modulus of UHPC were firstly increases and then decreases with the increase of
investigated. Figure 17 shows the elasticity modulus of UHPC fibers content, and a quadratic function can be used to
as a function of loading rate. characterize their relationship. The optimum fiber
Figure 17 shows that there exists a significant difference of content is 2% by weight for steel fiber and 1‰~2‰ for PP,
elasticity modulus for UHPC specimens under different PVA and carbon fibers. The elasticity modulus of UHPC
loading rate. Although the elasticity modulus of X2 and X3 first increases with the increase of content of steel fiber,
increases and then decreases with the increase of loading carbon fiber and PVA. The reason is that the fibers can
rate, it first decreases and then increases that of X1. The enhance the intrinsic connection of hydration products
bearing capacity per unite time of UHPC specimen changes and prevent the generation and growth of cracks.
greatly with the increase of loading rate. The deformation of (3) The relationship between defoamer dosage and
micro structure cannot be coordinated in very short time, and compressive strength of UHPC is quadratic function.
the microscopic damage including crack and interface could Although the compressive strength of UHPC cured for
not be extended and connected. The mechanical property of 7 d firstly increases and then decreases with the in-
UHPC is dominated by microscopic damage when the loading crease of defoamer dosage, the corresponding strength
rate is less than 0.9 MPa/s. Conversely, it is controlled by of that cured for 28 d increases. The elasticity modulus
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 2 ; 1 7 : 1 1 1 e1 2 4 123

of UHPC increases with the increase of defoamer [10] Al-Osta MA, Isa MN, Baluch MH, Rahman MK. Flexural
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