Strength retention characteristics of concrete cubes subjected to elevated temperatures

Abstract

Concrete in structures is likely to be exposed to high temperatures during fire. The relative properties of concrete after such an exposure are of great importance in terms of the serviceability of buildings. The probability of its exposure to elevated temperatures is high due to natural hazards, accidents and sabotages. Therefore, the performance of concrete during and after exposure to elevated temperature is a subject of great interest to the designer. Physical changes like cracking, colour change, spalling and chemical changes like decomposition of Ca(OH)<inf>2</inf> and the C-S-H gel take place when subjected to elevated temperatures. This work reports the characteristics of concrete at elevated temperatures. Popular normal strength grades (M20, M25, M30, M35, M40 and M45) produced by Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) India, Mangalore have been used in production of test specimens (150 mm cubes) to obtain more meaningful and realistic data. In the preliminary phase 150 mm cubes were cast, cured and tested by destructive method for gathering data on strength characteristics. Later these test samples were subjected to elevated temperatures ranging from 100°C to 800°C, in steps of 100°C with a retention period of 2 hours. After exposure, weight losses were determined and then again destructive tests were conducted to estimate the residual compressive strength. Test results indicated that weight and strength significantly reduces with an increase in temperature. © 2010 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY.