Durability of Steel Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Containing SiO₂ Nano-Particles

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect ofnano-SiO₂ and steel fiber content on the durability of concrete. Five different dosages of nano-SiO₂ particles and five volume dosages of steel fiber were used. The durability of concretes includes permeability resistance, cracking resistance, carbonation resistance, and freezing-thawing resistance, and these were evaluated by the water permeation depth, number of cracks, total cracking area per unit area of the specimens, carbonation depth of the specimens, and the relative dynamic elastic modulus of the specimens after freezing-thawing cycles, respectively. The results indicate that the addition of nano-SiO₂ particles significantly improves the durability of concrete when the content of nano-SiO₂ is limited within a certain range. With the increase of nano-SiO₂ content, the durability of concrete first increases and then decreases. An excessive number of nano-SiO₂ particles could have an adverse effect on the durability of the concrete. The addition of the correct amount of steel fibers improves the carbonation resistance of concrete containing nano-particles, but excessive steel fiber reduces the carbonation resistance. Moreover, the addition of steel fibers reduces the permeability resistance of concrete containing nano-particles. The incorporation of steel fiber enhanced the freezing-thawing resistance and cracking resistance of concrete containing nano-particles. With increasing steel fiber content, the freezing-thawing resistance of the concrete containing nano-particles increases, and the cracking resistance of the concrete decreases gradually.