APPLICATION OF PARTICLE PACKING THEORY IN ULTRA HIGH STRENGTH CONCRETE MIX DESIGNS AND EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SOME OF THE PROJECTS

Rahul Mathur

Abstract: Concrete has fast grown as an answer to almost all the construction needs of a society or a nation or global mass, whatever may be the scale. It has crossed a whole series phases where the Engineers in different ages have learned about its behavior under different conditions and the parameter those are responsible and controller of the same. With the passage of time, the experimental analysis enabled us to reach to the micro structure in depth and decipher some of the critical parameters like micro pores, particle size distribution, Transition zone and its significance and the “particle packing”, which has enhanced understanding of the concept of Concrete Mix Design and enabled us to design High Strength High Performance Concrete. The Article Deals with the concept of application of Particle packing theory Ultra High Strength Concrete Mix Design, where cement alone cannot contribute in the Compressive Strength of the Concrete by way of bond as the transition zone tend to fail much before arrival to the targeted strength and moreover, not all cement is often used in the hydration, owing to very low Water to Cement Ratio which may be of the order of 0.15 to 0.18 and many particles remained unhydrated or partially hydrated and they contribute in particle packing alone. The “particle packing” is the second parameter which is contributor in the strength of the concrete and is a function of the overall PSD, better is the PSD, better shall be packing and more will be the energy needed to break it. In this article the due consideration has been on using postulates of the particle packing and developing a mix design for UHSC. We shall also study the mix design of M100 grade concrete.

Keywords: Transition Zone, Particle Packing, Ultra High Strength Concrete (UHSC), and Concrete microstructure

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2016.0532046