NANO CONCRETE

MEGHA BALLARI AND PRACHI BORKAR

VI SEM CIVIL
 INTRODUCTION
• Nanotechnology is one of the most active
research areas which has wide applications in
almost all the fields.
• As concrete is most usable material in
construction industry it’s been required to
improve its quality.
• Improving concrete properties by addition of
nano particles have shown significant
improvement than conventional concrete.
Why nanotechnology for concrete?
• Improves the materials’ bulk properties.
• Ability to control or manipulate materials at
the atomic scale. NANOSCALE ATTACK ON ASR (ALKALI
SILICATE REACTION)
• To obtain thinner final products and faster
setting time.
• Cost effectiveness.
• Lowered levels of environmental
contamination.
 What is nano concrete?
• A concrete made with portland cement
particles that are less than 500nm as a
cementing agent.
• Currently cement particle sizes range from a
few nano-meters to a maximum of about100
micro meters.
 NANO MATERIALS
• Carbon Nanotubes.
• Nano-silica.
• Polycarboxylates.
 CARBON NANO TUBES
• Carbon nanotubes are molecular-scale tubes
of graphitic carbon with outstanding
properties.
• They can be several millimetres in length and
can have one “layer” or wall (single walled
nanotube) or more than one wall (multi
walled nanotube).
SINGLE WALLED CARBON NANO TUBES
MULTI WALLED CARBON NANO TUBES
 PROPERTIES
• CNT are also highly flexible.
• Mechanically, CNT appear to be the strongest
material.
• The smaller diameters.
• Stiffest and strongest fibers.
 NANO SILICA
• Is the first nano product that replaced the
micro silica.
• Advancement made by the study of concrete
at nano scale have proved nano silica much
better than silica used in conventional
concrete.
NANO SILICA
 PROPERTIES
• High compressive strengths concretes ( 15 MPa
and 75 MPa at 1 day; 40 MPa and 90 MPa at 28 days and 48 MPa and 120
MPa at 120 days.)

• High workability with reduced water/cement

ratio.
• Use of super plasticizing additives is
unnecessary.
• Fills up all the micro pores and micro spaces.
• Cement saving upto 35-45%.
 POLYCARBOXYLATES
• Polycarboxylates or polymer based concrete
admixtures are High Range Water Reducing
admixture (HRWR).
• low dosage-reduce water as much as high
dosage of conventional admixtures.
• Higher dosage-produce Self Compacting
Concrete (SCC).
• This admixture type is very suitable for
underwater anti-washout concrete.
POLYCARBOXYLATES
 RESULTS
• Resistance to compression - 40 to 90MPa in 1
day.Resistance to compression from 70 a 100
MPa (or more) in 28 days.
• Produces high resistance even with low
addition (1 to 1.5 % of the cements weight)
and gives self compacting characteristics with
higher proportions (2.5 %).
• Meets the norms of environmental
protection.

• 70% less use of additives as traditional silica,

super plasticizers or traditional fibres.
 BENEFITS OF NANO CONCRETE
• Cessation of contamination caused by micro
silica solid particles.
• Lower cost per building site.
• Concrete with high initial and final
compressive and tensile strengths.
• Concrete with good workability.
• Cessation of super plasticizing utilization.
• Cessation of silicosis risk.
 CONCLUSION
• Well dispersed nano particles increase the
viscosity of the liquid phase, improves the
segregation resistance and workability of the
system.
• Accelerates the hydration.
• Better bond between aggregates and cement
paste.
• Improves the toughness,shear,tensile strength
and flexural strength of concrete.
 SCOPE
• If Portland cement can be formulated with
nano-size cement particles, it will open up a
large number of opportunities.
• The cement will not only be more economical
than organic polymers but also will be fire
resistant.
• A number of investigations have been carried
out for developing smart concrete using
carbon fibers.
• This will become a reality with nano-cement
because nano-carbontubes are much more
effective than carbon fibers. The thickness of
the composite can be reduced to microns and
hence flexible and smart cement composite
can be manufactured.
 REFERENCES
[1] Balaguru, P. N. (2005), “Nanotechnology and Concrete: Background,
Opportunities and Challenges.” Proceedings of the International Conference
application of Technology in Concrete Design.
[2] Boresi, Arthur P.; Chong, Ken P.; Saigal, Sunil. Approximate Solution Methods in
Engineering Mechanics, John Wiley, New York, 2002, 280 pp.
[3] Balaguru, P.; and Shah, S.P. Fiber Reinforced Cement Composites, McGraw-Hill,
New York, 1992, 530 pp.
[4] “Concrete”, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete.
[5] Srivastava, D.; Wei, C.; and Cho, K. “Nanomechanics of carbon nanotubes and
composites.” Applied Mechanics Review, 56, 2003, 215-230.
[6] LI, G. Properties of high-volume fly ash concrete incorporating nano-SiO2.
Cement and Concrete Research. 34. 2004. P. 1043 – 1049.
[7] McCARTHY, M.J. & DHIR, R.K. Development of high volume fly ash cement.