Effect of CNTs and MEA on the creep of face-slab concrete at an early age

Abstract

The creep of face-slab concrete in a rockfill dam is critical for determining the restrained stress and cracking resistance of the concrete at an early age. In this article, the mix proportion of the face-slab concrete for a rockfill dam under construction without any cracking resistance additive was taken as the reference concrete (called JC) mix proportion. The carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and magnesium oxide expansion agent (MEA) were incorporated into JC to prepare face-slab concretes called NC and PC, respectively. The temperature–stress tests under temperature matching curing (TMC) and constant temperature curing (CTC) modes were conducted on these three kinds of concretes to investigate the effects of CNTs and MEA on the early-age creep properties of the face-slab concrete under variable stress conditions. The results showed that the creep performance of NC concrete under CTC mode was lower than that under TMC mode. Combined with mercury intrusion porosimetry test results, the mechanism of the effect of CNTs and MEA on creep was analyzed. The results showed that the temperature change may lead to the CNTs debonding from the cementitious matrix or matrix cracking for the NC concrete. The incorporation of CNTs can increase the early-age creep and improve the cracking resistance of concrete.