This paper presents the experimental findings of a study on the influence of combining usage of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) on the performance of high-strength concrete (HSC) subjected to elevated temperatures. In this study, four types of HSC formulations were prepared: HSC made from cement and fly ash (FA), HSC made from cement and ultra-fine fly ash (UFFA), HSC made from cement and UFFA-metakaolin (MK), and HSC made from cement and FA-UFFA-MK. Mechanical and physical properties of HSC subjected to high temperatures (400, 600, 800, and 1000 °C) were studied. Furthermore, the relation between residual compressive strength and physical properties (loss mass, water absorption, and porosity) of HSC was developed. Results showed that the combined usage of SCMs had limited influence on the early-age strength of HSC, while the 28-d strength had been significantly affected. At 1000 °C, the residual compressive strength retained 18.7 MPa and 23.9 MPa for concretes containing 30% UFFA-5% MK and 10% FA-20% UFFA-5% MK, respectively. The specimen containing FA-UFFA-MK showed the best physical properties when the temperature raised above 600 °C. Combined usage of SCMs (10% FA-20% UFFA-5% MK) showed the lowest mass loss (9.2%), water absorption (10.9%) and porosity (28.6%) at 1000 °C. There was a strongly correlated relation between residual strength and physical properties of HSC exposed to elevated temperatures.

It has been reported that iron tailing powder (ITP) has the potential to partially replace cement to prepare ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC). However, the reactivity of ITP particles in concrete largely depends on the curing method. This study investigates the effects of curing conditions on the mechanical and microstructural properties of UHPC containing ITP. To achieve this objective, three research tasks are conducted, including (1) preparing seven concrete formulations by introducing ITP; (2) characterizing their mechanical performance under different curing regimes; and (3) analyzing their microstructure by XRD patterns, FTIR analysis, and SEM observation. The experimental results show that there is an optimum ITP dosage (15%) for their application. The concrete with 15% ITP under standard curing obtains 94.3 MPa at 7 days, their early-age strength could be even further increased by ~30% (warm-water curing) and ~35% (steamed curing). The steam curing regime stimulates the activity of ITP and refines the microstructure. This study demonstrates the potential of replacing Portland cement with ITP in UHPC production.

In order to improve the utilization rate of mortar powder in concrete, the influence of mortar powder on the workability, compressive strength, impermeability, and volume stability of recycled concrete was studied by using the control variable method. The results show that recycled aggregate can improve the workability and mechanical properties of recycled concrete by containing the appropriate amount of mortar powder. The content of mortar powder is less than 5%, the workability and compressive strength of recycled concrete will gradually improve with the increase of the content. When the content of fine mortar powder exceeds 5%, the workability and mechanical properties of concrete will deteriorate to some extent. The mortar powder can improve the impermeability and volume stability of concrete to a certain extent. When the content is 8%, the 56d chloride diffusion coefficient of concrete is 24.5 × 10-13 m2/s, which is 52.8% lower than that of concrete without mortar powder.

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