Nano Material in Concrete

Contents
 Introduction
 Need of Nano material usage in concrete
 Types of Nano material used
 Nano silica
 Nano tubes
 Tio2
 Applications
 Advantages & disadvantages
 Laboratory results
Introduction
 Nano= 10-9 m about one billionth of a meter
 A strand of DNA is 2 nm wide
 A human hair is about 100,000 nm
 A sheet of paper is 100,000 nm

What is Nano concrete ?

Concrete made with Portland cement particle sizes that are less than 500 nm as cementing
agent

 When matter is controlled at the Nano scale, the

following fundamental properties can change
 mechanical
 thermal
 electrical
 magnetic
 chemical reactivity
Need/ Demand
 Concrete most widely used material
 Need for Desired properties such as
 mechanical properties
 Durability
 Strength
 Seepage
 Minimizing Cost
 Environmental concern and green building concept
Types of Nano material Used in
concrete
 Most known and research material used so far
 Nano Silica
 Carbon Nano tubes
 Titanium oxide Ti02
 Nano silica

Properties

1- Increase strength
2- Flexibility
3- workability
4- Durability
5- increases Viscosity of fluid phase
6-Reacts with calcium hydroxide = CSH all mechanical properties are
controlled by CSH which is Nano-structured material

7-hydration process
Carbon Nano-Tubes

Carbon Nano tubes can of two forms to be used in concrete

a) Single walled carbon Nano tubes (SWCNT)
b) Multi walled Carbon Nano tubes (MWCNT)
CNT’s display theoretical strength which is 100 times more than that of steel
while just only one sixth of the specific weight of steel

1) High stiffness CSH

2) Reduces porosity of the CSH phase resulting in crease in Young’s modulus
3) Flexural strength
4) Increase in compressive Strength and durability
5) Autogenous shrikage
Titanium oxide
 Doesn’t participate in the reaction
 Increases the hydration
 Improves compressive strength
 Flexural strength
 Enhance the abrasion resistance
 Self cleansing
 Case study
Twenty-six batches of concrete with various
amounts and types of SCMs, as described in Table
, were prepared in the laboratory, and specimens
were cast for tests.
SCM Designation Avg. particle Material form Replacement
size %
Class F fly ash FA ~25 μm Powder 21
Slag S <45 Powder 40
Silica fumes SF 0.15 Densified 7
powder
Nano silica NS 22 Slurry with 3
water
NC vermiculite NC1 45 Clay dispersed 3
in water
Specimens were tested for compressive
strength and permeability.
The microstructure of selected concretes with
improved compressive strength and
permeability were analyzed using an atomic
force microscope and nanoindentation to
determine the reason for the improvements.
Control Concrete Silica Fume Concrete Nano
silica Concrete
Results
The nanoindentation and roughness results
indicated that The NS concrete had the
overall lowest roughness values, and the SF
concrete the overall highest roughness
values. Lower roughness values correspond
to a more uniform cement paste.
 (a) (b (c)
Control Concrete )
Silica Fume Concrete Nanosilica Concrete

 According to the AFM images, the NS concrete has the most

uniform microstructure, followed by the regular concrete,
and the SF concrete has the least uniform microstructure.
Advantages
• Low maintenance
• Reduces the thermal transfer rate
• Increasing the sound absorption of
acoustic absorber
• Increasing the reflectivity of glass
• improve segregation resistance
• fix micro cracking
• corrosion-resistance
• Low life-cycle cost
Disadvantages
 Require a lot of energy
 Price
 nanotubes might cause a lung problem
 The research is in it´s early stage yet
Applications
 Bridges
 pipe joining materials and techniques
 Lighter and stronger structural composites
 Reservoirs
 Waste water management
 Roads
 Nano-sensors
What is the world’s strongest
material ?
Graphene
100 times stronger than steel
Thank You