Study of the Effect of Nano- Materials on developing Properties of Concrete

Abstract

This thesis aims to substitute cement mixtures using Nano particles of two different materials Nano Kaoline (NK) and Nano Calcium Carbonate NCaCO3 to study its physical, mechanical and permeability performance and to provide a highly performance concrete mixture with feasibly economic cost. The study is concerned in the synthesizing of (NK) and (NCaCO3) particles in the laboratory by applying simple techniques. Both Nano Materials are obtained by the calcination of Kaolinite and Calcium Carbonate and prepared by thermal activation at 8000 C for 2 hours. The morphology of the synthesized NK and NCaCO3 are analyzed using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and the minerals are identified using X-ray diffraction Florence (XRDF).Concrete specimens were prepared in the laboratory and the results were compared against control mix. The microstructure was characterized by means of Scanning Electron Microscope analysis (SEM). According to experiments, the optimum partial replacement of NK and NCaCO3 is 7% and 1% respectively which increases both compressive and splitting tensile strength and enhances Coefficient of permeability. The NK gives better results in the ratio (splitting strength/ compression tensile strength) than NCaCO3, while NCaCO3 achieves better results in the coefficient of Permeability. From the study, it is recommended to add 1% NCaCO3 for best enhancement of concrete besides its low cost