Title: Reactive Powder Concretes: From Theory to Practice

Author(s): Oliver Bonneau, Claude Poulin, Jr., Me Dugat, Pierre-Claude A. Tcin

Publication: Concrete International

Volume: 18

Issue: 4

Appears on pages(s): 47-49

Keywords: compressive strength; metal fibers; reactive powder concrete; Materials Research

DOI:

Date: 4/1/1996

Abstract:
Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is a relatively new type of portland cement-based material with compressive strength between 200 and 800 MPa, elastic modulus between 50 and 75 GPa, and ductility with an ultimate elongation that could equal 7000 10 6 m/m. When reinforced with steel fibers, the fracture energy of RPC can reach 40,000 J/m 2. RPC is obtained through an optimization of its grain size distribution by scaling down the maximum size of aggregate to 600 microm, by pressing it during the first hours following its casting, and by applying some very simple heat treatment. To demonstrate that the material can be produced almost everywhere, Bouygues Company of France and the University of Sherbrooke, Canada, produced two RPC batches in industrial conditions using locally available materials. One 2.6 m 3 RPC batch was made at Sherbrooke in a ready-mix truck and one 1.3 m 3 batch in a precast plant near Sherbrooke. Both tested at over 200 MPa in compression.