The Effect of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) Nanoparticles on Concrete Durability against Freeze-Thaw Cycles

mohammad heydari¹ mohammad ali dashti rahmatabadi²

1) 1- M.Sc in civil engineering, construction management and engineering ,
2) 2- Ph.D. in civil engineering, assistant professor at the Civil Engineering Department, Islamic azad university, yazd branch

Publication : International Congress of Science and Engineering - TOKYO UNIVERSITY - JAPAN(tuicet.com)
Abstract :
Since concrete structures are in direct contact with weather conditions and environmental destructive agents, issues related to shelf life and durability has always been of interest to researchers. One issue that has had the most destructive effect on concrete structures in cold and wet environment’s, is the successive cycles of freezing and thawing on the one hand, nanotechnology in recent decades has made it possible for nanomaterial’s to be used for the improvement level of serviceability in building materials. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of successive cycles of freezing and thawing on durability of concretes containing Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (Tio2. To achieve this end, concrete samples ratio of water-cement constant (w/c) equal to 0.53 and four designs by substituting 0%, 2%, 3.5% and 5% wt.% cement materials with titanium nan dioxide was made. Thus, four blending designs in the form of 40 concrete samples were made. The samples were in accordance with standard ASTM-C666-B which were subjected to freezing and thawing conditions. To compare the blending designs against frost, weight variations, length and compressive strength of samples following and prior to freezing conditions were taken into account. It was shown in this study that adding titanium nan dioxide particles to concrete initially and after 28 days has caused compressive strength loss, however, adding these particles to concrete causes a significant increment in improvement and durability of concrete against freezing phenomenon. Also, optimal percent in order to have the least compressive strength loss and to enhance durability against frost, being 2wt% cement.
Keywords : Freezing and thaw cyceles Concrete durability Titanium nano dioxide (Tio2)