Effect of storage and curing conditions at elevated temperatures on aerogel-incorporated mortar samples based on UHPC recipe

• Aerogel incorporated mortars (AIMs) based on UHPC formulation are the focus here.
• Effects of elevated temperatures and storage methods up to 28 days were probed.
• AIMs displayed better properties with new curing methods, especially at 80 °C.
• Optimizing curing conditions works well for AIMs up to a maximum 60 vol% of aerogel.
• A step forward for slim building units with good thermal and mechanical properties.

The effect of elevated temperature during storage and curing of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) formulated aerogel-incorporated mortar (AIM) samples was investigated. It was found that an effective aerogel loading of 60 vol% of total bulk volume was possible for producing AIM samples with suitable thermal and mechanical properties under optimized storing and curing conditions. AIM samples with compressive strengths of up to ≈19 MPa was achieved and the corresponding thermal conductivity was ≈0.4 W/(mK). For more insulating concrete, 70 vol% aerogel was needed and AIM samples with thermal conductivity as low as ≈0.1 W/(mK) were cast. In general, AIM samples with strengths of up to 5 MPa can be achieved when thermal conductivities of between 0.1 and 0.2 W/(mK) is desired. The obtained results here estimates that there is potential in improving the AIM samples to produce structural and insulating concrete through modification of storing and curing conditions to achieve the desired requirements of a thermal conductivity value of <0.1 W/(mK) with a corresponding compressive strength of >20 MPa.