Behavior of magnetic concrete incorporated with Egyptian nano alumina

This research is the first attempt to determine the possibility of using magnetized water (MW) to improve fresh, mechanical, and microstructure characteristics of concrete incorporated with Egyptian nano alumina (NA). For this purpose, slump, compressive strength, desorption, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) approaches were conducted. Eight concrete mixes and eight cement paste mixes were made with different NA contents (0, 1, 2, and 3% by weight of OPC). Two types of water, normal tap water (TW) and MW of 1.2 Tesla were used. Using MW instead of TW had led to a significant improvement in all considered characteristics of concrete. For non-magnetic concrete (NMC), the use of 1% replacement level of NA improved the properties of concrete. While, for magnetic concrete (MC), there was notable improvements in concrete characteristics of 1% NA and 2% NA specimens compared to control specimen. The proper content of NA to be used in both NMC and MC was 1% by weight of OPC. NMC made with 1% NA showed the highest increase in strength (17%) and decrease in capillary porosity (30%). MC made with 1% NA showed the highest increase in strength in (13%) and decrease in capillary porosity (27%) as compared to control specimen.