Effect of nano-silica on the hydration and microstructure development of Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) with a low binder amount

• A dense skeleton of UHPC can be obtained with a relatively low binder amount.
• To get the highest mechanical properties, an optimal amount of nano-silica is calculated.
• The combined effect of SP and nano-silica additions on the hydration of UHPC is analyzed.
• The mechanism of the microstructure development of UHPC is analyzed.

This paper presents the effect of nano-silica on the hydration and microstructure development of Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) with a low binder amount. The design of UHPC is based on the modified Andreasen and Andersen particle packing model. The results reveal that by utilizing this packing model, a dense and homogeneous skeleton of UHPC can be obtained with a relatively low binder amount (about 440 kg/m3). Moreover, due to the high amount of superplasticizer utilized to produce UHPC in this study, the dormant period of the cement hydration is extended. However, due to the nucleation effect of nano-silica, the retardation effect from superplasticizer can be significantly compensated. Additionally, with the addition of nano-silica, the viscosity of UHPC significantly increases, which causes that more air is entrapped in the fresh mixtures and the porosity of the hardened concrete correspondingly increases. In contrary, due to the nucleation effect of nano-silica, the hydration of cement can be promoted and more C–S–H gel can be generated. Hence, it can be concluded that there is an optimal nano-silica amount for the production of UHPC with the lowest porosity, at which the positive effect of the nucleation and the negative influence of the entrapped air can be well balanced.