Self-consolidating concrete subjected to high temperature: Mechanical and physicochemical properties

This paper presents an experimental study on the performance of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) subjected to high temperature. Two SCC mixtures and one vibrated concrete were tested. These concrete mixes were developed in the French National Project B@P. Mechanical and microstructural properties were studied at ambient temperature and after heating. We studied compressive strength, flexural strength, bulk modulus of elasticity, porosity and permeability. For each test, the specimens were heated at a rate of 1 °C/min up to different temperatures (150, 300, 450 and 600 °C). In order to ensure a uniform temperature throughout the specimen, the temperature was held constant at the target temperature for 1 h before cooling. In addition, the specimen mass was measured before and after heating in order to determine the loss of water during the test. The results allowed us to analyze the degradation of SCC and vibrated concretes due to heating.