Multi-functional properties of carbon nanofiber reinforced reactive powder concrete

This paper aimed to develop carbon nanofiber (CNF) reinforced reactive powder concrete (CNF-RPC) with multi-functional properties. Water to binder ratio (w/b) was kept at 0.2 and CNFs dosage ranged from 0% to 2% by volume of the total cementitious materials. Flexural and compressive strengths of CNF-RPC were determined for each dosage of CNFs. Piezoresistive performance of CNF-RPC was investigated while the piezoresistivity of CNFs added cement paste and mortar were also performed. Moreover, deicing performance of CNF-RPC was experimentally researched and numerally simulated using finite element analysis. Results indicated that RPC with appropriate content of CNFs performed favorable mechanical properties and excellent self-sensing performance. While CNFs content was close to the post-percolation threshold zone, CNF-RPC presented an obvious deicing performance. When CNFs content was in the percolation threshold zone, resistance of CNF-RPC rarely changed with measurement time. RPC containing CNFs (CNF-RPC) was more conductive and demonstrated a higher sensitivity and linearity of self-sensing performance than CNFs added cement paste and mortar samples.