Abstract:
Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) has broad application prospects in the field of the repair and protection of existing concrete structure. In this paper, UHPC was modified by incorporating silane and nano-SiO
2 to enhance its repair and protection performance. Firstly, the influence of incorporating silane and nano-SiO
2 on the compressive and flexural strengths of UHPC under standard, steam, and sealed curing conditions, as well as the bonding performance between UHPC and concrete with different saturations, were systematically investigated. Additionally, the evolution mechanism of water absorption properties was investigated through the weighing method and surface contact angle test. Finally, the effects of incorporating silane and nano-SiO
2 on the pore structure and setting-hardening process of UHPC were studied by Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance techniques, respectively. The results show that the incorporation of silane can reduce the compressive strength of UHPC by 13.3%~29.7%, while the compressive strength of the specimens with combined incorporation of silane and nano-SiO
2 is 2.9%~11.3% higher than that of the specimens with silane incorporated.The incorporation of silane can increase the interfacial shear strength between UHPC and substrates by 3.5% to 34.8% under standard and sealed curing conditions, while incorporating nano-SiO
2 or increasing the concrete saturation can enhance the interfacial shear strength between UHPC and substrates by 8.3% to 31.9% under three curing conditions. The capillary water absorption coefficient of UHPC with silane is 38.7%~76.2% lower than that of the blank group, and its surface contact angle can be increased to 130.3°. The capillary water absorption coefficient of UHPC with the incorporation of nano-SiO
2 is 5.2%~12.6% lower than that of the specimens in the blank group. The capillary water absorption coefficient of the sealed curing specimens is 1.8 to 3.7 times that of standard and steam curing specimens. Under standard curing conditions, the incorporation of silane and nano-SiO
2 increases the porosity of UHPC by 5.0% to 22.2% compared with the specimens in the blank group, but the average pore size of UHPC is not changed significantly by the incorporation of silane or nano-SiO
2.