ANALYSIS OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HYDROTHERMALLY CURED HIGH STRENGTH CEMENT MATRIX FOR TEXTILE REINFORCED CONCRETE

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to describe the influence of hydrothermal curing conditions in an autoclave device (different pressure and temperature), which took place at various ages of a fresh mixture (cement matrix – CM, and fibre-reinforced cement matrix – FRCM), on textile reinforced concrete production. The positive influence of autoclaving has been evaluated through the results of physical and mechanical testing – compressive strength, flexural strength, bulk density and dynamic modulus of elasticity, which have been measured on specimens with the following dimensions: 40×40×160mm3. In addition, it has been found that increasing the pressure and temperature resulted in higher values of measured characteristics. The results indicate that the most suitable surrounding conditions are 0.6MPa, and 165 °C at the age of 21 hours; the final compressive strength of cement matrix is 134.3MPa and its flexural strength is 25.9MPa (standard cured samples achieve 114.6MPa and 15.7MPa). Hydrothermal curing is even more effective for cement matrix reinforced by steel fibres (for example, the compressive strength can reach 177.5MPa, while laboratory-cured samples achieve a compressive strength of 108.5MPa).