1 Dean of Civil Engineering, S.N.S. College of Technology, Vazhiyampalayam, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu-641035.
2Assistant Professor (S.G) in School of Civil Engineering, Karunya University, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu-641 114
Online published on 7 February, 2013.
The use of nano-particles in developing materials with desired properties has gained popularity and is being applied in many fields. More specifically, such particles can lead to improvements in the nanostructure of building materials such as cement and concrete. Concrete technology is a multidisciplinary area of research where nanotechnology potentially offers the opportunity to improve the properties of concrete to suit the specific requirements. Recent research has shown that addition of nanoparticles and nanotubes depends in the properties of concrete by modifying the structure of cement hydrates. It is also reported that addition of nano materials to concrete can lead to significant improvements in the strength and life of concrete. The grain size of the nano particles will be in the order of 10-9 m (1-100nm) (1). An attempt has been made to carry out an experimental investigation on concrete with nano-fly ash. Class F fly ash was grinded in the ball grinding mill to produce nano-fly ash(5). Different grades of concrete viz., M20, M30. M40 and M50 were cast with nano-fly ash. For each grade of concrete, 10%, 20% and 30% of coarse aggregate was replaced with nano-fly ash. The workability and compressive strength of concrete with nano-fly ash were determined and the results were compared with that of Normal Cement Concrete (NCC). Concrete with nano-fly ash was found to be stronger than NCC and the percentage increase in strength of concrete with nano-fly ash with respect to NCC was found to be in the range 17% to 50% for various grades of concrete. The workability of concrete with nano-fly ash was found to be significantly more than that of NCC.
Nano particles, Nano -fly ash, Normal Cement Concrete, Ball Grinding mill
