Combined effect of nano-SiO2 particles and steel fibers on flexural properties of concrete composite containing fly ash

This paper presents an experimental study to evaluate the combined effect of nano-SiO2 particles and steel fibers on flexural properties of concrete composites containing fly ash. In this study, five different nano-SiO2 contents (1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, and 9%) and five different steel fiber contents (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 2.5%) were used. The results indicate that addition of nano-SiO2 and steel fibers decreases the workability of the concrete composites containing fly ash, and both the slump and slump flow decrease gradually with the increase in nano-SiO2 and steel fiber content. Besides, the addition of nano-SiO2 can greatly increase the flexural strength and flexural modulus of elasticity of concrete composites containing fly ash. There is a tendency for the increase in the flexural strength flexural modulus of elasticity with an increase in the nano-SiO2 content when the nano-SiO2 content is below 5%, while both of the two flexural parameters begin to decrease after the nano-SiO2 content above 5%. Furthermore, steel fibers have great improvement on the flexural properties of concrete composites containing fly ash and nano-particles. The flexural strength and flexural modulus of elasticity of concrete composites containing fly ash and nano-SiO2 are more than those of the concrete composite without steel fibers. Both of the two flexural parameters increase with the increase in steel fiber content when the steel fiber content is below 2%, while the flexural parameters begin to decrease after the steel fiber content is above 2%