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Ductal®: an example of how durable concrete can be!



Title: Ductal®: an example of how durable concrete can be!
Author(s): P. Acker, M. Behloul
Paper category : conference
Book title: International Conference on Microstructure Related Durability of Cementitious Composites
Editor(s): W. Sun, K. van Breugel, C. Miao, G. Ye and H. Chen
Print-ISBN: 978-2-35158-065-3
e-ISBN: 978-2-35158-084-4
Publisher: RILEM Publications
Publication year: 2008
Pages: 1307 - 1318
Total Pages: 12
Nb references: 19
Language: English


Abstract: Improved concrete formulation approaches making use of supplementary cementitious materials, ultra-fine particles and new admixture chemistries has led to amazing progress in concrete technology over the last twenty years. High-strength concrete was industrialized by the end of the 80’s but basically remained a brittle material requiring the use of passive reinforcement. A technological breakthrough took place in the late 90’s, with the development of "Ductal®", an easily castable class of durable, fibre-reinforced concretes offering compressive strengths exceeding 200 MPa and flexural strengths of over 40 MPa, and also exhibiting ductility, allowing it to be used without passive reinforcements in many structural elements. The mechanical properties of Ductal® allow for very slender structures, contributing to overall construction performance by limiting use of raw materials, reducing labour requirements and improving construction safety. A large program of conventional and non-conventional durability tests was run on two industrial Ductal® mix designs, showing outstanding results with respect to abrasion, carbonation, chloride and sulphate resistance, as well as low creep and fatigue. The ultra-high durability of the material significantly reduces the rate of degradation of structures made with it, lowers maintenance requirements and costs, and increases the total life cycle performance while reducing environmental impact. Our results evidence the importance of porosity in durability and confirm that the initial water/cement ratio is a key factor in controlling the service life of concrete structures.


Online publication: 2009-06-09
Publication type : full_text
Public price (Euros): 0.00


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