Direct Electric Curing of Ultra-High Performance Concrete with Stainless Steel Wires

Strategic Insights -

Researchers at the Dalian University of Technology have investigated the influence of direct electric curing on thermal, mechanical properties, and microstructure of stainless steel wires (SSWs) modified ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). The study aimed to compare the energy consumption and carbon emission of SSWs with commonly used steel fibers (SFs). The results showed that 0.2 vol% SSWs with micro diameter stabilized the electrical resistivity of UHPC and enabled a temperature ascending rate of 0.7-0.9 degrees C/min by Joule effect. The compressive strength of UHPC modified with 0.2 vol% SSWs and 1.6 vol% SFs increased by 80.8% and 87.8% compared to the 28 d-standard curing.

Key Takeaways:

  • Direct electric curing with stainless steel wires (SSWs) can significantly improve the mechanical properties of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), including compressive strength and flexural strength.
  • The use of SSWs can reduce energy consumption and carbon emission by up to 23.2% and 36.5% compared to hot water curing, respectively.
  • The microstructure of UHPC modified with SSWs and steel fibers (SFs) is refined, with coarsened SSWs' interfaces and enhanced SFs' interfaces, which leads to a significant enhancement of flexural failure strain, absorbed energy before the occurrence of macrocracks, and multiple cracking failure characteristic.
  • The research has potential to be carried out with green and new energy sources to further reduce carbon footprint, especially for low temperature environment construction.
  • The study has been peer-reviewed and published in the journal Construction and Building Materials.
  • The research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Liaoning Provincial Natural Science Foundation, Major Science and Technology Research Project of the China Building Materials Federation, and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

Statistics:

  • The compressive strength of UHPC modified with 0.2 vol% SSWs and 1.6 vol% SFs increased by 80.8% and 87.8% compared to the 28 d-standard curing.
  • The energy consumption and carbon emission for per MPa/per-increasing MPa compressive strength of electric curing is 23.2%/36.5% and 14.6%/23.8% less than that of hot water curing for S02F16 and S04F16, respectively.
  • The micro diameter of SSWs is 0.2 vol% and 1.6 vol% for steel fibers (SFs).

Sources:

  • Tailoring Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Stainless Steel Wires-modified Ultra-high Performance Concrete Via Direct Electric Curing. Construction and Building Materials, 2025;479.
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
  • Liaoning Provincial Natural Science Foundation
  • Major Science and Technology Research Project of the China Building Materials Federation
  • Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
  • Elsevier Sci Ltd, 125 London Wall, London, England. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Construction and Building Materials - www.journals.elsevier.com/construction-and-building-materials/)