1.

INTRODUCTION
High Performance Concrete (HPC) is a novel construction material with improved properties like
higher strength, longer durability, higher constructability, etc. than conventional concrete. The
term High Performance Concrete was first used by ehta and !itcin, ("##$), for concrete
mi%tures possessing three characteristics, namely high strength, high workability and high
durability. any different definitions have been proposed for HPC. !ccording to &orster, ''High
performance concrete is a concrete( made with appropriate materials, combined according to a
selected mi% design) properly mi%ed, transported, placed, consolidated and cured so that the
resulting concrete will give an e%cellent performance in the structure in which it is placed, in the
environment to which it is e%posed and with the loads to which it will be sub*ect for its design+.
! ,eville (-$$.) states that /the essential feature of HPC is that its ingredients and
proportions are specially chosen so as to have particular appropriate properties for the e%pected
use of a structure) these properties are usually a high strength or impermeability+. HPC is
defined by the !merican Concrete 0nstitute as concrete that meets special combinations of
performance and uniformity re1uirements that cannot always be achieved routinely using
conventional constituents and normal mi%ing, placing, and curing practices (!C0 ""23). HPC is
the concrete having high resistance to fluid penetration as well as satisfying the strength
re1uirement.
4ecause of the above benefits, High Performance Concrete has been used more widely in recent
years for the construction of important concrete structures and buildings, such as bridges,
tunnels, offshore pier and platform structures, concrete structures in nuclear power stations,
highways, towers, chimney, storage tank of crude oil, launching rockets carrying spaceships,
other forms of infrastructures and high5rise buildings. 0n case of concrete sub*ected to &ire
accidents, sabotages or natural ha6ards are the situations where the structural concrete may have
to withstand elevated temperatures.
7everal cases in the recent past show the effect of such an accident on civil structures, in tunnels
(ont 4lanc -$ arch "###, 7t. 8othard Pass -9 :ctober -$$", and &re*us -$$., ;l5!khdaria
tunnel (!lgeria) on &ebruary -<, -$$<, Channel Tunnel fire "" 7eptember -$$<), 4ridges
(=iehltal 4ridge in 8ermany !ugest -2, -$$9, 7anfrancisco :akland >$ !pril, -$$?
Civil ;ngineering @epartment, ,0TA, 7urathkal Page "
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
The performance of concrete under elevated temperature depends on the kind of aggregate used
in, the si6e of structural members, presence of po66olanas, fibres, heating rate and temperature,
presence of moisture, type of cooling etc.
Use of Aggregate
The kind of aggregates used for making concrete has a ma*or influence on the performance of
concrete at elevated temperature. @ Campbell B !llen et al., ("#2?), have carried out e%periment
on concrete with three types of aggregate, a lightweight e%panded shale, a fireclay brick and a
pure limestone sub*ect to cycles of temperature up to >$$
$
C. the deterioration was found to be
less for fireclay brick and greatest for the limestone.
T. Harada, et al ("#?-) has reported that the tensile strength ratio of silica aggregate concrete is
found to be close to the compressive strength ratio but the tensile strength ratio of limestone
concrete shows a fairly large reduction becoming appro%imately >$C at 9$$DC. !ccording to
8ustaferro !. H. ("#<.), carbonate aggregates perform well at elevated temperatures as
compared to siliceous aggregates. 7iliceous aggregates begin to e%pand abruptly at .?$
$
C and
disintegrate.
C. E. ,ilsen et al., (-$$>), have carried out e%perimental work on High performance basalt and
ordinary gravel concrete and reported that gravel concrete degrades faster than basalt concrete.
7avva ! et al., (-$$.), reported in their study that, between "$$
$
C to >$$
$
C, the initial strength
observed to increase. This increase is more for siliceous aggregate concrete as compared to
limestone aggregate concrete. !t 2$$
$
C the reduction in strength is half, for ?.$
$
C it decrease ?.
C to #>C for various types of mi%ture concrete. :mer !rio6 (-$$?) observed a gradual reduction
in residual strength up to 2$$
$
C (residual strength #$C for carbonate aggregates and .$C for
river gravel) and sharp reduction in relative strength beyond that point. & 3obert et al., (-$$#),
concluded that 'linearF thermal e%pansion coefficient for siliceous aggregate seem to dilate a
little more than calcareous aggregate.
Civil ;ngineering @epartment, ,0TA, 7urathkal Page -
Literature summary
0t is clear that various parameters such as cement type, aggregate type, wGc ratio, use of
po66olanic material, strength and density of concrete, type of fiber, specimen si6e and type,
heating rate, cooling type, retention period, ma%imum temperature, type of testing, type of
furnace etc., which are affects the physical and mechanical properties of High Performance
concrete when sub*ected to elevated temperatures.
3. IDENTIFICATION OF TE !RO"LE#
Civil ;ngineering @epartment, ,0TA, 7urathkal Page >
There is a lot of progress made in the filed of optimum design of structures in terms of
mathematical models for solutions yielding almost e%act solutions. Computers are invariably a
part of these models. Though there is a lot of data that can be generated with these models, the
data re1uired by the user happens to be only a fraction of what is produced. Hence there is
re1uirement of analytical iterative methods that would start with not5so5accurate solutions and
end with sufficiently accurate results at critical locations in successive iterations. This would
result in saving a lot of computer time, though not much e%pensive these days, and in generating
only the most concerned , critical results at the locations of interest.
The following ob*ectives are proposed for the current research investigation from e%haustive
literature survey.
". To study the influence of shape and materials on the optimum design of plate 5like
structures.
-. To develop analytical methods to generate optimum shape of structures sub*ected to given set
of loads, supports and boundary conditions, through iterative procedures.
>. To develop mathematical models for the assessment of sensitivity of various parameters like
HoungFs modulus, PoissonFs ratio and thickness on the optimum shape design.
Civil ;ngineering @epartment, ,0TA, 7urathkal Page 9
$. !LAN OF WOR%
&emester
Course
Wor'
Literature
Re(ie)
!re*imi+ary
I+(estigatio+s
a+, #i-
Desig+
Casti+g
a+,
Curi+g of
&.e/ime+s
Testi+g of
&.e/ime+s at
E*e(ate,
Tem.eratures
A+a*ysis
of Resu*ts
a+,
Dis/ussio+
T0esis
!re.aratio+
I
1De/ 2345u+ 267
8 8
II
15u* 264De/ 267
8
8
III
15a+ 1245u+ 127
8
8
IV
15u* 124De/ 127
8 8 8
V
15a+ 1145u+ 117
8 8 8 8
VI
15u* 114De/ 117
8 8 8 8 8
Civil ;ngineering @epartment, ,0TA, 7urathkal Page .
9. REFERENCE&
". !itcin, P. C. ("##<). /High Performance Concrete+, E&FN SPON, New York.
-. !nnerel, ;. and Taerwe, I. (-$$?). /!pproaches for the assessment of the residual strength of
concrete e%posure to fire.+ 0nternational workshop /fire design of concrete structures from materials
modelling to structural performance+, Jniveristy of Coimbra5 Portugal, 9<#5.$$.
>. !nnerel, ;. and Taerwe, I. (-$""). /ethods to 1uantify the colour development of concrete
e%posed to fire.+ Const. 4uild. ater., -.("$), >#<#5>##?.
9. !rio6, :. (-$$#), /3etained properties of concrete e%posed to high temperatures( 7i6e effect.+ &ire
and ater., >>(.), -""B---.
.. !7T @esignation C"#-5#$a, ("##9), 7tandard Practice for aking and Curing Concrete test
7pecimen in the Iaboratry.
2. 4a6ant, K.P. and Aaplan, . &. ("##2). /Concrete at High Temperatures( aterial Properties and
athematical odels.+ Pearson Education.
Civil ;ngineering @epartment, ,0TA, 7urathkal Page 2