Study on Deterioration of Concrete Blend Under Elevated Temperature in an Acidic Environment

This study aimed at investigating the effect of deterioration of concrete produced with cement being partially replaced with silica fume and cow horn ash under elevated temperature in an acidic environment. The performance of the test concrete cubes was done by exposing them to elevated temperatures of 200oC, 400oC, 600oC and 800oC, and allowed to cool down to room temperature, the concrete cubes were cured in an acidic medium before testing for their properties. Both the physical and thermal properties of the concrete cubes were determined. The concrete produced by blending cement with 10% silica fume and cow horn ash with an average percentage loss of 23.04% retained more of its compressive strength when exposed to the different temperatures, than concrete produced using only OPC. The flexural strength of both the control concrete (at 0% OPC replacement) and OPC/ silica fume and cow horn ash blended concrete (at 10% OPC replacement) decreased as the temperature increased. The replacement of OPC by 10% silica fume and cow horn ash increased the Environmental resistance of the concrete by 11 cycles than the 0% OPC concrete at the same temperature and highly resistance to an acidic environment under the same curing condition, the result shows that, blending OPC with silica fume and cow horn ash in concrete performed better at an aggressive environment under elevated temperatures than concrete produced with only OPC. Therefore, the replacement of OPC with 10% silica fume and cow horn ash can be applied as a fire resisting bonding material in concrete.