Experimental analysis of SiO2 and CNT nanoparticles effects on the compressive strength of the concrete

This article is focused on the compressive strength of the concrete using silica oxide (SiO2) and carbon nanotube (CNT) nanoparticles. The concrete samples are mixed with a combination of nanoparticles with different percentages. Since the nanoparticles are not solved in water without any specific process, before producing concrete samples, nanoparticles are dispersed using a shaker, magnetic stirrer, ultrasonic devices, and finally mechanical mixer. The 15*15*15 cm cubic concrete samples for determining the compressive strength are built in three cases high SiO2, and low CNT volume percent, low SiO2 and high CNT volume percent, and pure CNT without SiO2. The 28 days cubic concrete samples are tested by ELE ADR 2000 machine. The results show that in a constant SiO2 volume percent, the compressive strength is improved by increasing the CNT volume percent, while in a constant CNT volume percent, enhancing the SiO2 volume percent has no good effect on the compressive strength. In addition, the combination of two nanoparticles cannot increase the compressive strength with respect to the sample without nanoparticles. Hence, the best result is related to the concrete containing pure CNT nanoparticles with 0.4%, which increases the compressive strength of the concrete by about 75%.