Effect of nano and micro conductive materials on conductive properties of carbon fiber reinforced concrete

Abstract

Abstract In this study, the pressure sensitivity and temperature sensitivity of the diphasic electric conduction concrete were investigated by measuring the resistivity using the four-electrode method. The diphasic electric conduction concrete was obtained by mixing nano and micro conductive materials (carbon nanofibers, nano carbon black and steel slag powder) into the carbon fiber reinforced concrete (CFRC). The results indicated that, with the increase of conduction time, the resistivity of CFRC decreased slightly at the initial stage and then became steady, while the resistivity of CFRC containing nano carbon black had a sharp decrease at the dosage of 0.6%. With the increase of compression load, the coefficient of resistivity variation of CFRC containing nano carbon black and steel slag powder changed little. The coefficient of resistivity variation increased with the increase of steel slag powder in the dry environment, and CFRC had preferable pressure sensitivity when the mass fractions of carbon fiber and carbon nanofiber were 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively. Besides, in the humid environment, the coefficient of resistivity variation decreased with the increase of steel slag powder, and the diphasic electric conduction concrete containing 0.4% carbon fibers and 20% steel slag powder had the best pressure sensitivity under the damp environment. Moreover, in the dry environment, CFRC containing nano and micro conductive materials presented better temperature sensitivity in the heating stage than in the cooling stage no matter carbon nanofiber, nano carbon black or steel slag powder was used, especially for the CFRC containing steel slag powder.