Effects of single-walled carbon nanotubes and steel fiber on recycled ferrochrome filled electrical conductive mortars

Abstract

The production of electrically conductive concrete was introduced years ago among construction materials, generally for anti-icing. The present study investigates the electrical, mechanical, dynamic, and microstructural properties of recycled ferrochrome filled cementitious mortars, containing single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and steel fiber. 7, 14, and 28-day non-destructive and 28-day compressive and bending tests of cementitious conductive mortars obtained from five different mixtures were performed. Two-point uniaxial method was used to determine the electrical conductivity properties of the samples. The damping ratio of the samples was obtained by performing dynamic resonance tests. Ultrasound pulse velocity (UPV) and Leeb hardness tests were performed as other non-destructive testing methods. Microstructure analysis at the interfaces of conductive concrete samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDS (Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). According to the experimental results, all data agreed and confirmed each other. When SWCNT is used in combination with steel fiber, the conductive mortar samples exhibited reasonable conductivity, while their mechanical properties turned out to below.