Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is a very strong and durable building material developed in the 1990s. It consists of a finely-ground mixture of cement, silica fume, quartz flour, water and steel fibers that is cured at a high temperature. RPC has extremely high compressive strength, even over 200 MPa, along with high flexural strength and very low permeability. It has been used in bridges, seawalls, buildings and other structures where high strength and durability are required. However, RPC is more expensive to produce than normal concrete due to its specialized composition and processing requirements.

1. Concrete Technology and Special Concrete
Presentation
On
Reactive Powder Concrete

2. Reactive powder concrete
 Introduction
• Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is the generic name for a class of
cementious composite materials developed by the technical division of
Bouygues, in the early 1990s. It is characterized by extremely good
physical properties, particularly strength and ductility
• A composite material & ultra high strength with mechanical properties.
• Mixture of fiber reinforced, super plasticized, silica fume, cement &
quartz sand with very low water cement ratio.
• Quartz sand used instead of ordinary aggregate, therefore increases
compressive strength.

3. RPC Composition
• RPC is able to obtain its improved properties by using a very dense
mix, consisting of fine particles and fibers.
• Low w/cm ratio : 0.16 to 0.24 (as low as 0.13)
• Type 20M (like type II) Portland cement (no C3A less HoH)
• Silica fume (25% by weight)
• Water
• High dosages of super plasticizer
• Fine quartz sand (SG=2.75)
• Steel fibers (2.5-10% by volume) for toughening
• No rebar needed!
• Cured in steam bath for 48 hrs @ 190ºF (88ºC) after initial set,
placed under pressure at the molding stage

4. RPC Mix and Placing
• Can be mixed and produced in a ready-mix truck and still have
similar strengths to those made in a central mixer.
• Self-placing, requires no internal vibration.
• Despite its composition, the large amount of super plasticizer still
makes it workable
• Function parameters
• Give strength to aggregate
• Binding material
• Maximum reactivity during heat-treating
• Filling the voids
• Improve ductility
• Reduce water binding

5. Principle
• Chard and Cheyrezy indicate the following principles for
developing RPC:
• Elimination of coarse aggregates for enhancement of homogeneity
• Utilization of the pozzolanic properties of silica fume
• Optimization of the granular mixture for the enhancement of
compacted density
• The optimal usage of super plasticizer to reduce w/c and improve
workability
• Application of pressure (before and during setting) to improve
compaction
• Post-set heat-treatment for the enhancement of the microstructure
• Addition of small-sized steel fibres to improve ductility

6. Properties of RPC
• Compressive strength
• Flexural strength
• Water absorption
• Water permeability
• Resistance to chloride ion penetration
• Homogeneity
• Compactness
• Micro-structure
• Material ductility
• Almost no shrinkage or creep
• Light weight
• Long life
• Aesthetic possibilities

7. Properties of RPC
1. compressive strength
• Higher compressive strength than HPC
• It is a factor linked with durability of material.
• Maximum compressive strength of RPC is approximately 200MPa.

8. Properties
2. Flexural Strength
• Plane RPC possess high flexural strength than HPC (Up to
100mpa)
• By introducing steel fibers, RPC can achieve high flexural
strength.
3. Water Absorption
The percentage of water absorption of RPC, however, is very low
compared to that of HPC. This quality of RPC is one among the
desired properties of nuclear waste containment materials.

9. Water absorption

10. Properties
4. Water permeability
It can be seen from the data that water permeability decreases
with age for all mixtures. 28th day water permeability of RPC is
negligible when compared to that of HPC (almost 7 times
lower). As in the case of water absorption, the use of fibres
increases the surface permeability of both types of concrete.

11. Properties
5. Resistance to chloride ion penetration
• Increases when heat curing is done in concrete
• Heat cured RPC show higher value than normal cured RPC.
• This property of RPC enhances its suitability for use in nuclear waste
containment structures.
6. Homogeneity
• Improved by eliminating all coarse aggregates
• Dry components for use in RPC is less than 600 micro meter.
7. Compactness:
• Application of pressure before and during concrete setting period.
8. Microstructure:
• Microstructure of the cement hydrate can be changed by applying heat treatment
during curing.
9. material ductility:
• Material ductility can be improved through the addition of short steel fibres.

12. RPC Applications :
• RPC's properties, especially its high strength characteristic suggests the material might be good for
things needing lower structural weight, greater structural spans, and even in seismic regions, it
outperforms normal concrete. Below are a few examples of real-world applications, though the
future possibilities are endless.
• First bridge that used RPC was a pedestrian bridge in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. (33,000 psi
~230MPa) It was used during the early days of RPC production. Has prompted bridge building in
North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
• Portugal has used it for seawall anchors
• Austrailia has used it in a vehicular bridge
• France has used it in building power plants
• Qinghai-Tibet Railway Bridge
• Shawnessy Light Rail Transit Station
• Basically, structures needing light and thin components, things like roofs for stadiums, long bridge
spans, and anything that needs extra safety or security such as blast resistant structures

13. Application
• Sherbrooke pedestrain bridge

14. Benefits
• It has the potential to structurally compete with steel.
• Superior strength combined with higher shear capacity result
in significant dead load reduction.
• RPC can be used to resist all but direct primary tensile stress.
• Improved seismic performance by reducing inertia load with
lighter member.
• Low &non-interconnected porosity diminishes mass transfer,
making penetration of liquid/gas non-existent.

15. Limitations of RPC
• In a typical RPC mixture design, the least costly components of conventional concrete are
basically eliminated or replaced by more expensive elements.
• No code
• The fine sand used in RPC becomes equivalent to the coarse aggregate of conventional
concrete, the Portland cement plays the role of the fine aggregate and the silica fume that of
the cement.
• The mineral component optimization alone results in a substantial increase in cost over and
above that of conventional concrete (5 to 10 times higher than HPC).
• RPC should be used in areas where substantial weight savings can be realized and where
some of the remarkable characteristics of the material can be fully utilized.
• Owing to its high durability, RPC can even replace steel in compression members where
durability issues are at stake (e.g. in marine condition).
• Since RPC is in its developing stage, the long-term properties are not known.

16. References
• ASTM Standard Designation C1202-97, “Standard Test Method for
Electrical Indication of Concrete’s Ability to Resist Chloride Ion
Penetration,” ASTM, Pennsylvania, 2001.
• ASTM Standard Designation C109-99, “Standard Test Method for
Compressive Strength of Hydraulic Cement Mortars,” ASTM,
Pennsylvania, 2001.
• ASTM Standard Designation C143-00, “Standard Test Method for
Slump of Hydraulic Cement Concrete,” ASTM, Pennsylvania, 2001.
• Advances in Materials Science and EngineeringVolume 2012 (2012),
Article ID 860303, 6 pages (Experimental Research on Fire
Resistance of Reactive Powder Concrete),
• http://constructionduniya.blogspot.in/2013/04/reactive-powder-
concrete.html