Improving the bond cohesion of patch repair material and substrate with

nano-fibres
P. van Tonder, D. Kruger & J.J. Duvenage
Department of Civil Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

ABSTRACT: Nanotechnology can be seen as the next industrial revolution. Great breakthroughs have been
made in the last 25 years, in the chemical, physical and biological sectors. The effectiveness of nano-technology
in construction is a recent area of interest.
This paper deals with the research of adding carbon nano-fibres to the substrate and patch repair material. The
research was conducted to see what effect the introduction of carbon nano-fibres had on the bonding between
the concrete substrate and the patch repair material. Furthermore, it was investigated whether the properties
of the nano-fibres could be utilized to increase the longevity and durability of the patched area. The carbon
nano-fibres were added to the bonding surface in different ways, and a simple tensile test was performed to
determine the tensile loads reached, and compared to those specimens not having carbon nano-fibres. This paper
summarises all the results obtained and presents the conclusions of this research.
1 INTRODUCTION
The repair of concrete surfaces has become an everyday
occurrence in todays lifestyle. Both new and old
concrete structures show exhibit fatigue that minimizes
the service life of the structure. Carbon nanofibres
have excellent mechanical properties that may
be used in concrete to make it an excellent material
of tomorrow (Balaguru, 2006). The addition of the
nanofibres to a concrete mixture may have the potential
to enhance the general strength of the concrete
and prevent crack propagation in cement composites
(Nanoscience And Nanotechnology In Cementitious
Materials, 2004; Makar et al, 2005). If the concrete
can be reinforced by using nanofibres, theoretically
the formation of cracks can be interrupted as soon as
they start to initialize.
If the strength of concrete can be improved by
the addition of carbon nanofibres, the addition of the
nanofibres in the patch repair process may yield the
same increase of strength as the patch repair.
The aim of this study was to determine if carbon
nanofibres and graphite fibres can improve the bond
cohesion between the substrate and the patch repair
material.
2 EXPERIMENTAL PLANNING
2.1 Fluorination
Untreated carbon nanofibres and graphite fibres have
dispersion problems when added to water. To improve
the fibre/matrix adhesion of the fibres, the surface
polarity of the fibres needs to be increased and more
sites for hydrogen bonding are needed (Bismark et al,
Sept 1997). This is done in order to accomplish good
shear transfer from the matrix material and the filling
fibre material.
Fluorination is a process in which fluorine is introduced
to the nanofibres. Fluorination can be seen as
an alternative technique to increase the polarity of the
carbon. After fluorination the carbon nanofibres and
graphite fibres can disperse in water.
2.2 Mixture design
Table 1 shows the mixture design of the old concrete
which served as the concrete requiring patch repair.
The same mixture design was used for the concrete
with carbon and graphite fibres. The details of the
mixes are given in Tables 1 and 2.
Cubes were cast in dog bone moulds. Each specimen
was cast using the mixture design in table 1.
One-half of the specimen was cast first. The following
day the samples were removed and cured in water at
a constant 22C. After seven days the specimen was
removed and the bonding surface was roughened by
using a chisel and hammer. This simulated a dry joint

between the new and previously cast concrete. Five

Table 1. Mixture design.
Quantity
Material kg/m3 l/m3
PPC 42.5R Cement Top 450.0
Sand 1406.2
Stone 0.0
Water 2