Mustafa Sarıdemir, Serhat__celikten@hotmail.com Metin Hakan Severcan, Murat Çiflikli, Serhat Çelikten,
Volume 15, Issue 2 (3-2017)
In this study, the effects of high temperatures on the mechanical and microstructural properties of high strength concretes (HSCs) made with metakaolin (MK) are investigated. For this purpose, the concrete mixtures made with MK were produced with water-binder ratio of 0.2. The mechanical properties of these concretes at 25, 250, 500 and 750 oC temperatures were determined. Besides, the effect of high temperature on the microstructural changes of cementitious matrix, interfaces between aggregate particles-cementitious materials and aggregates of these concretes were inspected by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and plane polarized transmitted light (PPTL) analyses. The results indicate that the ultrasound pulse velocity, compressive strength, flexural strength and splitting tensile strength values of these concretes decrease especially depending on the increase of the high temperature after 250 oC. The heated concrete specimens were also examined at both macro and micro scales to determine the discoloration, alteration and cracks of HSC at different temperatures. PPTL analyses show that increasing temperature cause impairing of interfaces between aggregate particles and cementitious materials. The results also show that the partial replacement of MK with cement has the best performance on the mechanical properties of HSC.