
Frank G CollinsDeakin University · Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM)
Frank G Collins
A full listing of publications can be sourced at:
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6331-5390
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101
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Introduction
Background relates to innovative, durable and resilient built infrastructure:
Durability of engineering materials
Utilising treated wastes to enhance concrete properties
Life cycle predictive modelling of durability, supported by intervention strategies for maintenance and rehabilitation
Sustainable and enhanced construction materials, development of cement-nanocomposites
Cement and concrete technology
Book “Ageing of Built Infrastructure – A Life Cycle Approach, ISBN 9781466580855
Additional affiliations
January 2007 - June 2015
Publications
Publications (101)
Significant quantities of soil are adversely impacted by organic contaminants, including per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). One proven technology for remediating PFAS affected soils is excavation and heat-treatment which destroys the PFAS, but renders the soil as an industrial waste that is normally diverted to landfill. This study invest...
The decades-long use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) as replacements for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) by the cement and concrete industry is undergoing a resurgence in research activities related to goals addressing circular economy activities, as well as reduction in CO2 emissions. Differences in the chemistry, mineralogy and reac...
The ability to monitor the condition of concrete infrastructure is important for understanding and extending the remaining service life of a concrete element, which can be deteriorated through loading actions or exposure to the environment, through the efficient, targeted allocation of remediation resources available to the asset manager. One appro...
The addition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to cementitious nanocomposites have demonstrated significant mechanical performance enhancements, however, there has been only limited research of the effects of CNTs upon hydration kinetics. Isothermal calorimetry was used to study in detail (i) CNT dispersion with and without a polycarboxylate-based superpl...
As nanomaterials, carbon nano-fillers have manyfold benefits in concrete applications, and while of considerable research interest, their impacts on cement phases are still not fully understood. We applied multiple techniques, including mercury intrusion porosimetry, X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetry, infrared spectroscopy and electron microsco...
Multiwalled carbon nanotubes have outstanding mechanical properties that, when combined with Portland cement, can provide cementitious composites that could lead to the innovative construction of stronger, lighter, and thinner built infrastructure. This paper addresses a knowledge gap that relates to the durability of CNT-cement composites. The dur...
A vast amount of civil infrastructure is constructed using reinforced concrete, which can be susceptible to corrosion, posing significant risks. Corrosion of reinforced concrete has various causes, with chloride ingress known to be a major contributor. Monitoring this chloride ingress would allow for preventative maintenance to be less intrusive at...
This study evaluated the effects of a pre-dispersed carbon nanotube (CNT) liquid admixture on the fresh and hardened performance of CNT-reinforced concrete (CNTRC) dosed at 2.5, 5 and 10% (bwoc), using high-early strength (HE) and Portland cement (OPC) binders. The effect of mixing time, admixture dosage and water-to-binder ratio sensitivity on rhe...
Australia and many other parts of the world face issues of contamination in groundwater and soils by per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). While the pyrolytic treatment of contaminated soils can destroy PFAS, the resulting heat-treated soils currently have limited applications. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the usefulness of r...
Blends of calcined clay - ordinary Portland cement (CC-OPC) provide low CO2 footprint cementitious materials. The effects of supplementing OPC with calcined clay on the fresh properties of concrete, e.g. slump, rheology etc., and the impact that these fresh properties exert on hardened characteristics have not been studied in detail. We present her...
Cementitious composites incorporating well-dispersed carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have demonstrated significant mechanical performance enhancements, however, there has only been limited investigation into the nanocomposite microstructure and pore structure. In this study, the effects of (i) CNT dispersion with and without the assistance of a dispersant,...
This paper presents a preliminary study on the thermoelectric Seebeck effect-generating electrical energy from a thermal gradient across a material, for example on a sun-exposed concrete slab-of a carbon nanotube-Portland cement nanocomposite. Such a thermoelectrically-active material could be used as a potential source of supplementary renewable e...
Nanofillers can provide beneficial effects upon both mechanical and durability properties of hardened cementitious composites, but may adversely affect workability. The fluid properties and associated workability of fresh concrete mixes containing commercially-available and/or experimental carbon nanotube (CNT) admixtures, an experimental carbon na...
Corrosion propagation is significant during the service life of concrete. This paper reviews the parameters that impact on the steel-concrete bond and a displacement function was developed describing the cracked concrete. The Critical Corrosion Penetration Depth (CCPD), defined as the corrosion sufficient for cracking, was derived. CCPD depends on...
The incorporation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), tubes of single-atom thick carbon with diameters less than 100 nanometres with a tensile strength more than ten times that of steel, into Portland cement, is a promising development in next-generation cementitious composites for advanced construction applications. The addition of as little as 0.05% CNTs...
Chloride ingress into concrete can be modelled using semi-empirical estimations of
chloride diffusivity, D, from the power law D=D0(t/t0 )-m, where t is the time, t0 is the reference time when D=D0 and m is a fitting parameter. Incomplete knowledge of the reasons associated with the fitting parameter (m) could generate penetration profiles that bec...
This study presents the significant effect of strain ageing on the mechanical response of partially damaged structural steel under extreme loading conditions. Once partial damage occurs in a structure, it takes a while to start the repair process. This lapsed time can substantially affect the strength and ductility of the material. Since the strain...
Significant research advances have been made in the field of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced ordinary Portland cement (OPC) paste composites in recent years. However, the distribution of CNTs in fresh OPC paste is yet to be fully researched and quantified, thereby creating a technical barrier to CNT utilization in concrete construction. In this st...
Knowledge of the degree of hydration of cement pastes is critical for determining properties such as the durability of concrete. As part of an integrated study on the prediction of chloride ingress in reinforced concrete, synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction was used to estimate the degree of hydration of cement pastes. While for the past 20 years...
In this experimental study, the reinforcing effects of graphene oxide (GO) on portland cement paste are investigated. It is discovered that the introduction of 0.03% by weight GO sheets into the cement paste can increase the compressive strength and tensile strength of the cement composite by more than 40% due to the reduction of the pore structure...
Chloride ingress into concrete has long been known to decrease the service life of built infrastructure. Inadequate knowledge of the physical reasons associated with chloride diffusion into concrete could generate chloride penetration profiles that become meaningless for prediction of service life. In this study, the effects of pore closure (physic...
The splitting tensile strengths of geopolymer concrete and geopolymer mortar under strain rates from 10(-7) s(-1) to 25 s(-1) were investigated. Five mixes - one ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete, three geopolymer concrete and one geopolymer mortar -were considered. A Shimadzu AG-X 300 kN testing machine and a split Hopkinson pressure bar wer...
The effects of admixed polypropylene (PP) fibers on the drying shrinkage of hardened concrete are presented in this paper.
Concrete mixtures made with Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and OPC/Slag blended cements containing various volume fractions
of PP fiber were tested. The results show small but consistently higher drying shrinkages in concretes...
The effect of strain rate on the compressive behaviours of geopolymer concrete and mortar is reported. Split Hopkinson pressure bar was adopted for the high strain rate testings. The dynamic increase factors for compressive strength ( \({\text{DIF}}_{{f_{\text{c}} }}\) ) and critical strain ( \({\text{DIF}}_{{\varepsilon_{\text{c}} }}\) ) were meas...
Portland cement is one of the most widely-used construction materials in the world, but it has a poor tensile strength and strain capacity, limiting its utility for a broad range of structural applications. In order to meet the demand for increasingly efficient construction materials that are stronger, more durable, economic and environmentally sus...
Port infrastructure is vulnerable to the corrosive marine environment leading to deterioration, loss of functionality, delays in shipping, major maintenance, remediation and, in the worst cases, loss of structural integrity and consequent replacement of the asset. Despite this, asset managers are unable to adequately plan for the prevention and min...
Purpose
– Construction contractors and facility managers are being challenged to minimize the carbon footprint. Life cycle carbon‐equivalent (CO2‐e) accounting, whereby the potential emissions of greenhouse gases due to energy expenditure during construction and subsequent occupation of built infrastructure, generally ceases at the end of the servi...
As environmentally-friendly materials, geopolymers have the potential to replace ordinary Portland cement (OPC) for the construction of railway sleepers and multi-flue chimneys, where the vibration control capabilities of the material must be considered. The critical damping value (xi) is the main parameter in relation to vibration reduction. In th...
Portland cement is one of the most widely-used construction materials in the world, but it has a poor tensile strength and strain capacity, limiting its utility for a broad range of structural applications. In order to meet the demand for increasingly efficient construction materials that are stronger, more durable, economic and environmentally sus...
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are among the strongest known materials. Their potential as na-noscale reinforcement for cementitious materials is significant, with some reported compressive strength in-creases in excess of 50%. However, there is a great deal of variability in the results obtained, with some re-searchers showing zero-to-marginal increases...
This study investigates why CaO rehydration causes total strength loss of OPC paste compared to only 65% loss of OPC concrete after 800 °C exposure. Subsequent water sorptivity tests revealed paste reacted instantaneously with water, completely disintegrating within minutes. This was attributed to an accelerated rehydration of CaO into CaOH2. This...
Six mixtures with different recycled aggregate (RA) replacement ratios of 0%, 50% and 100% were designed to manufacture recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) and alkali-activated fly ash geopolymeric recycled concrete (GRC). The physical and mechanical properties were investigated indicating different performances from each other. Optical microscopy un...
Geopolymeric Recycled Concrete (GRC) is a new construction material which takes environmental sustainability into account, by using alkali solution and fly ash to completely substitute Portland cement as well as by replacing natural coarse aggregate with recycled coarse aggregate. GRC could be used together with steel hollow sections to form compos...
Chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion is one of the major causes of premature deterioration in reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Given the high maintenance and replacement costs, accurate modeling of RC deterioration is indispensable for ensuring the optimal allocation of limited economic resources. Since corrosion rate is one of the major fa...
Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have excellent mechanical properties and have the potential, if combined with Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), traditionally a brittle material in tension, to become a nano-composite with superlative mechanical properties. However, highly attractive van der Waals forces between CNTs create coherent agglomerates that prove diff...
The critical amount of corroded steel that causes concrete cover cracking can be readily calculated based on thick-walled cylinder theory. However, the results may vary significantly depending on how the rust deposition is considered. There are several rust deposition hypothesis proposed in the literature for modelling concrete cover cracking of RC...
Construction materials dominate the main responsibility to maintain the environmental sustainable development in human’s activities. Geopolymer concrete containing fly ash and recycled aggregate is a new concrete which can reuse the by-product of power station and waste concrete, as well as reduce the production of cement which contribute a lot of...
This work aims to determine the fundamental similarities and/or differences between OPC and OPC/slag paste hydrates. OPC and
35% slag pastes are investigated using five techniques: 29Si NMR, 27Al NMR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared (IR) and synchrotron near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy.
29Si NMR provides valuable in...
Although ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is widely used in the construction industry, its weak tensile strength, to some extent, limits its application. A carbon nanotube (CNT), on the other hand, has outstanding mechanical properties with a tensile strength of 63 GPa and Young's modulus of 1 TPa, making it a candidate as nano-scale reinforcements i...
Dispersion of carbon nanotubes with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant is reported by molecular mechanics simulations from an energy perspective. The interaction energy of carbon nanotubes in a tube bundle is first calculated to estimate the force sufficient to separate it from the bundle. The binding energy between increasing numbers of SDS m...
Corrosion of reinforcement can significantly affect the bond strength between the steel bar and the surrounding concrete thus greatly reducing the load bearing capacity of the concrete structure. In this paper, a simple analytical model is proposed to evaluate the maximum bond strength of corroded concrete with varying rebar diameters and concrete...
In the present work OPC and OPC/slag concretes were exposed to elevated temperatures, 400 and 800°C. The critical temperature
of 400°C has been reported for OPC paste. Above 400°C, the paste hydrate Ca(OH)2 dehydrates into CaO causing the OPC paste to shrink and crack. After cooling and in the presence of air moisture, CaO rehydrates
into Ca(OH)2,...
By modelling pore cross-sections as ellipses, this paper advances a recent model for predicted unsaturated water flow within
concrete (Collins and Sanjayan, J Porous Mater doi:10.1007/s10934-008-9245-4, 2008). Predicted and measured unsaturated flow within concretes composed of two different cementitious binders, namely alkali
activated slag (AAS)...
Background, aim, and scopeWhen the service life (or primary life) of built concrete infrastructure has elapsed, a common practice is that the demolished
concrete is crushed and recycled, then incorporated into new construction. LCA studies of CO2 emissions focus on the manufacturing and construction and occupancy/utilization phases, without conside...
The residual compressive strength behavior of alkali activated slag paste (AASP) after temperature exposures up to 1,200°C
was investigated. Strength loss of approximately 60% occurred between 100 and 200°C and a further strength loss in the order
of 30% at 800°C. Total loss of strength occurred at 1,200°C. Thermogravimetric studies (TGA/DTG) verif...
Cementitious binders consisting of ground granulated iron slag and an alkaline activator (alkali activated slag) have considerable environmental benefits when used as an alternative to conventional 100% ordinary portland cement binders. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the effect of pore cross section shape on unsaturated flow and to c...
The durability of concrete structures is often compromised by physical and chemical interaction with the external environment
that leads to ongoing maintenance and, in the worst cases, can lead to reduced structural integrity and consequent asset replacement.
Concrete is a porous material and most field-exposed concrete is partially saturated with...
The normal practice of repairing fire-damaged concrete structures is to remove the visibly damaged portions and restore them
with new concrete. However, little attention has been given to the long-term performance of fire exposed concrete which is
not removed from the structure. This paper addresses this issue. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) pastes...
This paper reports the effect of elevated temperature exposures, up to 1200°C , on the residual compressive strengths of alkali-activated slag concrete (AASC) activated by sodium silicate and hydrated lime; such temperatures can occur in a fire. The strength performance of AASC in the temperature range of 400–800°C was similar to ordinary Portland...
Alkali activated slag concrete (AASC), based on a binder that consists of 100% blast furnace slag that is activated by an alternative alkali to conventional Portland cement, has considerable environmental benefits. Nevertheless, the durability of the exposed surface zone of AASC needs consideration. The ingress of harmful agents is highly influence...
Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS or “slag”) is a by product of the steel industry and is often used in combination
with ordinary Portland cement (OPC) as a binder in concrete. When concrete is exposed to high temperatures, physical and chemical
transformations lead to significant loss of mechanical strength. Past studies have reported ch...
A hydrocarbon fire test was conducted on nine concrete slabs incorporating three different types of binders: 100% ordinary portland cement (OPC), 50% OPC, and 50% ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS), and alkali-activated slag (AAS). The specimens (780 mm [30.71 in.] x 360 mm [14.17 in.]) were made with three different thicknesses (100 mm [...
The production of one tonne of Portland cement requires 1.5 tonnes of raw material. The production of Portland cement is highly energy intensive, consuming 4 to 7 MJ of fossil fuel energy per kg, and releases approximately one tonne of carbon dioxide for manufacture of each tonne of Portland cement. The production of cement contributes 5% of the gl...
Alkali activated slag concrete (AASC) is made by activating ground granulated blast furnace slag with alkalis without the use of any Portland cement. This study investigates the level of microcracking which occurs in AASC when subjected to various types of curing regimes. The corresponding compressive strength developments of AASC were monitored. T...
This article reports the results of an investigation on the activation of blast furnace slag with emphasis on the achievement of equivalent one-day strength to Portland cement at normal curing temperatures and reasonable workability. The effects of varying dosages of sodium silicate activators are discussed in terms of strength of mini cylinders an...
Higher drying shrinkage has been observed in alkali-activated slag concrete (AASC) than comparable ordinary Portland cement concrete (OPCC). However, the OPCC samples lost more moisture during the period of shrinkage measurements than the AASC samples. This is contradictory to the commonly accepted relationship between shrinkage and moisture loss....
Drying shrinkage of alkali-activated slag concrete (AASC) is higher than that of ordinary portland cement concrete (OPCC). AASC, however, has lower elastic modulus, higher creep, and higher tensile strength than OPCC, and these combined effects can reduce the cracking tendency. This paper describes the development of a numerical modeling of the beh...