Influence of Metakaolin on Mechanical Properties of High-Performance Concrete

Kaolin is a material with broad sources and a low price. Metakaolin is made from kaolin which is calcined, finely ground at an optimum temperature of 750 being kept constant for 4 hours. High strength and performance concrete can be mixed from metakaolin as a substitute for equal mass cement. The influences of 5%, 10% and 15% metakaolin in substitution of equal cement masses were studied on the mechanical properties of high-performance concrete. The test results showed that the addition of metakaolin improved the cubic compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural strength of HPC, among which the improvement in compressive strength was the most siginificant, and simultaneously, there was also an improvement in concrete toughness in a certain degree. The optimum content of metakaolin is 10% resulting in an increase of the cubic compressive strength of concrete by 8.3% correspondingly.