What are the potential problems associated with using high strength concrete i.e exceeding 60Mpa?

available pre stress force in a member may be inadequate to achieve maximum strength

The event of thermal cracking also accompanies increase of concrete power. With a rise in concrete strength, the cement content is raised and this results in higher thermal strains. Therefore, added support must be introduced to restrain these added fractures resulting from the escalation in concrete strength. Furthermore, the ductility of concrete declines with a rise in concrete strength. Focus needs to be paid through the plan of high strength concrete to improve the ductility of concrete.

To increase the strength of concrete, say fromMPa toMPa, it definitely helps in improving the structural performance of the structure by producing a denser, more durable and higher load capacity concrete. The size of concrete members can be significantly reduced resulting in substantial cost savings. However, an increase of concrete strength is also accompanied by the occurrence of thermal cracking. With an increase in concrete strength, the cement content is increased and this leads to higher thermal strains. Consequently, additional reinforcement has to be introduced to control these additional cracks caused by the increase in concrete strength. Moreover, the ductility of concrete decreases with an increase in concrete strength. Attention should be paid during the design of high strength concrete to increase the ductility of concrete. In addition,the higher cost

Though the tensile strength of high strength concrete is higher than that of normal concrete, the rate of increase of tensile strength is not proportional to the increase of compressive strength. For normal concrete, tensile strength is about one-tenth of compressive strength. However, for high strength concrete, it may only drop to5% of compressive strength.

Moreover, owing to a low aggregate content of high strength concrete, creep and shrinkage increases.