Investigation and Practical Application of Silica Nanoparticles Composite Underwater Repairing Materials

Repairing materials are well-known to play an important role in rehabilitating and extending the service life for hydraulic concrete structures. However, current underwater repairing materials possess several problems, including insufficient bond tensile strength, inconsistency with the deformation of the old substrate, and insufficient underwater self-sealing ability. In the present paper, an experimental study was carried out to evaluate the influence of silica nanoparticles (SNs) on the properties of underwater composite-repairing materials. The underwater deformation, impermeability, bond tensile strength, and compressive strength of the SN-modified underwater composite-repairing materials were used as the properties' evaluation indices. The results show that, within a certain range, the performance of the repairing material increase with increased SN percent. The deformability, impermeability grade, underwater bond tensile strength, and compressive strength of the SN-modified composite underwater repairing materials are 2.2%, 8, 2.91 MPa, and 115.87 MPa, respectively, when the mass ratio of the mortar, the curing agent and the SNs is 8:1:0.002. The proposed material is employed to repair the dam for a hydropower station in Guizhou province, China. Results show the seepage discharge is reduced by 8.6% when the dam is repaired. The annual average generating capacity is increased by 1.104 x 10(5) kWh. Meanwhile, CO2 and NOx emissions are reduced by 1.049 x 10(5) and 220.8 kg annually, respectively.