Interaction of magnetic water, silica fume and superplasticizer on fresh and hardened properties of concrete

After passing through a magnetic field, the physical quality of water improves, and magnetic water (MW) is produced. There are many investigations on the effects of magnetic field on water that shows MW properties like saturation and memory effect. This study investigates the fresh and hardened properties of concrete mixed with MW, which contains silica fume (SF) and superplasticizer (SP). The test variables included the magnetic field intensity for producing MW (three kinds of water), SF content replaced cement (0 and 10 percent), water-to-cementitious materials ratio (W/CM=0.25, 0.35 and 0.45) and curing time (7, 28 and 90 days). The results of this study show that MW had a positive impact on the workability and compressive strength of concrete. By rising the intensity of the magnetic field which was used for producing MW, its positive influence on both workability and compressive strength improved. MW had greater positive impacts on samples containing SP that did not have SF. Moreover, the best compressive strength improvements of concrete achieved as W/CM ratio decreased.