A study on thermal characteristics of aluminum oxide and single-walled carbon nanotechnology in cementitious composites

Purpose Cementitious materials are important materials for producing concrete mixtures. Aluminum oxide (AO) with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is used as an additive in cementitious materials to enhance their mechanical and thermal behaviors. SWCNTs enhance the materials’ strength, crack resistance, flexibility and adhesion. AO is an odorless, amorphous material broadly used as an additive in construction materials to enhance the compressive strength of composite materials. However, adding an accurate concentration of these particles is important to gain all these advantages. Design/methodology/approach Therefore, a novel Ant Lion-based Mix Selection (ALbMS) model is used to choose the finest proportion of additives in cementitious materials. To know the effectiveness of the AO-SWCNTs elements, splitting tensile strength, compressive strength, impact strength, flexural strength, freeze–thaw analysis and thermal conductivity are evaluated. The evaluated results are compared with existing works, depending on the different percentages of additive elements used. Findings According to the outcomes validated in the results section, 0.125% of AO with SWCNTs in cementitious materials improves the stiffness of the concrete structure. It gives the splitting tensile strength of 84.34 MPa, compression strength of 142.34 MPa and thermal conductivity of 63 Wm-1k-1 to the cementitious composites. Originality/value A novel ALbMS model.