Assessment of transport properties, volume stability, and frost resistance of non-proprietary ultra-high performance concrete Rizwan Karim a , Meysam Najimi a , Behrouz Shafei a,b,⇑ a Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-1066, United States b Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-1066, United States highlights  Non-proprietary UHPC mixtures were investigated under exposure to chloride ions, moisture loss, and freeze-thaw cycles.  Various performance measures were obtained and compared for non-proprietary and proprietary UHPC mixtures.  Effects of water-to-cement ratio, sand-to-cement ratio, and silica fume content were explored for an optimized mixture.  Feasibility of development of cost-effective, non-proprietary UHPC mixtures with desired properties was outlined. article info Article history: Received 8 June 2019 Received in revised form 12 September 2019 Accepted 17 September 2019 Keywords: Ultra-high performance concrete Non-proprietary mixtures Transport properties Shrinkage Freeze and thaw cycles abstract This study focuses on the assessment of non-proprietary ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) mix- tures exposed to the penetration of chloride ions, shrinkage due to moisture loss, and freeze and thaw cycles. For achieving a proper assessment, several non-proprietary UHPC mixtures were designed, cast, and tested for flow, compressive strength, tensile strength, surface resistivity, rapid chloride penetration, rapid chloride migration, autogenous shrinkage, drying shrinkage, and loss of mass and dynamic modulus due to freeze and thaw cycles. The performance measures of the developed mixtures were then compared with those of two proprietary UHPC mixtures. The results obtained from this rigorous set of experimental tests showed how non-proprietary UHPC mixtures can be designed to experience chloride penetration as low as their proprietary counterparts, maintain high volume stability under both autogenous and drying shrinkage, and benefit from negligible degradation under freeze and thaw cycles. This study also quan- tified how the water-to-cement ratio, sand-to-cement ratio, and inclusion of silica fume can have sub- stantial effects on the properties of non-proprietary UHPC mixtures. Considering the significant cost advantages of non-proprietary UHPC mixtures, the outcome of this study shed light on the feasibility of developing non-proprietary UHPC mixtures with desired properties, taking into account short- and long-term performance considerations. Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Disruption in the functionality of concrete structures as a result of deterioration has become a growing concern for those involved in the construction, maintenance, and management of civil infras- tructures. Thus, a mounting demand has been placed to enhance the performance of concrete against the penetration of destructive agents with the ultimate goal of increasing the expected service life. This has led to the development of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), which offers superior mechanical, permeability, and durability properties, compared to conventional concrete. The exceptional properties of UHPC are obtained through a set of special requirements, including: (1) low water-to-binder ratio, (2) gradation of solid particles optimized for high particle packing density, (3) high-quality cement and aggregates, (4) abundant use of cement and supplementary cementitious materials, (5) high par- ticle dispersion during the mixing process, and (6) incorporation of fibers. The aggregates used for UHPC are considerably finer than those commonly used in conventional concrete, which in turn, improves the packing density of UHPC, while demanding careful aggregate selection and gradation. Despite the advantages of UHPC over conventional concrete, there are currently only few commercial suppliers for UHPC. The commercially available UHPC is a proprietary blend, which is about https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.117031 0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: rkarim@iastate.edu (R. Karim), najimi@iastate.edu (M. Najimi), shafei@iastate.edu (B. Shafei). Construction and Building Materials 227 (2019) 117031 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Construction and Building Materials journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat