Variance analysis of crack characteristics of structural lightweight concrete containing silica fume exposed to high temperature

In this study, crack characteristics of structural lightweight concrete containing silica fume exposed to high temperature were investigated experimentally and statistically. Mixtures incorporating 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% silica fume were prepared. After being heated to temperatures of 200, 400 and 800 °C, respectively, the compressive strength of lightweight concrete was determined. This article applied the Taguchi method using L32 (21 × 49) orthogonal array for compressive strength and L16 (41 × 211) orthogonal array for crack characteristics to reduce the numbers of experiment. Three control factors (percentage of silica fume, heating intensity and cement content) were used in this study. The level of importance of these parameters on compressive strength and crack characteristics was determined by using analysis of variance (Anova) method.