Internal frost resistance and salt frost scaling of self-compacting concrete

This article outlines laboratory and analytical studies of salt frost scaling and internal frost resistance of self-compacting concrete (SCC) that contains increased amount of filler, different air content, and dissimilar methods of casting. The results were compared with the corresponding properties of normal concrete (NC) with the same water-to-cement ratio (0.39) and air content (6%). The start of the testing was applied at ages of 28 and 90 days. The strength development of the concrete was followed in parallel. Six SCC and two NC were studied. The effects of normal and reversed order of mixing (filler last), increased amount of filler, fineness of filler, limestone powder, increased air content, and large hydrostatic concrete pressure were investigated. The results indicated a substantial improvement of the internal frost resistance of SCC as compared to NC. The salt frost scaling performed more or less in the same way in SCC and in NC. No relationship of frost resistance was found to the air-void structure of the concrete.     

Autogenous healing of engineered cementitious composites at early age

Autogenous healing of early ages (3 days) ECC damaged by tensile preloading was investigated after exposure to different conditioning regimes: water/air cycles, water/high temperature air cycles, 90%RH/air cycles, and submersion in water. Resonant frequency measurements and uniaxial tensile tests were used to assess the rate and extent of self-healing. The test results show that ECC, tailored for high tensile ductility up to several percent and with self-controlled crack width below 60 μm, experiences autogenous healing under environmental exposures in the presence of water. However, the recovery for these early age specimens is not as efficient as the recovery for more mature specimen, for the same amount of pre-damage and exposure to the same environment. Even so, the self-healing for these early age specimens demonstrates high robustness when the preloading strain is limited to 0.3%. This conclusion is supported by the evidence of resonant frequency and stiffness recovery of the healed ECC materials.     

Autogenous healing of engineered cementitious composites under wet-dry cycles

Self-healing of Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) subjected to two different cyclic wetting and drying regimes was investigated in this paper. To quantify self-healing, resonant frequency measurements were conducted throughout wetting-drying cycles followed by uniaxial tensile testing of self-healing ECC specimens. Through self-healing, crack-damaged ECC recovered 76% to 100% of its initial resonant frequency value and attained a distinct rebound in stiffness. Even for specimens deliberately pre-damaged with microcracks by loading up to 3% tensile strain, the tensile strain capacity after self-healing recovered close to 100% that of virgin specimens without any preloading. Also, the effects of temperature during wetting-drying cycles led to an increase in the ultimate strength but a slight decrease in the tensile strain capacity of rehealed pre-damaged specimens. This paper describes the experimental investigations and presents the data that confirm reasonably robust autogenous healing of ECC in commonly encountered environments for many types of infrastructure.     

Modeling of frost salt scaling

This paper discusses the numerical modeling of deterioration in cement-based materials due to frost salt scaling (FSS). Several aspects of FSS are investigated such as carbonation, microstructure, mechanical properties and testing conditions. Mainly blast-furnace slag cement (henceforth slag cement) systems are of interest in this paper since several reports have been indicated that cementitious materials bearing slag-rich cement are critically vulnerable under combined attack of frost and de-icing salts.In the first part, the paper deals with the effect of carbonation on the micromechanical properties and FSS resistance of 1-year-old slag cement and ordinary Portland cement pastes with W/C 0.45. The micromechanical properties were evaluated by the nano-indentation technique and the results are used to evaluate the behavior of these pastes under frost salt attack. FSS damage on the paste samples is modeled according to the glue-spall theory with the aid of Delft Lattice Model. Additionally, the carbonated cement paste microstructures are characterized by ESEM/BSE.In the second part, parameters that are varied in the investigation are the salt concentration in the external water layer and ice-layer thickness on the surface. Again the lattice type model is used to simulate the mechanism in which the material structure is implemented using digital images of the real material. Both experiments and the simulation with the model show that the amount of scaling increases with increasing thickness of the ice layer on the surface. Furthermore it is shown that with the model the well known pessimum effect for salt concentration in the water (which causes maximum damage at 3% salt) can be reproduced.The outcome of the model indicates that glue-spall theory can successfully explain FSS.     

Investigation on stress-crack opening relationship of engineered cementitious composites using inverse approach

The stress-crack opening relationship of engineered cementitious composites was determined with an inverse method. Four cement matrixes with water to cement ratio of 0.55, 0.45, 0.35, 0.25 and fiber contents of 0.5%, 1.0% in volume were selected to form different series of composites. The results show that the σ–w relationship of the cement matrix is instant strain softening after the cracking strength. After adding polyvinyl alcohol fibers, the stress-crack opening relationship of the composites changes to a double peak mode behavior as the crack bridging first decreases from cracking strength, then increases to the second peak. After that the tensile softening is displayed again with increase of crack opening. The cracking strength is governed by the cement matrix and the second peak stress is controlled by the fibers and fiber/matrix interface. The second peak is greatly increased with increase of fiber content. The second peak stress larger than the cracking strength means strain-hardening and multiple cracking performances can be expected under tension.     

Development and characterization of hot-pressed matrices for engineered ceramic matrix composites (E-CMCs)

The present research effort was undertaken to develop a new generation of SiC fiber- reinforced engineered ceramic matrix composites (E-CMCs). In contrast to traditional CMCs with a brittle SiC matrix, an E-CMC is designed to consist of a matrix engineered to possess sufficient high temperature plasticity to minimize crack propagation, relatively high fracture toughness, and self-healing capabilities to prevent oxygen ingress to the BN-coated fibers through surface-connected cracks. The present paper discusses the bend strength, isothermal oxidation, microstructures and self-healing properties of several silicide-behaved engineered matrices. Based on the oxidation tests, where it was observed that some of the matrices exhibited either catastrophic oxidation (“pesting”) or spalling of the oxide scale, two engineered matrices, CrSi₂/SiC/Si₃N₄ and a CrMoSi/SiC/Si₃N₄, were down-selected for further investigation. Four-point bend tests were conducted on these two engineered matrices between room temperature and 1698 K. Although these matrices were brittle at low temperatures, it was observed that the bend strengths and bend ductility increased at high temperatures as the silicide particles became more ductile, which was qualitatively consistent with the theoretically expected behavior that crack blunting at these particles should increase the matrix strength. Additional studies were conducted to study the effects of different additives on the self-healing properties of the engineered matrices, which helped to identify the most effective additives.     

Internal curing of engineered cementitious composites for prevention of early age autogenous shrinkage cracking

This investigation was carried out to study the effects of using a replacement percentage of saturated lightweight fine aggregate (LWA) as an internal curing agent on the shrinkage and mechanical behavior of Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC). ECC is a micromechanically-based, designed high-performance, fiber-reinforced cementitious composite with high ductility and improved durability due to tight crack width. Standard ECC mixtures are typically produced with micro-silica sand (200 µm maximum aggregate size). Two replacement levels of silica sand with saturated LWA (fraction 0.59–4.76 mm) were adopted: the investigation used 10 and 20% by weight of total silica sand content, respectively. For each LWA replacement level, two different ECC mixtures with a fly ash-to-Portland cement ratio (FA/PC) of 1.2 and 2.2 were cast. In a control test series, two types of standard ECC mixtures with only silica sand were also studied. To investigate the effect of replacing a portion of the silica sand with saturated LWA on the mechanical properties of ECC, the study compared the results of uniaxial tensile, flexure and compressive strength tests, crack development, autogenous shrinkage and drying shrinkage. The test results showed that the autogenous shrinkage strains of the control ECCs with a low water-to-cementitious material ratio (W/CM) (0.27) and high volume FA developed rapidly, even at early ages. The results also showed that up to a 20% replacement of normal-weight silica sand with saturated LWA was very effective in reducing the autogenous shrinkage and drying shrinkage of ECC. On the other hand, the partial replacement of silica sand with saturated LWA with a nominal maximum aggregate size of 4.76 mm is shown to have a negative effect, especially on the ductility and strength properties of ECC. The test results also confirm that the autogenous shrinkage and drying shrinkage of ECC significantly decreases with increasing FA content. Moreover, increasing FA content is shown to have a positive effect on the ductility of ECC.     

Effect of sodium monofluorophosphate treatment on microstructure and frost salt scaling durability of slag cement paste

Sodium-monofluorophosphate (Na-MFP) is currently in use as a surface applied corrosion inhibitor in the concrete industry. Its basic mechanism is to protect the passive layer of the reinforcement steel against disruption due to carbonation. Carbonation is known as the most detrimental environmental effect on blast furnace slag cement (BFSC) concrete with respect to frost salt scaling. In this paper the effect of Na-MFP on the microstructure and frost salt scaling resistance of carbonated BFSC paste is presented. The results of electron microscopy, mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) are discussed. It is found that the treatment modifies the microstructure and improves the resistance of carbonated BFSC paste against frost salt attack.     

Interaction between loading, freeze-thaw cycles, and chloride salt attack of concrete with and without steel fiber reinforcement

In this paper, the deterioration of concrete subjected to the combined action of four-point bending—loading, freeze-thaw cycles, and chloride salt attack—is discussed. Test results show that concrete tested in chloride salt solution scaled much more severely than in fresh water, and its weight loss in chloride salt solution was twice that in water. However, dynamic modulus of elasticity (DME) of concrete in chloride salt solution dropped more slowly than that in water due to supercooling resulting from chloride salt. It is also shown that the degradation process of concrete simultaneously exposed to loading, freeze-thaw cycles, and chloride salt attack was significantly accelerated. The higher the stress ratio exerted, the lesser the freeze-thaw cycles that concrete could resist and, consequently, the shorter the service life. When a relatively high steel fiber content is introduced (1.5 vol.%), the deterioration process of concrete subjected to the three damaging processes is considerably reduced.     

Frost resistance of recycled aggregate concrete

The research presented in this paper deals with concrete containing building waste recycled as aggregates. The frost resistance is used as a durability indicator. The characteristics of recycled aggregates (RAs) and their impact on the characteristics of RA concrete are presented. Some basic factors concerning the frost resistance of RA concrete as RA content and degree of water saturation are considered. The RA concrete is compared with a control concrete made with natural aggregates. The pertinence of different criteria for the assessment of the frost resistance is also discussed.     

Effect of supplementary cementitious materials on the compressive strength and durability of short-term cured concrete

This research focuses on studying the effect different supplementary cementitious materials (silica fume, fly ash, slag, and their combinations) on strength and durability of concrete cured for a short period of time—14 days. This work primarily deals with the characteristics of these materials, including strength, durability, and resistance to wet and dry and freeze and thaw environments. Over 16 mixes were made and compared to the control mix. Each of these mixes was either differing in the percentages of the additives or was combinations of two or more additives. All specimens were moist cured for 14 days before testing or subjected to environmental exposure. The freeze-thaw and wet-dry specimens were also compared to the control mix.Results show that at 14 days of curing, the use of supplementary cementitious materials reduced both strength and freeze-thaw durability of concrete. The combination of 10% silica fume, 25% slag, and 15% fly ash produced high strength and high resistance to freeze-thaw and wet-dry exposures as compared to other mixes. This study showed that it is imperative to cure the concrete for an extended period of time, especially those with fly ash and slag, to obtain good strength and durability. Literature review on the use of different supplementary cementitious materials in concrete to enhance strength and durability was also reported.     

Effect of sulfate solution on the frost resistance of concrete with and without steel fiber reinforcement

Properties of plain concrete (PC) and steel fiber reinforced concrete(SFRC) (with water/cement ratio of 0.44, 0.32 and 0.26) subjected to freeze-thaw cycles in 5.0% sodium sulfate solution were investigated in this paper. It was found that during the initial 300 freeze-thaw cycles, sulfate solution had little effect on the relative dynamic modulus of elasticity (E_d) of concrete. In further freeze-thaw cycling, the effect of sulfate solution on E_d was much more obvious. Both PC and SFRC specimens with w/c of 0.44 failed before 300 cycles and exhibited similar developing trends of the E_d whether freezing and thawing in sulfate solution or in fresh water. As for the concrete specimens with w/c of 0.26, the decline of E_d was more serious when freezing and thawing in sulfate solution than that in fresh water after 300 cycles. The adoption of steel fiber greatly restrained the decline of E_d and changed the failure mode of the specimen from brittle crack in midspan of PC to gradually decline of E_d up to failure under the combined action of freeze-thaw cycles and sulfate attack. Test results also demonstrated that there was an interaction effect between the action of freeze-thaw cycles and sulfate attack.     

A method for assessment of the freeze-thaw resistance of preformed foam cellular concrete

The growing use of cellular concrete for building materials and geotechnical fills brings forth the question of suitable durability and performance standards. Of particular importance is the performance of cellular concrete in freezing and thawing environments. Since the macrostructure of cellular concrete or cellular control low-strength material is not like that of normal-weight concrete, a modified procedure is needed to specify the required characteristics of cellular concrete that lead to freeze-thaw durability. This research investigated the freeze-thaw durability of cellular concrete and developed a modified freeze-thaw test procedure, based on ASTM C666. Physical properties related to freeze-thaw durability were measured for each mixture and compared to the initial properties. As a result of these comparisons, recommendations are made regarding the production of freeze-thaw-resistant preformed foam cellular concrete exposed to freeze-thaw environments. The results of the study show that depth of absorption was a key predictor in developing freeze-thaw-resistant concrete. Compressive strength, depth of initial penetration, absorption and absorption rate are the important variables in producing cellular concrete that is resistant to cycles of freezing and thawing. Density and permeability were shown not to be significant variables.     

Freezing and thawing resistance of air-entrained concrete incorporating recycled coarse aggregate: The role of air content in demolished concrete

This study aims to introduce new information on freezing and thawing resistance when air-entrained or non-air-entrained concrete is used as recycled coarse aggregate into air-entrained concrete. The laboratory produced air-entrained and non-air-entrained concretes with a water/cement (w/c) ratio of 0.45 were recycled at the crushing age of 1 year to obtain the coarse aggregates used in the investigations. The recycling process was performed in three stages to produce recycled coarse aggregates with different adhered mortar contents. The results showed that recycled coarse aggregate produced from non-air-entrained concrete caused poor freezing and thawing resistance in concrete even when the new system had a proper air entrainment. Microstructural studies indicated that non-air-entrained adhered mortar caused disintegration of the recycled coarse aggregate in itself and disrupted the surrounding new mortar after a limited number of freezing and thawing cycles. Minimizing non-air-entrained adhered mortar or enhancing the performance of new surrounding matrix could not give satisfactory results for a long freezing and thawing exposure.