Durability characteristics of self-consolidating concrete designated for repair applications

This paper presents test results carried out to study the influence of key mixture parameters on frost durability, scaling resistance, and transport properties of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) that can be used in structural repair. Regardless of the w/cm, binder type, or admixture combination, properly designed SCC can develop high resistance to freezing and thawing with frost durability factor greater than 80%. The optimized mixtures had 56-day rapid chloride-ion permeability (RCP) values of 200–900 Coulomb. On the average, SCC made with 0.42 w/cm developed 20% higher capillary porosity, 20% lower compressive strength, and 30% greater RCP value compared to similar SCC prepared with 0.35 w/cm. The type of blended cement in use had considerable influence on transport properties. For a given mix design, concrete with 180 mm slump consistency exhibited similar RCP value of 505 Coulomb compared to 630 Coulomb for the same concrete with greater dosage of HRWRA to secure a slump flow consistency of 670 mm.