On the effect of laboratory conditioning and freeze/thaw exposure on moisture profiles in HPC

The effect of selected conditioning (drying and resaturation) and freeze/thaw exposure on the moisture profile in a two-powder concrete (equiv. w/c=0.39, 8% silica fume) has been investigated. For comparison, the effect of conditioning and freeze/thaw testing according to SS 13 72 44 (“Borås method”) on moisture profiles in a three-powder concrete and two plain concretes (w/c=0.45) was measured. The investigations were supplemented by determination of frost resistance and chloride profiles after freeze/thaw exposure, as well as petrographic analysis. The investigations indicate that the present methods of conditioning only have very limited effect on high-performance concretes (HPC).