Magnesium oxychloride cement concrete

The scope of magnesium oxychloride (MOC) cement in concrete works has been evaluated. MOC cement concrete compositions of varying strengths having good placing and finishing characteristics were prepared and investigated for their compressive and flexural strengths, E-values, abrasion resistance etc. The durability of MOC concrete compositions against extreme environmental conditions viz. heating-cooling, freezing-thawing, wetting-drying and penetration and deposition of salts etc were investigated. The results reveal that MOC concrete has high compressive strength associated with high flexural strength and the ratio of compressive to flexural strength varies between 6 and 8. The elastic moduli of the compositions studied are found to be 23–85 GPa and the abrasion losses between 0·11 and 0·20%. While alternate heating-cooling cycles have no adverse effect on MOC concrete, it can be made durable against freezing-thawing and the excessive exposure to water and salt attack by replacing 10% magnesium chloride solution by magnesium sulphate solution of the same concentration.