Concrete structures exposed to aggressive aqueous media (waste water, soft water, fresh water, ground water, sea water, agricultural or agro-industrial environments), due to their porous nature, are susceptible to a variety of degradation processes resulting from the ingress and/or presence of water. In addition to chemical and physical degradation processes, the presence of water contributes to undesirable changes in the material properties resulting from the activities of living organisms, i.e. biodeterioration. Since microorganisms are ubiquitous in almost every habitat and possess an amazingly diversified metabolic versatility, their presence on building materials is quite normal often, they can infer deterioration that can be detrimental (loss of alkalinity, erosion, spalling of the concrete skin, corrosion of rebar’s, loss of water- or air tightness…). The deleterious effect of microorganisms, mainly bacteria and fungi, on the cementitious matrix has been found to be linked, on the one hand, with the production of aggressive metabolites (acids, CO2, sulfur compounds, etc.) but also, on the other hand, with some specific, physical and chemical effects of the microorganisms themselves through the formation of biofilm on the surface. Moreover, the intrinsic properties of the cementitious matrix (porosity, roughness, mineralogical and/or chemical composition) can also influence the biofilm characteristics, but these phenomena have not been understood thoroughly as of yet. Nonetheless, a serious review about understanding interactions between cementitious materials and microorganisms has been reported [1].These deteriorations lead to a significant increase in the cost of repairing structures and to loss of production income, but may also lead to pollution issues resulting, for example, from waste water leakage to the environment. Also, building facades, and notably concrete external walls, can be affected by biological stains, which alter aesthetical quality of the construction, sometimes very quickly, and lead to significant cleaning costs. Microorganisms, mainly algae, responsible for these alterations have been quite well identified. Research is now rather focused on determining colonization mechanisms, and notably influencing material-related factors, and on development of preventive or curative, and preferentially environmentally friendly, solutions to protect external walls. However, up to now, no clear results about the efficiency of these various protection solutions are available.
In the early 1970s, experts predicted that the practical limit of ready-mixed concrete would be unlikely to exceed a compressive strength greater than 90 MPa [1]. Over the past two decades, the development of high-strength concrete has enabled builders to easily meet and surpass this estimate. The primary difference between high-strength concrete and normal-strength concrete relates to the compressive strength that refers to the maximum resistance of a concrete sample to applied pressure. Although there is no precise point of separation between high-strength concrete and normal-strength concrete, the American Concrete Institute defines high-strength concrete as concrete with a compressive strength greater than 45 MPa. Manufacture of high-strength concrete involves making optimal use of the basic ingredients that constitute normal-strength concrete. When selecting aggregates to obtain high-strength concrete, we consider strength, optimum size distribution, surface characteristics and a good bonding with the cement paste that affect compressive strength. Selecting a high-quality Portland cement and optimizing the combination of materials by varying the proportions of cement, water, aggregates, and admixtures is also necessary. Any of these properties could limit the ultimate strength of high-strength concrete. Pozzolans, such as fly ash and silica fume along with silicic acid, are the most commonly used mineral admixtures in high-strength concrete. These materials impart additional strength to the concrete by reacting with Portland cement hydration products to create additional Calcium Silicate Hydrate (CSH) gel, the part of the paste responsible for concrete strength; finally the most important admixture is polycarboxylate ether as super plasticizer. It would be difficult to produce high-strength ready-mixed concrete without using chemical admixtures. In this paper we study the use of high performance concrete (HPC) to obtain very narrow strong pre-fabricated elements for water conducting channels.
At the present time, no material is known that is completely inert to chemical or biochemical action and immune to weathering damage. Concrete is no exception, but, under what might be considered normal exposure conditions, it has a very long life. Concrete made by the Romans from natural cement is in excellent condition after more than 2000 years of service. The controversies generated by contradictory expert testimonies in several lawsuits involving sulfate attack on concrete, and by the large numbers of recently published papers containing data on the subject, have caused considerable anxiety about sulfate attack mechanisms and the service life of concrete structures. Furthermore, frequently the physical attack by salt crystallization is being confused with the classical sulfate attack, which involves the chemical interaction between sulfate ions from an external source and the constituents of cement paste. In addition, there is also an internal sulfate attack –a chemical attack in which the source of sulfate ions resides in the concrete aggregates or cement–. Additionally, modern concrete as been affected by the products of microorganism metabolism, in particular sulfuric acid, this damage done to hardened concrete is known as concrete biodeterioration and also known as microbiologically induced corrosion of concrete (MICC). Being perhaps this biodeterioration the most important cause of concrete decay and perhaps the true explanation of sulfate attack on concrete. Some of the controversies about sulfate attack are addressed in this article, we have studied the case applying simple considerations concerning concrete composition and flouting at the same time some of the stricter observed paradigms in the cement and concrete industry. It is concluded that a holistic approach is necessary to separate the real causes of sulfate attack on concrete from the imaginary ones.
Tensile strength of concrete is limited and therefore is sensitive to crack formation. Steel reinforcement is added to bear the tensile forces; nonetheless, this does not completely omit crack formation. Repair of cracks in concrete is time-consuming and expensive. Self-sealing and self-healing of cracks upon appearance would therefore be a convenient property. We propose a mechanism to obtain self-repair of the concrete by adding soluble silicates (ASS) which will induce a self-sealing and self-healing process catalyzed by natural periods of wet and dry states of the concrete. Self-sealing approaches prevent the ingress of harsh chemical substances which may deteriorate the concrete matrix. This can be achieved by self-healing of concrete cracks (e.g. further cement hydration, calcium carbonate precipitation) and autonomous healing (e.g. further hydration of partially soluble silicates added as healing agents). The autogenous healing efficiency depends on the amount of deposited reaction products (ASS), its solubility (ratio of calcium to sodium silicate), the availability of water, and the crack width (restricted by adding microfibers). The self-sealing efficiency is generally evaluated by measuring the decrease in water permeability and air flow through the crack. The healing efficiency is usually evaluated by testing concrete´s regain in mechanical properties after crack formation; by reloading the cracked and autonomously healed specimen and comparing the obtained mechanical properties with the original ones. Self-sealing and self-healing of concrete gives a broad perspective and new possibilities to make future concrete structures more durable.
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