No abstract

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Document Version AbstractThis article compiles results from 4 independent laboratory studies. In each study, the same type of concrete is tested at least 10 times, the air void structure being the only variable. For each concrete mix both air void analysis of the hardened concrete and a salt frost scaling test are conducted. Results were not originally presented in a way, which made comparison possible. Here the amount of scaled material is depicted as function of air voids parameters: total air content, specific surface, spacing factor, and total surface area of air voids. The total surface area of air voids is proportional to the product of total air content and specific surface.In all 4 cases, the conclusion is concurrent that the parameter of total surface area of air voids performs equally well or better than the spacing factor when linking air void characteristics to frost resistance (salt frost scaling). This observation is interesting as the parameter of total surface area of air voids normally is not included in air void analysis.The following reason for the finding is suggested: In the air voids conditions are favourable for ice nucleation. When a capillary pore is connected to an air void, ice formation will take place in the air void, being feed from the capillary, but without pressure build-up in the capillary. If the capillary is not connected to an air void, ice formation will take place in the capillary pore, where it can generate substantial pressure. Like this, frost resistance depends on that capillary pores are connected to air voids. The chance that a capillary pore is connected to an air void depends on the total surface area of air voids in the system, not the spacing factor.

 Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.  You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain  You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

Cenospheres are hollow fly ash particles. When performing air void analysis on a contrast enhanced plane section, air inclusions in cenospheres are counted as air voids. In the present study, air void analyses for air entrained concrete mixtures with fly ash (up to 50% of binder mass) were corrected based on chord counting for non-air entrained paste samples with various contents of fly ash. The correction only lead to a small reduction of the total air content, but it increased the spacing factor up to 25%. The concrete mixtures were also exposed to salt frost scaling testing. The amounts of scaling were unacceptable for several mixtures with high dosages of fly ash. Inferior strength or inadequate air void structure could not explain this. Additional testing pointed to that chemical surface degradation aggravated the physical frost attack for concrete mixtures with high contents of fly ash.

Scaling of concrete due to salt frost attack is an important durability issue in moderate and cold climates. The actual damage mechanism is still not completely understood. Two recent damage theories—the glue spall theory and the cryogenic suction theory—offer plausible, but conflicting explanations for the salt frost scaling mechanism. The present study deals with the cryogenic suction theory, which assumes that freezing concrete can take up unfrozen brine from a partly frozen deicing solution during salt frost attack. According to the model hypothesis, the resulting saturation of the concrete surface layer intensifies the ice formation in this layer and causes salt frost scaling. In this study an experimental technique was developed that makes it possible to quantify to which extent brine uptake can increase ice formation in hardened cement paste (used as a model material for concrete). The experiments were carried out with low temperature differential scanning calorimetry, where specimens were subjected to freeze–thaw cycles while being in contact with NaCl brine. Results showed that the ice content in the specimens increased with subsequent freeze–thaw cycles due to the brine uptake at temperatures below 0 °C. The ability of the hardened cement paste to bind chlorides from the absorbed brine at the same time affected the freezing/melting behavior of the pore solution and the magnitude of the ice content.