The paper describes the determination of freeze-thaw resistance in self-compacting concretes and compares several test methods used for this purpose. The basic principle of testing freeze-thaw resistance is the observation of changes, in this case the loss of certain properties, in concrete attacked by freeze-thaw cycles. This paper documents measurements of tensile strength, tensile splitting strength, and dynamic Young’s modulus measured by the ultrasonic pulse velocity test and resonance method. The outcome of the experiment is an evaluation of how suitable each test is for determining the freeze-thaw resistance of self-compacting concrete.
The paper deals with testing of self-compacting concrete slabs with scattered steel reinforcement, which are designed for the production of garden furniture or benches. A self-compacting concrete was designed for the experiment and its composition was further modified by the addition of steel fibres. Plain self-compacting concrete was used to produce test specimens with nominal dimensions of 40×40×160 mm, which were used to determine the basic properties of concrete, and test slabs for experimental analysis of their behaviour under load. The self-compacting concrete with steel fibres was only used to produce test slabs. The slabs were loaded in three different ways, of which one was to simulate real loading of the horizontal part of a concrete bench. The results of the loading tests are compared to the results of a nonlinear numerical analysis conducted using the finite element method.
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