Does the water to cement ratio of concrete impact the value of its critical degree of saturation?

Abstract

This study examines the influence of the water to cement ratio (w/c) on the critical degree of saturation (DOSCR) of cement paste samples using length change measurements. Length change was measured using thermomechanical analysis (TMA) for cement paste samples with different degrees of saturation (DOS), ranging from 100% DOS to 0% DOS. The damage induced by a freezing and thawing cycle (FT cycle) was deduced from length change measurements. The results obtained from length change measurements were correlated with the amount of freezable water obtained from low-temperature differential scanning calorimeter (LT-DSC) tests. It was observed that samples with a DOS greater than DOSCR exhibited damage while those with a DOS less than DOSCR did not show damage. It was concluded that the DOSCR slightly increases when the w/c increases from 0.35 to 0.45. However, there was not a significant increase in DOSCR when the w/c increases from 0.45 to 0.55. However, it should be noted that freeze-thaw performance is dependent on w/c. Indeed, permeability of cementitious materials and the amount of freezable water are directly dependent on the w/c and directly affect the freeze-thaw performance of concrete.