Redistribution of chlorides in concrete specimens occurring during storage

Abstract

It has been observed that storage of specimens with chloride gradients before determining the chloride profile can lead to changes in the shape of the chloride profile. An experimental study to quantify the influence of the duration of the storage period and the storage temperature has been carried out. It comprised three storage periods (7, 28 and 91 days) and two storage temperatures (+ 5 °C and + 20 °C). The specimens had previously been immersed in a 15% NaCl solution for 56 days and were sealed in plastics during storage. The results show that a temperature of + 5 °C diminishes the rate of redistribution considerably, compared to a storage carried out at + 20 °C, and the longer the storage period is, the more redistribution will take place. It is also shown that it is of importance to assure that the sealing of the specimens during storage is capable of maintaining the relative humidity at the surface, so that local redistribution of chlorides close to the surface will not take place.