Enhancing the resistance of concrete to freeze and thaw

Contents

Introduction

Mechanism of freeze and thaw effect of concrete

1. internal cracking
2. Surface scaling due to frost and de-icing salts

Concrete parameters affecting freezing and thawing

1. Porosity and pore distribution
2. Water/cement ratio
3. Type of aggregate
4. Method of curing

Methods of enhancing concrete resistance to freeze and thaw

A. Internal cracking

1. Air entrained concrete and methods of measuring its content

2. Previous concrete
3. lower w/c ratios
4. surface treatment
5. Deep surface treatment
6. Use of silica fume concrete
7. Air entrained concrete

B. Surface scaling

1. Air entrained
2. Surface porosity
3. Curing
4. Surface treatment

Conclusion

Reference:
Introduction

Freeze and thawing resistance of concrete is a very important parameter since it affects
major characteristics of concrete such as the strength of concrete and its durability.
Freeze and thaw in concrete is generally broke down into to aspects ,namely surface
scaling of concrete due to frost under the presence of de-icing salts and internal cracks
which are cause by the volumetric increase in frozen water particles which induce stress
within the pores of concrete and concrete matrix in general

Mechanism of freeze and thaw effect of concrete

1. Internal cracking
Internal cracking of concrete is dues to the fact that when water freezes its volume
increase, since the volume occupied by the water in its initial face is the harden concrete,
no change takes place with in the pores of harden concrete to accommodate the increase
in the volume of frozen water. The volumetric increase in the volume of water in the
frozen states is about 9%, this increase induces stress in the surrounding concrete matrix,
and some time this stress ascend the stress that can be taken my the surrounding matrix
there by causing failure in the surrounding matrix

2. Surface scaling due to frost and de-icing salts

Concrete parameters affecting freezing and thawing

1. Porosity and pore distribution

Porosity, pore size and distribution are the main factors that govern concretes durability
factor not only against freeze and thaw cycles but also against determination of concrete
my acid attacks, aggregate alkaline reactions and sulphate attacks, it is therefore no
surprise that during the study on durability of concrete in freeze and thaw environment
the main parameter affecting it is the porosity , the pore sizes and their distribution, these
affect the amount of water available for freezing which then affect the stress generated
due to expansion of available water during freezing. When water freezes it expands by
approximately 9% in volume, and if the expansion is restrained, a considerable force is
exerted no the walls of the porous medium, these forces need not be large to cause tensile
failure (or spalling) in the concrete, because of the relatively low tensile strength of
concrete and during thawing; water reduces in volume, there by generating more pore
space for water to be absorbed for surrounding environment. It is this freezing, melting
and absorption of water from surrounding by the concrete due to its porosity. in the next
phase of freeze, the newly increased volume of water in the pores of medium with start
freezing and there by generate stress that are higher then the initial initiating cycles. This
increases in stress cause further degrading of surrounding concrete matrix there by
increasing its porosity in turn when it is saturated and the freezing cycle beings over
again you would have great stress then cycle before it. This goes on until the concrete is
no longer adequate enough to with stand any force generated with in it or applied to it.
This however could be reduced by improving the permeability of concrete, reducing
water/binder ratio .Surface treatment is another method of improving the resistance of
ingress water and water ions into concrete and is given in later stages in the report.

2. Water/cement ratio
3. Type of aggregate
4. Method of curing

Methods of enhancing concrete resistance to freeze and thaw

Internal cracking

1. Air entrained concrete

2. Previous concrete
3. lower water/binder ratios
4. surface treatment ( Pore liners)
It is a known fact that durability of concrete is greatly affected by the water/binder ration
and the method and period of curing, meaning that with lower water/cement ration and
properly cured concrete you get good durability but this alone is not sufficient to make
the concrete durable to freeze and thaw action of water in the pores of concrete matrix. In
order to improve the durability of concrete against freeze and thaw we use surface
treatment in the form of silanes and siloxanes in structures. It is expected that these
surface treatments help to provide an effective barrier to the ingress of water and water
born ions into the concrete structures, thus increasing their durability. On surface treating
the structures with silcanes and siloxanes, what happens is that these surface treatment
ingress into the pores of concrete and react with the cement matrix, in the presence of
moisture, to form a hydrophobic lining on the pore walls, this hydrophobic lining is
generated when the silicon atom of the silane molecule which is bonded to a water-
repellent alkyl group on one side and to reactive ester groups on the other side reacts with
silicate structure of the concrete under a two step reaction, in which the first reaction
under moisture yields unstable silanol molecules, the second phase of the reaction occurs
under condensation in which the unstable silanol produce during hydrolysis bond with the
available hydroxyl groups of the silicate structure of the concrete along with some cross
linking occurring. It is this product that is responsible for the water repel character induce
by the pore liners, another thing to remember about this reaction is that it takes place with
the hydroxyl groups of the substructure which will allow direct bonding with the
concrete, its Alkalinity acts as a catalyst for the reaction. Although this type of surface
treatment prevents ingress of water particles and ions, it does not how ever prevent
movement of air and vapor particles there by permitting the concrete to breath and hence
reduce its moisture content with time.

5. Deep surface treatment

6. Use of condensed silica fume
Use of condensed silica fume improves the strength and durability of concrete by reacting
with the calcium hydroxide given of during the hydration reaction of ordinary Portland
cement producing additional calcium silicate hydrate gel, which in turn leads to enhance
strength and durability for both air entrained and non air entrained concrete. The
mechanics behind improved durability of concrete with CSF is the employed in the size
difference between the particles of condense silica fume and Ordinary Portland cement,
due to this size difference they fill the voids generated by hydration of Opc there by
generating a denser matrix and a less porose one at too. first studies on the permeability
of CSF concrete was that conducted by Markestad who found that Replacement of 20%
of the cement by CSF resulted in a completely impermeable concrete in which the water-
binder ratio was 0.89, this was later then followed up by Johanssonz O who found that a
10% cement replacement by CSF resulted in a 50% reduction in the concrete’s
permeability and Study conducted by Gjorv stated that the water permeability was greatly
reduced when CSF was added to lean concrete mixtures. He also reported that the effect
of CSF on the permeability of water was small if cement content of the binder was
greater the 400 kg/m3.futher studies conducted on this where done on core samples
removed from already existing structures with age varying from 3-9 years, this studies
revealed that the permeability increased with increasing water-binder ratio and that for
low levels of CSF (5-10%) and at low concrete strength levels up to 40 MPa, the CSF is
more efficient in acting as a filler than as a pozzolan, resulting in a significantly reduced
permeability. We can deduce from the read that frost resistance of concrete is dependent
on the absorption rate of water and the pore structure of the concrete, addition of
condensed silica fume reduces the permeability of concrete (the easy through which
water propagates through concrete or the absorption of water by concrete) second it alters
the pore structure of concrete by reducing the amount of voids and their size. There by
decreasing the effect of frost on concrete (remember though this is more on the internal
cracking resistance of concrete to freeze and thaw).

7. use of light weight aggregate

Like the cement paste, aggregate particles may be subjected to internal hydraulic
pressure. For instance saturated aggregate must accommodate the expansion of frozen
water either by expelling the excess water or expanding. Very porous aggregate such as
lightweight aggregate have such a high permeability that water can escape during
freezing without any major damage to the aggregate. Consequently lightweight aggregate
is more durable than normal aggregate
Surface scaling

1. Air entrained
2. Surface porosity
3. Curing
4. Surface treatment

Conclusion

Reference: