Tools for assessing damage in concrete affected by AAR coming from fine and coarse aggregates
Over the last few years, comprehensive management programs for the diagnosis and prognosis of alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR) in aging concrete structures were developed in North America, based on a series of laboratory test procedures. Although promising, these lab-procedures presented several parameters whose impacts were not completely understood, which significantly reduced their applicability for the appraisal of deteriorated concrete structures in service. In this context, it has been suggested that two lab-tools, the Stiffness Damage Test (SDT) and the Damage Rating Index (DRI) could reliably assess the condition of concrete affected by AAR. This paper presents the condition assessment of 25, 35 and 45 MPa AAR affected concrete specimens incorporating fine and coarse reactive aggregates and presenting different distress degrees (i.e. expansion levels from 0.05 to 0.30%) through the use of an innovative multi-level approach. Results show that both SDT and DRI are suitable for assessing damage in AAR affected concrete through their output parameters. Yet, they present a complementary character, which illustrates the need for a multi-level approach.
Investigation of Alkali-Silica Reactivity in Sustainable Ultrahigh Performance Concrete
Considering its superior engineering properties, ultrahigh performance concrete (UHPC) has emerged as a strong contender to replace normal strength concrete (NSC) in diverse construction applications. While the mechanical properties of UHPC have been thoroughly explored, there is still dearth of studies that quantify the durability of UHPC, especially for sustainable mixtures made with local materials. Therefore, this research aims at investigating the alkali-silica reactivity (ASR) potential in sustainable UHPC in comparison with that of NSC. Sustainable UHPC mixtures were prepared using waste untreated coal ash (CA), raw slag (RS), and locally produced steel fibers. UHPC and benchmark NSC specimens were cast for assessing the compressive strength, flexural strength, and ASR expansion. Specimens were exposed to two curing regimes: accelerated ASR conditions (as per ASTM C1260) and normal water curing. UHPC specimens incorporating RS achieved higher compressive and flexural strengths in comparison with that of identical UHPC specimens made with CA. ASR expansion of control NSC specimens exceeded the ASTM C1260 limits (>0.20% at 28 days). Conversely, experimental results demonstrate that UHPC specimens incurred much less ASR expansion, well below the ASTM C1260 limits. Moreover, UHPC specimens incorporating steel fibers exhibited lower expansion compared to that of companion UHPC specimens without fibers. It was also observed that the mechanical properties of NSC specimens suffered more drastic degradation under accelerated ASR exposure compared to UHPC specimens. Interestingly, UHPC specimens exposed to accelerated ASR conditions attained higher mechanical properties compared to that of reference identical specimens cured in normal water. Therefore, it can be concluded that ASR exposure had insignificant effect on sustainable UHPC incorporating CA and RS, especially for specimens incorporating fibers. Results indicate that UHPC is a robust competitor to NSC for the construction of mega-scale projects where exposure to ASR conducive conditions prevails.
Quantitative Petrographic Technique for Concrete Damage Due to ASR: Experimental and Application
An automatic petrographic test procedure for quantifying damage in concrete affected by alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is presented in this paper. A computer image analysis program was designed to quantify the degree of microcracking and the amount of silica gel resulting from ASR. The procedure involves the petrographic examination at a magnification of ×20 of polished concrete sections impregnated with fluorescent epoxy resin for cracking and uranyl acetate coated sections for the determination of their silica gel content. Also, the data were compared to the results obtained from a semi-quantitative petrographic method, i.e., the Damage Rating Index commonly used in Canada for evaluating the condition of concrete affected by ASR. The petrographic examination was first carried out on laboratory sections cut and polished from concrete prisms incorporating two different aggregate types, the Spratt limestone and the Potsdam sandstone. Both methods were also applied to specimens prepared from a core collected from a large dam affected by ASR. Good correlation was obtained between analytical parameters derived from the image analysis method and the expansion levels of the laboratory test prisms; however, no explicit relation was found to date between the amount of gel as measured in this study and the expansion level. This study shows that the quantitative petrographic method using the image analysis and the Damage Rating Index Method can be used to estimate the condition and current expansion of concrete specimens cored from concrete structures affected by ASR.