Durability of steam-cured concrete with slag under the combined deterioration of freeze-thaw cycles and de-icing chemicals

Abstract

In previous studies on the durability of slag-mixed concrete against the combined impacts of deicing chemicals and freeze-thaw cycles, scaling resistance of concrete was improved using replacement amounts of slag from 25% to 35% of the total cement content. However, the resistance decreased rapidly when the amount of slag replacement increased above 40% of cement content. Furthermore, in these studies, only normal cured concrete products were used rather than steam-cured ones. Thus, the research on the scaling resistance of steam-cured concrete products with slag replacement has not been studied enough. In this study, the durability characteristics of slag-replaced steam-cured concrete against the impacts of concrete deicing chemicals and freeze-thaw cycles were investigated with the aim of improving the quality of precast concrete products. Scaling, chloride ion penetration, pull-off strength, and relative dynamic modulus of elasticity were evaluated for both the pouring and bottom sides of the specimens. This was done because it was expected that the concrete pouring side would suffer more degradation than the bottom side owing to weakened concrete strength caused by bleeding effects.