Durability performance and dimensional stability of road concrete containing dry-shake surface hardener admixture

Abstract

Durability and dimensional stability problems are emerged in road concrete due to traffic loads and environmental factors. The concrete surface treatment is one of the preferred methods to solve these problems economically. As it is known, surface treatment is applied to the concrete surface as dry-shaking and liquid. It is understood from the literature that there are very limited studies about the use of dry-shake hardener admixture in concrete mixtures. In the present study, the effect of dry-shake surface hardener admixture application on mechanical, durability and dimensional stability properties of concrete mixtures having different w/b ratios were investigated. Totally ten series of concrete mixtures coated with and without dry-shake surface hardener admixture were prepared for this purpose. The slump value of concrete mixtures was determined as 85 ± 5 mm. Vebe, slump and air content tests were performed for each mixture in fresh state and unit weights of mixtures were calculated. Also, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, transport properties, abrasion resistance, freeze–thaw resistance and drying shrinkage behavior were investigated on the 7, 28 and 90-day specimens. In the light of the experiment results, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, water sorptivity, abrasion resistance and drying shrinkage behavior of concrete mixtures were positively affected with adding of dry-shake surface hardener admixture. However, it was found that the dry-shake surface hardener admixture application had no significant effect on water absorption, depth of water penetration under pressure and freezing-thawing performances.