Effect of measurement method and cracking on chloride transport in concrete

Abstract

This paper aims to study the effect of measurement methods and cracking on chloride transport of concrete materials. Three kinds of measurement methods were carried out, including immersion test, rapid migration test and steady-state migration test. All of these measurements of chloride transport show that chloride ion diffusion coefficient decreased with the reduction of water to cement ratio. Results of the immersion test were less than that of rapid migration test and steady-state migration test. For the specimen of lower water to cement ratio, the external electrical field has little effect on chloride binding relatively. Compared with the results obtained by these different measurement methods, the lower water to cement ratio may cause smaller differences among these different methods. The external voltage can reduce chloride binding of concrete, and the higher electrical field made a strong impact on the chloride binding. Considering the effect of high voltage on the specimen, results indicate that results based on the steady-state migration test should be more reasonable. For cracked concrete, cracking can accelerate the chloride ion diffusion.