Performance of concretes manufactured with newly developed low-clinker cements exposed to water and chlorides: Characterization by means of electrical impedance measurements

Abstract

This paper discusses the electrical impedance behaviour, measured according to the Wenner’s method, of three different concrete mixes during accelerated degradation tests. Being a first attempt to move from laboratory to in-field applications targeted to long-term monitoring, the same electrode array configuration and set-up (AC current at 10 kHz) is used. Results show that electrical impedance decreases down to 24% in capillary water absorption tests, 77% and 86% in salt-spray chamber and wet/dry cycles with 3.5% NaCl solution, respectively. The two new low-clinker cements adopted seem to improve the measurement sensitivity towards contaminants ingress with respect to the commercial one (reference).