Abstract
Abstract The de-icing salt has been used for decades to increase safety on the roads and sidewalks. In Poland, mainly the sodium chloride is used in order to maintain the roads in good condition during winter. Like other salts used for surface de-icing, it depresses the freezing point to lower temperatures and has an additional thermal effect by an exothermic reaction. However, this salt causes the accumulation of chlorides in the walls and stone buildings contributing to the deterioration of these facilities. The paper addresses the issue of the influence of salt solutions on the structure and geomechanical properties of rocks at negative temperatures. The study was conducted on the basis of cyclic tests which simulate complex action of both the negative temperature and the salty environment. The conditions for the tests were chosen so as to reflect the actual conditions of the winter in Poland. During the tests, the longitudinal wave propagation velocity, changes in weights of the samples as well as visual changes were recorded which allowed continuous tracking of occurring changes. At the end of the tests, the rock samples were subjected to uniaxial compressive tests. For this purpose, four lithological types were chosen, representing the sedimentary rocks: clastic and carbonate, widely used in stone constructions.
Highlights
De-icing salt has been used for decades to improve traffic safety on roads and sidewalks
The migration of the de-icing salt to the neighboring buildings causes the accumulation of chloride on their near ground level and the subsequent resulting deterioration [9]
Most of the laboratory studies deal with the role of de-icing salts in the frost damage and emphasize their high harmfulness to the structure of stones [1], [2], [10], [11], there are some that describe their positive action
Summary
De-icing salt has been used for decades to improve traffic safety on roads and sidewalks. Millions of tons of salt have been applied since for de-icing by lowering the freezing temperature of water. Most of the laboratory studies deal with the role of de-icing salts in the frost damage and emphasize their high harmfulness to the structure of stones [1], [2], [10], [11], there are some that describe their positive action. McGreevy [7], for example, using more dilute solutions, found that salts could inhibit frost weathering under certain conditions. The greatest harmfulness under freeze thaw conditions is attributed to NaCl because of the crystallization of the dehydrate salt [9]
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