Presence Of Sealer Research Articles

Accelerated Laboratory Test Suggests the Importance of Film Integrity of Sealers on the Protection of Concrete from Deicer Scaling

AbstractThis work reports the laboratory performance of five film-forming sealers that protect concrete from deicer scaling (15 freeze-thaw and wet-dry cycles in diluted NaCl or MgCl2 solution). Regardless of the presence or type of sealer, no apparent scaling occurred on the concretes exposed to 2.54% by weight MgCl2 solution, but there was significant reduction in their splitting tensile strength (up to 55% for the nontreated concrete). The best-performing sealer in mitigating this risk of strength reduction was the methyl methacrylate (MMA) polymer. For the concrete exposed to 3% by weight NaCl solution, the scaling resistance and ability of strength preservation were significantly improved by the presence of a sealer. Regardless of the sealer type, the initial rate of water absorption of surface-treated concretes was greatly reduced by the sealer by at least 68%. The water absorption behavior of the sealer-treated concrete showed a strong correlation with mass loss caused by salt scaling. The concrete...

The effect of sealers on the freeze-thaw resistance of mortar

The freeze-thaw resistance of eight types of mortar specimens treated with 57 concrete sealers was determined. The reduction in water uptake resulting from the presence of sealer did not, in general, improve the freeze-thaw durability based on failure criteria of 0.02% expansion. Inverse relationship seems to exist between the sealer caused reduction of water uptake and freeze-thaw durability, as evidence by the plot of the average percent expansion vs. average water uptake. The results emphasize the importance of water transfer through the surface zone in partially saturated systems, a phenomenon not considered by the hydrostatic pressure theory.