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Construction > Concrete -Durability > Flashcards

Concrete -Durability Flashcards

1
Q

What is durability?

A

Ability to exist for a long time without significant damage

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2
Q

What are the categories of deterioration mechanisms?

A
  1. Physical attack
  2. Chemical attack
  3. Electrochemical attack
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3
Q

What are water transport mechanisms for deterioration?

A
  1. Diffusion
  2. Absorption
  3. Permeation
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4
Q

What is diffusion?

A
  1. Movement of liquid or gas driven by a concentration gradient
  2. High concentration -> low concentration
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5
Q

What is permeation?

A
  1. Movement of liquid or gas driven by a pressure gradient
  2. High pressure -> low pressure
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6
Q

What is absorption?

A
  1. Movement of water driven by surface tension
  2. Unsaturated -> saturated
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7
Q

What are the types of physical attacks?

A
  1. Freeze-thaw
  2. Abrasion and wear
  3. Cavitation and erosion
  4. Temperature changes (heat and fire)
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8
Q

What is freeze-thaw?

A
  1. Damage induced by repetitive cycles of freezing and thawing of water
  2. Water expands from freezing
  3. Large pores freeze first because large pores freeze at a high temperature
  4. Smaller pores freeze later at a lower temperature
  5. Hydraulic pressure is pushing water into smaller and smaller pores which cracks the concrete
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9
Q

What is abrasion and wear?

A

Physical rubbing between surfaces

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10
Q

What is cavitation and erosion?

A
  1. Tiny bubbles created when water lifts from surface
  2. Popping bubbles creates a shockwave and damages concrete
  3. Damage due to physical particles suspended in water rubbing against concrete
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11
Q

What happens to temperature changes (heat and fire)?

A
  1. Concrete is a bad thermal conductor
  2. It is therefore resistant to fire damage
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12
Q

What are the types of chemical attacks?

A
  1. Alkali-silica reaction (ASR)
  2. Sulphate attack
  3. Leaching/efflorescence
  4. Acid attack
  5. Carbonation
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13
Q

What is ASR?

A
  1. Chemical reaction between alkali in paste and silica in aggregates
  2. Cracks form inside aggregates
  3. On a macro scale, map cracking
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14
Q

What are factors that affect ASR?

A
  1. Nature of reactive silica
  2. Amount of reactive silica
  3. Particle size of reactive material
  4. Amount of alkalis available
  5. Amount of moisture available
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15
Q

How do you prevent ASR?

A
  1. Avoid reactive aggregates!
  2. Limit amount of alkalis in cement paste
  3. Use SCMs in cement paste
  4. Lower concrete permeability
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16
Q

What is a sulphate attack?

A

Chemical reaction between sulphate ions and hydrated cement paste

17
Q

What are the effects of a sulphate attack?

A
  1. Expansion and cracking of concrete
  2. Softening and disintegration of paste
18
Q

What are the forms of a sulphate attack?

A
  1. External sulphate attack (groundwater or river water)
  2. Physical sulphate attack
  3. Thaumasite
  4. Internal sulphate attack
  5. Waste / Sewage
19
Q

Describe the stages of an external sulphate attack?

A
  1. Sulphates are dissolved in water and enter the concrete from an outside source
  2. Sulphate reacts with CH to create gypsum (CSH2)
  3. Gypsum reacts with monosulphoaluminate in the hcp to create ettringite
    Step 2 and 3 are expansive which is why concrete cracks
20
Q

How do you prevent a sulphate attack?

A
  1. Lower C3A content to lower expansion
  2. Low w/c ratio
  3. Low permeability concrete
21
Q

What happens in an internal sulphate attack (delayed ettringite formation)?

A
  1. If concrete is hardened at high temperatures, ettringite is destroyed and sulphates are absorbed into CSH
  2. Once concrete is cooled, sulphates react with CH to form monosulphoaluminate and then to form etttringite
22
Q

What is leaching?

A

Dissolution of calcium hydroxide of cement paste in pore water

23
Q

What is efflorescence?

A

When pore water reaches surface, it evaporates and leaves white stains from calcium hydroxide

24
Q

How to prevent leaching?

A
  1. Minimize transport properties (low w/c ratio, SCMs)
  2. Minimize calcium hydroxide content (SCMs)
25
Q

What is the difference between hard water and soft water for leaching?

A
  1. Hard water from lakes, rivers, ground water contains dissolved minerals and is not detrimental to concrete
  2. Soft water like rain, snow and ice does not contain dissolved minerals and is detrimental to concrete
26
Q

What is an acid attack?

A

Chemical reaction between surface of concrete and acid solution

27
Q

What is a carbonation attack?

A
  1. Infiltration of CO2 into concrete
  2. CO2 reacts with CH to create calcium carbonate
  3. Lowers pH of pore solution
28
Q

What are the effects of a carbonation attack?

A
  1. Lower pH of water pore which increases corrosion rate of reinforcing steel (removal of passivation film)
29
Q

What is an electrochemical attack?

A
  1. Affects the reinforcing steel by increasing its volume
  2. Creates tensile stresses in the concrete
  3. Concrete is very weak to tensile stress but strong in compressive stress
30
Q

How does concrete protect the reinforcing steel?

A
  1. Physically: Prevents sulphates, water, chlorides, oxygen to come into contact with steel
  2. Chemically: pore solution is very high in pH which creates an iron oxide film around steel
  3. This film is called a passivation film
31
Q

How does concrete stop protecting reinforcing steel?

A
  1. Loss of physical protection: insufficient concrete to cover, cracking in concrete, concrete with poor transport properties
  2. Loss of chemical protection: passivation film is lost because of lower pH of pore solution (carbonation or acid attack), penetration of chlorides
32
Q

Explain the process of damage in alkali-silica reaction

A
  1. Alkalis in pore solution react with silica from aggregates to form
    amorphous silicate gel
  2. Amorphous silicate gel absorbs pore water and greatly expands
  3. Once pores are filled by expansion, expansion becomes
    restrained and cracks occur
33
Q

Explain the consequences of reinforcement corroding

A
  1. Expansion of rebar cracks concrete & thus increases permeability
  2. Steel’s cross-sectional area is reduced, which reduces steel’s load
    carrying capacity

Construction (16 decks)

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