Concrete Durability.: Concrete - What Is It?

Concrete Durability.
 Concrete – What is it?

 Heterogeneous mixture of differing materials,
some inert, some reacting, continually changing
with age
 Hence, there’re Advantages & Pitfall
 More than material; a complete process
(i) Specifications to meet the needs
(ii) Raw material production
(iii) Mix formulation & transportation
(iv) Compaction & early curing
Concrete – What is it? Cont.
 More than material; a complete process

(v) Maturing in construction environment
(vi) Functioning under action of working load &
environment
Concrete Mobility
 Mobility with time:- Chemically & physically, in
fresh & hardened state
 During & after compaction; air & water moves
upward in fresh & stiffening concrete – Hence
Benefit – Reduction in porosity
Disadvtg – w/c ratio gradient…. See bleeding
phenomenon
 During stiffening & Hardening state
Concrete Mobility… Cont.
 Hydration reduces permeability
 Hydration increases temperature
 Thermal & moisture movement causes;
o Expansion
o Shrinkage
o Tensile stress
o Compressive stress
o Creep
o cracking

 Flaws develop but at microscopic level
 But concrete can accommodate, generally
 Very few cause obvious visible defect
 But aggressive agents can identify these weakness
 At Hardened state
 Movement continually causing -- air, moisture vapour, fluid &
ions to enter & move around concrete resulting in:
o Evaporating water
o Depositing or dissolving chemicals
o Diluting solutions
o Moving of chemicals around
 Hence corrosion of RC, due to changes in electro potential

distribution which encourages electro-chemical activity as a
result of:
o Concrete variation
o Moisture variation
o Chemical migration
o Carbonation
 At Hardened state
 Changes in stress & strain concentration due to:
o Loading
o Wind levels
o Daily & annual temp. changes
o Humidity changes
o Ground movement
o Water level variation
Variation In Structures
 Concrete constructions display variation in properties over its surface
and cross-section.
 Effect of water gain & lack of curing on quality of concrete in a
constructed RC beam
Zone of much poorer quality concrete
Zone of poorer quality concrete
Zone of generally uniform higher

quality concrete (HEARTCRETE)
Zone of poorer quality concrete

(COVERCRETE)
X-Section of Beam (Sitecrete or Realcrete)

Variation In Structures.. Cont.
 Comparedto:-
LABCRETE
Concrete as supplied to the beam but
compacted & cured in the standard way
Realcrete vs Labcrete
Standard cube strength
Cores from structure

20 N/mm2
Estimated in-situ
cube strength
23 N/mm2
BS 6089: Typical strength in structures May be only 77% of 28 day cube strength.
Can be as low as 67% in the upper part of lift (stratum)
IMPLICATION
 For
durability; concentrate on COVER forget the
HEART
 Durability
is skin deep
 Reanforcement located near cover layer
 Outer25mm or so– more permeable

 The upper 20% of the height may have greater
permeability due to water gain (mobility)
DURABLE CONCRETE
 Definition of Durability
Ability of RC to provide the required level of serviceability
& safety for the design life of the structure
 Specific Definition: Ability to resist….
 Weathering action e.g freezing & thawing
 Chemical attack e.g Sulphate & acid attack
 Abrasion
 Any other process of deterioration e.g alkali-aggregate Reaction
 Each Durability Type Requires Different Material
Characteristics
DURABLE CONCRETE… Cont.
 Durability is governed by QUALITY & QTY is
influenced by:
 water/cement ratio
 type of cement
 degree of compaction
 permeability
STRUCTURAL FAILURE
 Reason for failure:-
 Inadequate initial design
 Inadequate care & supervision during construction
 Wrong choice of materials
 Unexpected environmental conditions
 Inadequate maintenance
PRINCIPAL CHANGES IN DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION
METHODS & MATERIALS
 Since codes were introduced in the 30’s, the specified cover
to steel reinforcement has increased at each revision…
Why???
 A decline in quality of concrete?
 Improved awareness of what is required to ensure durability?
 More severe service condition?
 Trend for change to ready mixed concrete. This leads to:

 Greater consistency
 More controlled batching
 More accurate dosage of admixtures
PRINCIPAL CHANGES IN DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION
METHODS & MATERIALS
 But the use of STRENGTH to specify concrete together

with competitive market may result in CONCRETE with
LOW CEMENT contents… 28 day strength met but may
not be durable enough.
 Demand has been for a specific 28 day strength
--Assumption; Increased strength leads to Improved quality.
 Implication: Diverted attention from the real requirements
for durable concrete.
PRINCIPAL CHANGES IN DESIGN,
CONSTRUCTION METHODS & MATERIALS
 Modern CEMENT gains strength much more rapidly
than before. Implication:
 Early stripping of formwork
 Increased production rates for precast concrete
 Reduced need for prolonged curing
 Can reduce cement content
 Increased rate of hydration– offsets effects of cold weather but bad for
hot weather countries.
 Thermal cracking– higher heat of hydration
 Lower cement contents lead to reduced durability
 Smaller relative strength gain beyond 28 days
 Danger of inadequate curing for blended cements
REQUIREMENTS FOR DURABLE
CONCRETES– Must take care of 4 C’s
(1) CEMENT CONTENT

(2) COMPACTION
(3) CURING
(4) COVER
(5) PERMEABILITY
(1) CEMENT CONTENT

 Mix must be designed to ensure cohesion, & prevent
segregation and bleeding.
 If cement is reduced at a fixed w/c ratio – workability is

reduced leading to inadequate compaction.
 If water is added to improve workability,-- w/c ratio

increases – highly permeable material.
(2) COMPACTION
Must match the workability of the mix to:
 Compaction equipments to be used
 The type of formwork
 Density of steelwork
(3) CURING
 Very important to:
 Permit proper strength development

 Aid moisture retention
 Prevent steep temperature gradients
 Maintain a suitable ambient temperature – cold countries problem
 There is a need to quantify the curing which is necessary to reach

a required level of PERMEABILITY
(4) COVER
 Governs the time to onset of reinforcement corrosion
 Good quality concrete – cover limits in codes should be

adequate
 Problem: In practice cover is far less than is required
 No standard available on how COVER should be
achieved
(5) PERMEABILITY
 Most important for DURABILITY

 But NO standards for permeability
 No concrete design mixes to comply directly with
permeability requirement
 INSTEAD – if the 4 C’s are prescribed, it is assumed to
result in LOW permeability
DURABILITY – Where is the focus?
COVERCRETE – i.e Surface – Why?
 Surface stress easily observable
 Most durability problem start here
 At surface – lack of care
 The surface – area of most need of concentration of effort
– durability testing
 Hence, confirms the benefit of:
 right concrete
 full compaction
 correct cover
 essential curing
 proper care

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Concrete Durability.

 Concrete – What is it?

 More than material; a complete process

 During stiffening & Hardening state

 Hence corrosion of RC, due to changes in electro potential

Zone of generally uniform higher

Zone of poorer quality concrete

X-Section of Beam (Sitecrete or Realcrete)

Standard cube strength

Cores from structure

 Outer25mm or so– more permeable

 Trend for change to ready mixed concrete. This leads to:

 But the use of STRENGTH to specify concrete together

(1) CEMENT CONTENT

(1) CEMENT CONTENT

 If cement is reduced at a fixed w/c ratio – workability is

 If water is added to improve workability,-- w/c ratio

 Very important to:

 Permit proper strength development

 There is a need to quantify the curing which is necessary to reach

 Governs the time to onset of reinforcement corrosion

 Good quality concrete – cover limits in codes should be

 Most important for DURABILITY

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