Chloride penetration resistance of concrete: an examination and comparison of short-term testing methods.

Abstract

Permeability is an important property to consider when designing concrete for long service lives but unfortunately requires long-term testing to be accurately measured. Short-term test methods to estimate permeability such as rapid chloride permeability (RCP), bulk resistivity (BR), and surface resistivity (SR) have therefore been developed. In this study, three short-term test methods are performed, and the results compared, RCP testing is performed using accelerated curing to determine whether testing can be shortened, and the effects of SCMs on results are examined. It was observed that all three test methods had strong positive correlations with one another. RCP testing performed on specimens subjected to an accelerated-curing regime for 28 days had a strong positive correlation with specimens that were cured in standard conditions for 91 days. The addition of SCMs improves concrete permeability; the beneficial effect of SCMs increases with the maturity of the concrete.