News Detail

Durable Concrete

12/6/2016

Physical salt attack on concrete residential foundation. Scaling of the concrete surface resulted from sodium sulfate in the soil pore water. The salt accumulated behind a paint coating on the stem wall (Haynes and Bassuoni 2011)

Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world. The design, detailing, and execution of concrete to resist weathering action, chemical attack, abrasion, and other processes of deterioration over its intended service life determines its durability.

Durable concrete can retain its original form, quality, and serviceability when exposed to its environment. Properly designed, proportioned, transported, placed, finished, and cured concrete is capable of providing decades of service with little or no maintenance. Yet certain conditions or environments exist that can lead to concrete deterioration.

The new ACI 201.2R-16 Guide to Durable Concrete discusses the important mechanisms of concrete deterioration and gives recommendations on how to mitigate or minimize such damage. The guide also addresses durability by first discussing the importance of mass transport and then addressing specific modes of attack in separate chapters.

Significant updates to ACI 201.2 include chapters which have been updated to reflect new information on Alkali-Aggregate Reactions, and Freezing and Thawing of concrete. New chapters have been created on Sulfate Attack; Chemical Attack; Physical Salt Attack; and Mass Transport.

The type and severity of deterioration of a given structure may be affected by its proximity to sources of deleterious agents or agents that facilitate distress, exposure to wind, precipitation, or temperature. For instance, exterior girders in a bridge structure may be exposed to a more aggressive environment than interior girders. The concept of service life is increasingly used for the design of new structures. These topics are discussed in the new 201.2 document.

More ACI Resources on Durability.

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