Title:
Recommendations for Unified Durability Guidance in ACI Documents
Author(s):
Anthony Bentivegna;Thano Drimalas;Kimberley E. Kurtis;Jason H. Ideker;Michael D.A. Thomas;Scott H. Smith;Krishna Siva Teja Chopperla
Publication:
CRC
Volume:
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
Keywords:
concrete,design,durability,ACI,documents,corrosion,resistance,freezing-thawing,resistance,sulfate,
DOI:
Date:
7/20/2020
Abstract:
The concrete design and construction industry needs uniform guidance on durability
recommendations across ACI documents. As part of the preparation for this proposal, five ACI
documents, where discrepancies exist, were examined: ACI 201.2R-16, 222R-19, 301-16, 318-
19, 350.5-12, and 350-06 [1-6]. These five documents contain the main guidance that informs
our current concrete design and building practice regarding durability requirements and exposure
category descriptions. Unfortunately, there is disagreement between these documents in
providing 1) allowable chloride limits in new concrete for corrosion resistance; 2) water to
cementitious material ratio (w/cm), strength requirements and air content (volume %) for
freezing-thawing resistance; and 3) w/cm and strength requirements for resistance to sulfate
attack. Further complicating matters there is no standard language to define the various exposure
category descriptions for each deterioration mechanism. A systematic and rigorous statistical
analysis of existing data is anticipated to provide an excellent resource to establish unified
guidance by the aforementioned ACI Committees. This effort would represent an important
clarification to our current code and guidance documents and would be a welcome and needed
advancement for the concrete design and construction industry.
Existing concrete durability data from field exposure sites, published literature, and Army Corps
of Engineers infrastructure evaluations were analyzed to make recommendations on unified
durability limits and exposure category descriptions. Project outcomes include: 1)
Recommendations to ACI Committees 201, 222, 301, 318, and 350 on unified durability
requirements and exposure category descriptions; 2) Identification of knowledge gaps and future
studies to address deficiencies in existing data sets; and 3) A detailed research methodology that
leverages modern field performance and lab testing to inform the development of performancebased
standards. Furthermore, the completed work details the need for improved test methods to
further validate the reliability of specified mixture proportions and material parameters for
durability.