Title:
Manufacture of Concrete Test Panels and their Performance after Seven Years of Exposure in Arctic Marine Environment
Author(s):
V. M. Malhotra, M. H. Zhang, and S. L. Sarkar
Publication:
Materials Journal
Volume:
97
Issue:
2
Appears on pages(s):
99-107
Keywords:
abrasion resistance; compressive strength; concretes; flexural strength; fly ash; microstructure; modulus of elasticity; silica fume.
DOI:
10.14359/811
Date:
3/1/2000
Abstract:
In 1986, as a part of CANMET’s ongoing program to study the long-term durability of concrete in marine environment, 12 concrete panels, each 3.7 m long, were installed at a site at Nanisivik (latitude 73 degrees North), Baffin Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Six of the panels were made with normalweight aggregate concrete, and the other six panels were made with concrete incorporating expanded shale lightweight aggregate. Other variables in the concrete mixtures included steel fibers, and the replacement of portland cement by fly ash, slag, silica fume, or a combination of fly ash and silica fume. The cement replacement levels used ranged from 10% for silica fume to 50% for ground granulated blast-furnace slag. The water-cementitious materials ratio of all these concretes ranged from 0.37 to 0.42. The compressive and flexural strengths and modulus of elasticity were determined. The concrete panels were examined in 1989, after 3 yr of exposure, and in 1993, after 7 yr of exposure. Both the visual examination of the panels at Nanisivik and the microstructure examination of the cores taken from the panels indicate that, regardless of the type of concrete used, all the panels are in good to excellent condition after 7 yr of very severe exposure, which included freezing and thawing cycling, ice abrasion, ice impact, and sea water attack.