A Case Study of Concrete Pavement Deterioration by Alkali-Silica Reaction in Korea

Hong, Seung-Ho,Han, Seung-Hwan,Yun, Kyong-Ku Korea Concrete Institute 2007 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.1 No.1

The concrete pavement of the Seohae Highway in Korea has suffered from serious distress, only four to seven years after construction. Deterioration due to Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR) has seldom been reported per se in Korea, because the aggregate used for the cement concrete has been considered safe against alkali-silica reaction so far. The purpose of this study is to examine the deterioration caused by an alkali-silica reaction of concrete pavement in Korea. The investigation methods included visual inspection and Automatic Road Analyzer (ARAN) analysis of surface cracks, coring for internal cracks, stereo microscopic analysis, scanning electronic microscope (SEM) analysis, and electron dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX) analysis. The results are presented as follows: the crack pattern of the concrete pavement in Korea was longitudinal cracking, map cracking or D-cracking. Local areas of damage were noticed four to five years after construction. The cracks started from edges or joints and spread out to slabs. The most intensive cracking was observed at the intersection of the transverse and longitudinal joints. Where cracking was the most intense, pieces of concrete and aggregate had spalled away from top surface and joint interface area. The progress of deterioration was very fast. The reaction product of alkali-silica gel was clearly identified by its generally colorless, white, or very pale yellow hue seen through a stereo optical microscopy. The typical locations of the reaction product were at the interface between aggregate and cement paste in a shape of a rim, within aggregate particles in the cracks, and in the large void in the cement paste. Most of the white products were found at interface or internal aggregates. SEM and EDX analysis confirmed that the white gel was a typical reaction product of ASR. The ASR gel in Korea mainly consisted of Silicate (Si) and Potassium (K) from the cement. The crack in the concrete pavement was caused by ASR. It seems that Korea is no longer safe from alkali-silica reaction.

Effect of Elevated Temperature on Mechanical Properties of Limestone, Quartzite and Granite Concrete

Tufail, Muhammad,Shahzada, Khan,Gencturk, Bora,Wei, Jianqiang Korea Concrete Institute 2017 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.11 No.1

Although concrete is a noncombustible material, high temperatures such as those experienced during a fire have a negative effect on the mechanical properties. This paper studies the effect of elevated temperatures on the mechanical properties of limestone, quartzite and granite concrete. Samples from three different concrete mixes with limestone, quartzite and granite coarse aggregates were prepared. The test samples were subjected to temperatures ranging from 25 to $650^{\circ}C$ for a duration of 2 h. Mechanical properties of concrete including the compressive and tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and ultimate strain in compression were obtained. Effects of temperature on resistance to degradation, thermal expansion and phase compositions of the aggregates were investigated. The results indicated that the mechanical properties of concrete are largely affected from elevated temperatures and the type of coarse aggregate used. The compressive and split tensile strength, and modulus of elasticity decreased with increasing temperature, while the ultimate strain in compression increased. Concrete made of granite coarse aggregate showed higher mechanical properties at all temperatures, followed by quartzite and limestone concretes. In addition to decomposition of cement paste, the imparity in thermal expansion behavior between cement paste and aggregates, and degradation and phase decomposition (and/or transition) of aggregates under high temperature were considered as main factors impacting the mechanical properties of concrete. The novelty of this research stems from the fact that three different aggregate types are comparatively evaluated, mechanisms are systemically analyzed, and empirical relationships are established to predict the residual compressive and tensile strength, elastic modulus, and ultimate compressive strain for concretes subjected to high temperatures.

Confinement Effects of High-Strength Reinforced Concrete Tied Columns

Han, Byum-Seok,Shin, Sung-Woo Korea Concrete Institute 2006 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.18 No.e2

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of transverse steel in reinforced concrete tied columns subjected to monotonically increasing axial compression. Eighteen large-scale columns($260{\times}260{\times}1,200mm$) were tested. Effects of such main variables as concrete compressive strength, configurations of transverse steel, transverse reinforcement ratio, spacing of transverse steel, and spalling of concrete cover were investigated. High-strength concrete columns under concentric axial loads show extremely brittle behavior unless the columns are confined with transverse steel that can provide sufficiently high lateral confinement pressure. A consistent decrease in the deformability of the column test specimens was observed with increasing concrete strength. Test results of this study were compared with existing confinement models of modified Kent-Park, Sheikh-Uzumeri, Mander, and Saatcioglu-Razvi. The comparison indicates many existing models to predict the behavior of confined concrete overestimate or underestimate the ductility of confined concrete.

Influence of the Quality of Recycled Aggregates on Microstructures and Strength Development of Concrete

Moon Dae-Joong,Moon Han-Young,Kim Yang-Bae Korea Concrete Institute 2004 콘크리트학회논문집 Vol.16 No.6

The quality of recycled aggregate is affected by original concrete strength and the manufacturing process of recycled aggregates. In this study, the porosity of old and new mortar, and the compressive strength of concrete were investigated to examine the influence of recycled aggregate on the concrete. Six kinds of recycled coarse aggregates were produced from concrete blocks of differing strength levels (A:60. 1MPa, B:41.7MPa, C:25.5MPa). Original concrete strength and the bond mortar of recycled aggregate influences the pore structures of both old and new mortar. The pore size distribution of old mortar was found to be greatly affected by age, and the reduction of the porosity of bond mortar on low strength recycled aggregate increased at a greater rate than that of bond mortar on high strength recycled aggregate. The pore size distribution of new mortar in recycled aggregate concrete changed in comparison with that of new mortar in virgin aggregate concrete. The total porosity of new mortar using B level recycled aggregates was smaller than that of new mortar with A, and C level recycled aggregates. Moreover, the compressive strength of recycled aggregate concrete was found to have been affected by original concrete strength. The compressive strength of concrete only changed slightly in the porosity of new mortar over $15\%$, but increased rapidly in the porosity of new mortar fewer than $15\%$.

Tensile Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete

Cho, Baik-Soon,Back, Sung-Yong,Park, Hyun-Jung Korea Concrete Institute 2000 KCI concrete journal Vol.12 No.2

Potentially significant mechanical improvements in tension can be achieved by the incorporation of randomly distributed, short discrete fibers in concrete. The improvements due to the incorporation fibers significantly influence the composite stress - strain ($\sigma$-$\varepsilon$) characteristics. In general incorporating fibers in a plain concrete has relatively small effect on its precracking behavior. It, however, alters its post-cracking behavior quite significantly, resulting in greatly improved ductility, crack controls, and energy absorption capacity (or toughness). Therefore, a thorough understanding the complete tensile stress - strain ($\sigma$-$\varepsilon$) response of fiber reinforced concrete is necessary for proper analysis while using structural components made with fiber reinforced concrete. Direct tensile stress applied to a specimen is in principle the simplest configuration for determining the tensile response of concrete. However, problems associated with testing brittle materials in tension include (i) the problem related to gripping of the specimen and (ii) the problem of ensuring centric loading. Routinely, indirect tension tests for plain concrete, flexural and split-cylinder tests, have been used as simpler alternatives to direct uniaxial tension test. They are assumed to suitable for fiber reinforced concrete since typically such composites comprise 98% by volume of plain concrete. Clearly since the post-cracking characteristics are significantly influenced by the reinforcing parameters and interface characteristics, it would be fundamentally incorrect to use indirect tensile tests for determining the tensile properties of fiber reinforced concrete. The present investigation represents a systematic look at the failure and toughening mechanisms and macroscopic stress - strain ($\sigma$-$\varepsilon$) characteristics of fiber reinforced concrete in the uniaxial tension test. Results from an experimental parametric study involving used fiber quantity, type, and mechanical properties in the uniaxial tension test are presented and discussed.

Growth of Time-Dependent Strain in Reinforced Cement Concrete and Pre-stressed Concrete Flexural Members

Debbarma, Swarup Rn.,Saha, Showmen Korea Concrete Institute 2012 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.6 No.2

This paper presents the differences in growth of time-dependent strain values in reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and pre-stressed concrete (PSC) flexural members through experiment. It was observed that at any particular age, the time-dependent strain values were less in RCC beams than in PSC beams of identical size and grade of concrete. Variables considered in the study were percentage area of reinforcement, span of members for RCC beams and eccentricity of applied pre-stress force for PSC beams. In RCC beams the time-dependent strain values increases with reduction in percentage area of reinforcement and in PSC beams eccentricity directly influences the growth of time-dependent strain. With increase in age, a non-uniform strain develops across the depth of beams which influence the growth of concave curvature in RCC beams and convex curvature in PSC beams. The experimentally obtained strain values were compared with predicted strain values of similar size and grade of plane concrete (PC) beam using ACI 318 Model Code and found more than RCC beams but less than PSC beams.

Evaluation on Steel Bar Corrosion Embedded in Antiwashout Underwater Concrete

Moon Han-Young,Shin Kook-Jae Korea Concrete Institute 2005 콘크리트학회논문집 Vol.17 No.2

This study aims the evaluation of the corrosion of steel bar embedded in antiwashout underwater concrete, which has rather been neglected to date. To that goal, accelerated steel bar corrosion tests have been performed on three series of steel bar-reinforced antiwashout underwater concrete specimens manufactured with different admixtures. The three series of antiwashout underwater concrete were: concrete constituted exclusively with ordinary portland cement (OPC), concrete composed of ordinary portland cement mixed with fly-ash in $20\%$ ratio (FA20), and concrete with ground granulated blast furnace slag mixed in $50\%$ ratio (BFS50). The environment of manufacture was in artificial seawater. Measurement results using half-cell potential surveyor showed that, among all the specimens, steel bar in OPC was the first one that exceeded the threshold value proposed by ASTM C 876 with a potential value below -350mv after 14 cycles. And, the corresponding corrosion current density and concentration of water soluble chloride were measured as $30{\mu}A/mm^2$ and $0.258\%$. On the other hand, for the other specimens that are FA20 and BFS50, potential values below -350mV were observed later at 18 and 20 cycles, respectively. Results confirmed the hypothesis that mineral admixtures may be more effective on delay the development of steel bar corrosion in antiwashout underwater concrete.

Optimum PP Fiber Dosage for the Control of Spalling of High Strength Reinforced Concrete Columns

Yoo, Suk-Hyeong,Shin, Sung-Woo,Kim, In-Ki Korea Concrete Institute 2006 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.18 No.e2

Spalling is defined as damages to concrete exposed to high temperature during fire, causing cracks and localized bursting of small pieces of concrete. As the concrete strength increases, the degree of damage caused by spalling becomes more serious due to impaired permeability. It is reported that polypropylene(PP) fiber has an important role in protecting concrete from spalling, and the optimum dosage of PP fiber is 0.2%. However, this study was conducted on non-reinforced concrete specimens. The high-temperature behavior of high-strength reinforced concrete columns with various concrete strength and various quantity of PP fibers is investigated in this study. The results revealed that the ratio of unstressed residual strength of columns increased as the concrete strength increased and as the quantity of PP fiber increased from 0% to 0.2%. However, the effect of PP fiber quantity on residual strength of column was barely above 0.2%.

Impact Echo Test for the Dynamic Characteristics of a Vibration-Mitigated Concrete Structure

Chung, Young-Soo,Park, Young-Goo Korea Concrete Institute 2002 KCI concrete journal Vol.14 No.1

Recent construction activities have given rise to civil petitions associated with vibration-induced damages or nuisances. To mitigate unfavorable effects of construction activities, the measures to reduce or isolate from vibration need to be adopted. In this research, a vibration-mitigated concrete, which is one of the active measures for reducing vibration in concrete structures, was investigated. Concrete was mixed with vibration-reducing materials (i.e. latex, rubber power, plastic resin, and polystyrofoam) to reduce vibration and tested to evaluate dynamic material properties and structural characteristics. Normal and high strength concrete specimens with a certain level of damage were also tested for comparisons. In addition, recycling tires and plastic materials were added to produce a vibration-reducing concrete. A total of 32 concrete bars and eight concrete beams were tested to investigate the dynamic material properties and structural characteristics. Wave measurements on concrete bars showed that vibration-mitigated concrete has larger material damping ratio than normal or high strength concrete. Styrofoam turned out to be the most effective vibration-reducing mixture. Flexural vibration tests on eight flexural concrete beams also revealed that material damping ratio of the concrete beams is much smaller than structural damping ratio for all the cases.

Theoretical Determination of Transfer Length in Pretensioned Members Using Thick Cylinder Theory

Oh, Byung-Hwan,Kim, Eui-Sung Korea Concrete Institute 2000 KCI concrete journal Vol.12 No.2

The extensive usage of pretensioned prestressed concrete component in modem construe- tion as structural members mandates precise understanding of its mechanism. Especially, an adequate transfer of prestressing force from steel tendons to concrete around the end regions of the member is a critical issue. Due to the importance of the topic, several investigators have formulated equations modeling the transfer bond length based on various bonding mechanism between steel and concrete. However, the existing models are still inadequate in predicting the bond development in pretensioned prestressed concrete members. Therefore, this study presents a model of transfer bond length based on rational theory that can simulate experimental results. The model is developed into solid mechanics based structural analysis computer program. The program is validated by comparing the analysis results with experimental results of bond stress distribution, concrete strain profiles, and transfer length in pretensioned prestressed concrete members. The proposed analytical procedure in this study can be utilized as a useful tool for realistic evaluation of transfer length in pretensioned prestressed concrete members.