1-s2.0-S0008884602007469-main.pdf

Interaction between loading, freeze–thaw cycles, and chloride salt attack of concrete with and without steel fiber reinforcement Ru Mua,*, Changwen Miaoa, Xin Luob, Wei Sunb aJiangsu Institute of Building Science, No. 12, Beijing Road (w), Nanjing 210008, People’s Republic of China bDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, People’s Republic of China Received 12 April 2001; accepted 15 January 2002 Abstract In this paper, the deterioration of concrete subjected to the combined action of four-point bending—loading, freeze– thaw cycles, and chloride salt attack—is discussed. Test results show that concrete tested in chloride salt solution scaled much more severely than in fresh water, and its weight loss in chloride salt solution was twice that in water. However, dynamic modulus of elasticity (DME) of concrete in chloride salt solution dropped more slowly than that in water due to supercooling resulting from chloride salt. It is also shown that the degradation process of concrete simultaneously exposed to loading, freeze– thaw cycles, and chloride salt attack was significantly accelerated. The higher the stress ratio exerted, the lesser the freeze– thaw cycles that concrete could resist and, consequently, the shorter the service life. When a relatively high steel fiber content is introduced (1.5 vol.%), the deterioration process of concrete subjected to the three damaging processes is considerably reduced. D 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Chloride; Durability; Fiber reinforcement; Freezing and thawing 1. Introduction The evaluation of durability and service life is often important and complicated in concrete applications. The deterioration of concrete resulting from a single damaging process (such as freeze–thaw cycles) does not seem to be consistent with the actual environment where concrete structures are exposed. It has been noted that the deteriora- tion of concrete is accelerated when it is e