Evaluation of Environmental Degradation of Concrete in Cold Regions

Freezing-thawing damage is a major degradation mechanism for concrete structures in cold regions. This damage becomes more severe when coupled with deicing salts application. This paper presents results of an experimental study on the evaluation of concrete damage when exposed to freezing-thawing cycles and salt application in a programmable environmental chamber. The induced damage based on the degradation of the dynamic modulus of elasticity was evaluated by two non-destructive testing methods: pulse velocity and resonant frequency methods. This exposure condition resulted in a substantial deterioration in concrete, which was captured by the two methods. Two sets of concrete mixes were investigated, one had the same w/c ratio but different aggregate content, and the second had the same aggregate content but different w/c ratios. Quantification of environmental deterioration is important for the evaluation of concrete performance and service life prediction models.