The Action of Frost on Cement and Cement Mortar, Together with Other Experiments on These Materials

This paper describes in detail a series of experiments, extending over the past two years, made by the writers, in order to ascertain: The effects of frost, and alternate frost and thaw, on the tensile strength of cement and cement mortar when mixed with—(a) fresh water, cold or warm, (b) sea-water; The temperature below which it is detrimental to mix Portland cement concrete; The effects produced by immersing concrete in—(a) fresh water, hard or soft, (b) sea-water; Absorption of water by (dry) cement; Quantity of water required to be added to cement to produce complete hardening. The results of these experiments are not only interesting, but should prove of value to engineers generally.