The mechanical properties of early aged shotcrete under internal sulfate attack

Abstract

Shotcrete is the primary material for tunnel support due to its early rapid hardening char-acteristics. During tunnel construction in a sulfate environment, the hardening law of concrete will be affected. In this study, samples were prepared at six different curing times and immersed in four different concentrations of sulfate solutions. A uniaxial test was conducted and analyzed to investi-gate the effect of sulfate attack on the mechanical properties of early aged shotcrete materials. Re-sults indicated that waterlogged shotcrete does not have apparent cracks on the outside. The stress– strain curve or ultimate compressive strength of the samples showed that the effect of sulfate on shotcrete should be differentiated into chemical and physical sulfate attacks, according to the concentration of sulfate ions. The two parameters in the equation of the hardening behaviors of sulfate attack samples, ultimate compressive strength, and time constant, are related to sulfate concentra-tion. The crack damage stress threshold of samples demonstrates that high-concentration sulfate corrosion leads to an impact on the durability of shotcrete.