Influence of air-void system parameters on freeze-thaw resistance of pavement concrete - Lessons learned from field and laboratory observations

Abstract

Recently, several relatively newly constructed concrete pavements located in Indiana have experienced deterioration near both longitudinal and transverse joints. The results obtained from the preliminary examination of the cores extracted from these pavements suggested that the observed damage in vicinity of the joints was likely caused by freeze-thaw (F-T) process. The present study was undertaken in an attempt to relate the observed joint conditions and laboratory determined freeze-thaw resistance of concrete extracted from near-joint locations to its air-void system parameters determined by ASTM C 457 procedures. It was confirmed that for a range of concretes with different compositions the air content alone may not be a reliable indicator of freeze-thaw resistance of either field or laboratory concrete. In contrast, the other air-void system parameters (void frequency, specific surface and spacing factor) appeared to correlate well with both field and laboratory F-T performance. However, the critical values of void frequency and spacing factor required to ensure F-T resistance were found to be much more stringent for laboratory test than for field exposure conditions. This implies that, due to its severity, the accelerated (ASTM C 666-type) freeze-thaw test can only provide a very general indication of the actual field performance of moisture saturated concrete.