Deterioration in concrete exposed to sodium chloride and heat-cool cycling

Abstract

Many infrastructure domains required material research as an initial phase of project development life cycle. One such futuristic domain is bridge engineering, where there is a critical need of study of environmental impact and material strength. This paper focuses on the premature deterioration of concrete infrastructures exposed to sodium chloride (NaCl) salts in the presence of thermal cycling. NaCl salts can cause damage and rapid deterioration of concrete due to physical and chemical aspects, including salt scaling, corrosion of rebars, ice and salt crystallizations and/or deleterious chemical reactions. This paper discusses how NaCl solutions can cause damage in concrete in the presence of thermal cycling and how such damage can be mitigated. This paper at-tempts to provide an advanced thermo-chemo-physical understanding of NaCl salt damage in concrete. This paper also discusses specific structural and chemical alterations during thermal cycling that are caused by NaCl to develop damage to concrete. Results indicates that the heat-cool cycling induces the formation of mirabilite (Na2SO4.10H2O) in concrete exposed to high concentrations of NaCl solution. The mirabilite formation is found to be due to the release of sulfate ions from the concrete matrix.