Analysis of the Impact of Deicing Salts on Transport Properties of Concrete – Preliminary Results

Abstract

The ingress of deicing chemical solutions into the pore system of hardened concrete can profoundly affect its physical and chemical properties. It is a known fact that salt solutions are highly conductive in comparison with pure water and as a result when they penetrate into concrete they alter its electrical resistivity as well as other transport properties. In this study, the influence of three deicing salts on transport properties measured in four different ways: (1) surface resistivity (SR), (2) rapid chloride permeability (RCPT), (3) sorptivity, and (4) apparent chloride diffusion, of specimens exposed to sodium chloride, calcium chloride, and magnesium chloride is investigated. The feasibility of using these test methods to evaluate in service structures is discussed. It was observed that transport properties, measured by the several test methods, appear to be influenced by different factors when in presence of salts. There is a correlation between SR and RCPT, but in these preliminary results there is no good correlation between the other tests.