Bulk Hydrophobic Civil Engineering Concrete for Nordic Conditions : Freeze Thaw Action

Concrete is a composite building material which long term function can be modified for example by changing the water to cement ratio (w/c) or by adding in other chemical admixtures to change the fresh and hardened properties of the concrete. The overall goal of this study is to reduce the water absorption capacity of the cement paste/microstructure by at least 85 %. This is achieved by using bulk hydrophobic agents in the mixing phase rather than post hardened surface application. Numerous commercial agents and vegetable oils were tested and showed promising results at a dosage equal to 3% of cement weight. This though affected compressive strengths negatively. As these concretes will be exposed to Nordic winter conditions, the concrete should perform well under repeated salt water freezing and thawing. This continued study will show how a selection of these bulk hydrophobic concretes performed during this part of the study. The concrete has a w/c = 0.4 with a cement content (CEM I) of 430 kg/m3.QC 20191008