Influence of deicing salt on the surface properties of concrete specimens after 20 years

The low temperature of ice and snow all year round in Sweden leads to the common use of deicing salt to melt the roads, but the splash of the deicing salt on the reinforced concrete (RC) on both sides of the roads brings about the deterioration of the durability of RC components. The chloride ions diffusion coefficient is an important parameter to evaluate the durability of RC. By adopting the rapid chloride migration method (RCM) and replacing chloride ions with iodide ions, the samples of concrete blocks exposed on the side of the highway for 20 years were taken. This is directly beneficial to study the influence of the type, content, and water-cement ratio of mineral additions on the diffusion and distribution of iodide ions in concrete and analyze the surface environmental effect depth of concrete. The influence of chloride ions on the pore structure and microscopic morphology of concrete also were studied by scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrum and X-ray diffractometer. The results show that as the water-cement ratio increases, the surface environmental effect depth of concrete and the diffusion area of iodide ions gradually increase. Silica fume and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBF slag) have an impediment to the diffusion of iodide ions, especially with the high volume of the GGBF slag (about 50%), the diffusion of iodide ions is very low. In general, this research is helpful to provide some empirical ideas and suggestions for the manufacturing and durability design of concrete structures in marine environments or deicing salt road environments