Sulphate resistance of self-compacting concrete

This article outlines a laboratory study on sulphate resistance of self-compacting concrete (SCC). For this purpose, more than 40 cylinders of concrete were subjected to a solution with sodium sulphate, sea or distilled water during 900 days. Age at start of testing was either 28 or 90 days. Weight and internal fundamental frequency (IFF) were measured. Comparison was done with the corresponding properties of vibrated concrete (VC). When cured in a solution with sodium sulphate, the results show larger loss of mass of SCC than that of VC probably due to the limestone filler content in SCC. After curing in water, sea or distilled, no such weight difference between the curing types was observe. IFF did not decrease or differ between the two types of concrete, i.e. no internal deterioration took place due to thaumasite sulphate attack (TSA) during the 900 days of exposure. The project was carried out from 1999 to 2002. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd