Evaluation of the Stiffness Damage Test (SDT) as a tool for assessing damage in concrete due to alkali-silica reaction (ASR): Input parameters and variability of the test responses

The Stiffness Damage Test (SDT) is an interesting tool for assessing damage in concrete affected by alkali-silica reaction (ASR). It has been found that the use of a fixed loading over the test limits its ability to reliably appraise the distress level of concrete samples, mainly when different concrete strengths and aggregate types are used. However, there is currently very limited data on the influence of various input parameters on the test responses. This paper thus presents a critical evaluation of several input parameters of the SDT. Parameters such as the core's environmental conditions, the samples' characteristics and the samplés conditioning history seem to influence significantly the cyclic test output results. Otherwise, different types of surface preparation and the specimens' size (i.e. specimens' diameter) did not seem to clearly modify the test analyses.