An alternative methodology to predict aging effects on the mechanical properties of glass fiber reinforced cements (GRC)

The effect of three different aging methods (immersion in hot water, freeze–thaw cycles and wet–dry cycles) on the mechanical properties of GRC were studied and compared.Test results showed that immersion in hot water may be an unreliable method for modified GRC formulations, with it being in probability a very harmful procedure.A new aging method, mixing freeze–thaw cycles and wet–dry cycles, seems to be the most accurate simulation of weather conditions that produce a noticeable change in GRC mechanical properties. Future work should be carried out to find a correlation between real weather and the proposed aging method.

► Immersion in hot water is an unreliable aging method for GRC with silica fume or metakaolin.
► Freeze–thaw cycles caused damage on OPC GRC but not on GRC with silica fume or metakaolin.
► An aging method, combining freeze–thaw and wet–dry cycles reduce GRC mechanical properties.