Surface and internal deterioration of concrete due to saline and non-saline freeze–thaw loads

Concrete deterioration due to frost action in non-saline and saline environments was studied statistically. The most significant variables affecting the freeze–thaw durability of concrete were calculated statistically and contours of estimated response surface were produced. Water–cement ratio and air content of the concretes were the most dominant variables affecting the internal and surface damage caused by the freezing and thawing loads. In the non-saline environment, water curing improved the R2 values of the developed deterioration models in the surface scaling part of the tests. In the internal damage tests, the curing measures did not improve the statistical relevancy of the estimated response surfaces. In the saline freeze–thaw tests, high-strength concretes were studied. When water–binder ratio was below 0.42 internal deterioration was the governing freeze–thaw damage mechanism which needed larger air content compared to surface scaling.