Strength and corrosion properties of Portland cement mortar and concrete with mineral admixtures

This work aims to validate the design assumptions by the California Department of Transportation in order to better define the strategies used to design concrete structures with adequate corrosion mitigation and thus a “maintenance-free” service life. To this end, various laboratory tests were conducted to investigate the compressive strength of and chloride diffusivity in mortar and concrete samples with cement partially replaced by various minerals (class F and class N fly ash, ultra-fine fly ash, silica fume, metakaolin, and ground granulated blast-furnace slag), the porosity of mineral concretes, the freeze–thaw resistance of mineral mortars in the presence of deicers, and the effect of supplementary cementitious materials on the chloride binding and chemistry of the pore solution in mortar.

► We conduct accelerated Cl− migration test of mortar and concrete with mineral admixtures. ► We test mechanical properties and deicer scaling of mortar and concrete, etc. ► The concrete mixes feature very low chloride diffusivity (Ds. ∼ 10−13 m2/s). ► The Ds. was largely determined by coarse aggregates (vs. mineral admixtures). ► This highlights the importance of processes and procedures in new construction.