Hygro-thermo-mechanical modeling of partially saturated air-entrained concrete containing dissolved salt and exposed to freeze-thaw cycles

Journal Article · Mon Mar 15 04:00:00 EDT 2021 · Cement and Concrete Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CEMCONRES.2020.106314· OSTI ID:23206373

Eriksson, Daniel ^[1]; Wahlbom, David ^[2]; Malm, Richard ^[1]; Fridh, Katja ^[2]

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1. Division of Concrete Structures, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Brinellvägen 23, 100 44 Stockholm (Sweden)
2. Division of Building Materials, Lund University, John Ericssons väg 1, 223 63 Lund (Sweden)

Highlights: • A model for cyclic freezing of air-entrained concrete containing salt is proposed. • The freeze-thaw hysteresis, also including the effect of dissolved salt, is modeled. • The diffusive and convective flux of salt is coupled to the freeze-thaw processes. • The freeze-thaw response of air-entrained concrete containing salt is reproduced. • Liquid absorption from reservoirs increases with an increased concentration of salt. In cold regions, understanding the freeze-thaw behavior of air-entrained concrete is important for designing durable structures and assessing the remaining service life of existing structures. This study presents a hygro-thermo-mechanical multiphase model that describes the cyclic freeze-thaw behavior of partially saturated air-entrained concrete containing dissolved salt. An equilibrium and a non-equilibrium approach are adopted to model the ice formation, including the freeze-thaw hysteresis, inside the porous network. The model also considers the diffusive and convective transport of the dissolved salt coupled to the freeze-thaw processes. Two examples are presented to verify and highlight the capabilities of the model. The first example shows that the model is capable of reproducing the experimentally observed mechanical response of specimens containing NaC1-solutions of different concentrations. In the second example, a larger absorption of liquid from an external reservoir is obtained with an increasing salt concentration in the reservoir, which is consistent with experimental observations.

• OSTI ID: 23206373
• Journal Information: Cement and Concrete Research, Journal Name: Cement and Concrete Research Vol. 141; ISSN 0008-8846; ISSN CCNRAI
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ABSORPTION
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
HYSTERESIS
LIQUIDS
POROUS MATERIALS
SALTS
SERVICE LIFE
SIMULATION
SOLUTIONS