Transport Properties of Self-Consolidating Concrete

The permeability of concrete is influenced by the porosity and the interconnectivity of the pores in the cement paste and the microcracks in concrete, especially, in the interface of paste-aggregate. The movements of gases, liquids, and ions through concrete is important because of their interactions with concrete constituents, including pore water. which can alter the integrity of concrete directly and indirectly leading to the deterioration of structures. This study reports the findings from an investigation carried out to study the effect of the mixture variations on the durability of medium- and high-strength self-consolidating concrete (SCC). The mixture variations studied include the type of mineral admixtures, such as limestone powder (LSP) and pulverized fuel ash (PFA), and viscosity-modifying admixtures (VMA) for both medium- and high-strength SCC. Air permeability, water permeability,, capillary absorption, and chloride diffusivity were used to assess the durability of SCC mixtures in comparison with normal, vibrated concretes. The results showed that SCC mixtures, for medium- and high-strength grades using PFA followed by LSP hive lower permeability, properties compared with normal concretes. SCC made with VMA had a higher sorptivity, air permeability, and water permeability compared with other SCC mixtures, which can be attributed to higher water-cement ratio (w/c) and lack of pore filling effect. An in-place migration coefficient was obtained using the in-place ion migration test. This was used to compare the potential diffusivity of different concretes. The results indicated that SCC, for both grades of strength, made with PFA showed much lower diffusivity values in comparison with other mixtures, whereas the SCC mixtures with VMA showed higher diffusivity.