Deterioration of compressive property of concrete under simulated acid rain environment

This research was carried out to discover material property of concrete under acid rain environment quantitatively. Concrete prism samples were used in the experimental program. Ultrasonic nondestructive technique and computed tomography (CT) scanning technique, were conducted to determine damage depth of concrete. Compressive strength and elastic modulus tests were conducted to determine axial compressive strength and elastic modulus. Results of concrete corrosion depth, mass loss, compressive strength and elastic modulus were statistically analyzed and modeled. This study shows that ultrasonic testing is a reliable nondestructive method to measure the damage depth. Three damage indices corresponding to relative mass loss ratio, compressive strength variation, and elastic modulus variation are defined and calculated. The trends for the damage indices to the acidity of the solution are achieved. It is concluded that the damage index corresponding to relative compressive strength variation is more suitable for the damage description of deteriorated state of the concrete attacked by acid rain. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.