Investigation of chloride ingress into concrete under very early age exposure conditions

Some structures such as cast in place reinforced concrete piles and quay walls are exposed to chlorides from the moment of casting. Considering the lack of previous work on such an early age exposure, the current study was carried out. Based on an experimental study, functions describing time variations of diffusion coefficient and surface chloride values for both the normal age and very early age exposures were derived. Using these functions, the effects of very early age exposure on service life was investigated. The results show that very early age exposure considerably increases chloride penetration into concrete, reducing service life by about 34 and 13% for concrete covers of 50 and 90 mm respectively. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.