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Democritus University of Thrace , Xanthi , Greece
Concrete is the most used construction material worldwide and material with the second greater consumption globally, just after water. However, durability of concrete is a major problem that minimizes the service life of structures. Concrete deterioration is almost always caused by reactants that penetrate the concrete matrix with water. Therefore, almost all concrete structures require protection from water. One of the most effective ways to protect concrete from the ingress of water for a lifetime interval is the use of crystalline admixtures. Their effectiveness in watertight concrete is well proven in several projects around the world. However, their influence on the long-term durability of concrete under different durability environments is not well understood. A long-term experimental program was carried out at the Building Materials Laboratory (BML) at Democritus University of Thrace to investigate the effect of crystalline admixtures in prolonging the service life of concretes. A total of 12 concrete mixtures were produced and crystalline admixtures were added in six of them. All specimens were used for the estimation of the carbonation resistance factor and the chloride migration coefficients according to the relevant European standards. These indicators were used to calculate service life of all mixtures. Results indicate that addition of crystalline admixtures enhances durability of concrete mixtures and prolongs the service life of reinforced concrete structures up to 80%.
The research presented in this paper is part of a wider research project funded by Penetron Hellas SA. This financial support is greatly acknowledged.
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