ABSTRACT
Effects of different combinations of salt concentrations in the pore solution and the surface covering solution, frost cycle design and water-cement ratio were studied in three series of salt frost resistance tests. A test method resembling the Swedish standard test method SS137244, known as The Scandinavian Slab Test, was used.
For concrete of water-cement ratio 0.40 with a moderate air content, the worst damages were observed when the salt concentration of the surface covering solution, the “outer” solution, was about 3% and no salt was present in the pores. Damages got worse the lower the minimum temperature used in the frost cycle. For concrete of water-cement ratio 0.35 without air entrainment but with 5% silica fume, no such “pessimum” concentration could be detected, a result in contradiction to what has previously been reported. In fact, damages were severe and equally severe regardless of salt concentration within the range tested; 0–5%. For concrete of water cement ratio 0.30 without air entrainment but with 10% silica fume, very moderate damages were observed no matter what salt concentration was used, 0. 3 or 4.5%. Specimens tested with salt solutions, however, showed slightly more deterioration than did specimens tested with pure water. Any effect of choice of minimum temperature was very difficult to confirm.
