STAR 211-PAE Performance of Cement-Based Materials in Aggressive Aqueous Environments

476 Pages·2013·22.99 MB·English

STAR 211‐PAE
Performance of Cement‐Based Materials
in Aggressive Aqueous Environments

This publication has been published by Springer in
2013, ISBN 978-94-007-5413-3.
This STAR report is available at the following
address:

http://www.springer.com/engineering/civil+engineering/book/978‐94‐007‐5412‐6

Please note that the following PDF file, offered by
RILEM, is only a final draft approved by the
Technical Committee members and the editors.
No correction has been done to this final draft
which is thus crossed out with the mention
"unedited version" as requested by Springer.
Preface

Concrete and cement-based materials are the most widely used building
materials globally, finding application in such diverse situations as
buildings of all kinds, civil engineering structures, water supply and
drainage infrastructure, agro-industrial infrastructure, transport
infrastructure, and so on. Concrete is economical and watertight,
provides good mechanical strength, ensures good thermal inertia, and
conforms to the health standards imposed by industry, making it a
material of choice for many applications. However, many of the
environments to which concrete is exposed are highly aggressive due to
various chemical and/or biological components, and the demands made
on concrete to perform in such environments are likely to grow
substantially in years to come as the built infrastructure expands and
environmental pollution increases. These environments are often
aqueous in nature, comprising natural environments such as soft waters,
sea waters or ground waters, or man-made such as industrial
environments, and treated water or wastewater and polluted
environments.
In such environments, concrete is subjected to processes of degradation
involving ion addition and exchange reactions, leading to breakdown of
the matrix microstructure and weakening of the material. Sometimes this
can be extremely rapid and serious such as in acidic environments, while
in other cases degradation of the concrete matrix occurs over long
periods, for example in mild or soft waters. However, in almost all cases,
the scale of the problem means that the consequences are severe.
Concrete failure can adversely affect the well-being of human
communities and disturb ecological balances. There are also large direct
costs from the need to maintain and sometimes replace deteriorated
infrastructure, and indirect costs linked with suspension of production or
reduction in transport mobility during maintenance work. This all places a
great burden on society.
With these problems in mind, RILEM Technical Committee TC 211-PAE1
was formed in 2005. Its aim was to address performance of cement-
based materials in aggressive aqueous environments, where the main
form of degradation relates to hydrate alteration and transformation of
mineralogy by ion exchange between the material and the environment,
involving mass exchanges. One of the TC’s objectives was to consider the
scientific nature of the problem. Another objective was to attempt to
provide engineering approaches for addressing these problems in
practice. The TC had the ambitious aim of seeking to furnish an
understanding of concrete performance over a broad range of
environments in terms of fundamental mechanisms and processes. It
sought to provide a generic framework for these processes, as well as
guidelines for material selection and precautionary measures for
adequate performance in aggressive environments. Construction and
design standards were recognized as important. The TC took a critical
approach to existing standards, with a view to providing a framework
within which improved standards and guidelines could be written. The
work of the technical committee has addressed many of these aims.
Focus of TC
The focus of the TC’s work was on three main groups of aggressive
waters:
1. Moderate to highly saline waters (other than marine waters), e.g.
sulfate-bearing waters, magnesium-bearing waters.
2. Soft or acidic waters, e.g. pure natural waters, organic waters,
drainage effluents such as sewers, acidic waters of various origins
(inorganic and organic acids).
3. Marine waters (but with chloride ingress not being a major focus)
There was a lesser focus on highly aggressive industrial effluents. The
approach was to recognise that all aqueous environments are aggressive

1 Performance of cement-based materials in aggressive aqueous environments
to cement-based materials to a certain degree; therefore aqueous
solutions should be considered as part of a continuum from pure (ion-
free) waters to highly saline solutions, with intervening solutions of
various salinities and ionic constituents. Indeed, some less saline
solutions may be more aggressive than more highly saline solutions. In
addition, the mobility of waters in regard to the attacked structures is
important. While the scope of aggressive environments considered was
fairly broad, certain deterioration aspects were specifically excluded from
the work, such as rebar corrosion (extensively covered in other RILEM
Technical Committees), alkali-aggregate reaction, and physical and
cavitational damage.
RILEM TC 211-PAE met as a Committee for the first time in September
2005. Since then the committee has held several meetings and organised
two public events: an International Workshop in Ghent in September
20072, and a Conference in Toulouse in June 20093. Both of these events
yielded valuable Proceedings which have contributed to this STAR report.
Numerous informal communications have, of course, been held over the
years between members of the TC.
This State-of-the-Art Report (STAR) is the compilation of the work of
multiple authors who worked in groups to produce the needed
knowledge and information. Four Working Groups were organised, each
tackling a different aspect:
1. Nature of degradation and deterioration mechanisms, including
kinetics, of cement-based materials and different cementitious

2 Proceedings of the RILEM TC 211-PAE Workshop, Ghent, September 2007. Ed. N De
Belie
3 Proceedings of the RILEM TC 211-PAE Final Conference, Toulouse, June 2009.
(2 volumes, 598pp. ISBN 978-2-35158-071-4). Eds. M.G. Alexander & A. Bertron
systems in aggressive aqueous environments, considering the
compositions of real environments.
2. Modelling of deterioration and Service Life Modelling in such
environments.
3. Test methods to assess performance of cement-based materials
in such environments, which can be used to characterise and rate
relative performance as well as to inform long term predictions.
4. Engineering implications and consequences of deterioration in
aggressive aqueous environments, and engineering approaches
to the problem.
Details of TC members are given at the end of this Preface. Members of
the Working Groups are indicated in the following table. Each group
comprised Contributing and Associate members, allowing coordination
and cross-referencing between the various working groups.

Working group Contributing members Associate members
1. Nature of the problem: Convenors: A. Bertron, K. Scrivener
Characterisation and
F. Glasser N. De Belie
degradation aspects
J. Duchesne D. Hooton
G. Escadeillas B. Lothenbach
E. Menéndez
M. Santhanam
T. Matschei
2. Modeling Convenor: E. Samson F. Glasser
P. Le Bescop
B. Lothenbach
K. Snyder
E. Guillon
3. Test methods Convenor: N. De Belie P. Le Bescop
1. Bertron C. Fourie
M. Castellote
K. Scrivener
D. Hooton
M. Alexander
M. Santhanam
K. Van Tittelboom
Q. Yuan
2. Engineering Convenor: A. Chatterjee M. Alexander
A. Goyns C. Fourie

Each Working Group contributed a Part to the STAR report, which thus
has four Parts. Parts I and III comprise multiple chapters, while Parts II
and IV have one chapter each, giving a total of 16 chapters. The main
contributing authors are acknowledged at the start of each chapter.
Chapter drafts underwent a review process by other assigned members of
the TC. These reviewers are also acknowledged in each chapter. The Part
and Chapter titles are as follows:
Part I. Mechanisms of degradation of cementitious materials in
aggressive aqueous environments
1. General introduction to Part I
2. Sulfate attack of concrete
3. Magnesium attack of cementitious materials in marine
environments
4. Leaching of cementitious materials by pure water and strong
acids (HCl and HNO )
3
5. Ammonium nitrate attack on cementitious materials
6. Attack of cementitious materials by organic acids in agricultural
and agrofood effluents
Part II. Modeling degradation of cementitious materials in aggressive
aqueous environments
7. Modeling degradation of cementitious materials in aggressive
aqueous environments
Part III. Methods for testing concrete degradation in aggressive aqueous
environments
8. General considerations
9. Tests for leaching and degradation in soft or carbonated waters
10. Test methods for resistance of concrete to sulfate attack – a
critical review
11. Testing for degradation by inorganic acids
12. Bacteriogenic sulfuric acid attack of cementitious materials in
sewage systems
13. Test methods for chloride transport in concrete
14. Test methods for magnesium attack
15. Methods for testing cementitious materials exposed to organic
acids
Part IV. Cementitious materials performance in aggressive aqueous
environments – engineering perspectives
16. Cementitious materials performance in aggressive aqueous
environments – engineering perspectives

I wish to acknowledge with sincere gratitude the Convenors of the
Working Groups for facilitating the work of their groups. I also wish to
acknowledge the contributions of the members of the working groups. All
these individuals have contributed large amounts of time and effort in
drafting what is hoped will be a valuable addition to the literature in this
area.
I wish specifically to acknowledge the tremendous assistance and efforts
of my co-editors: Dr Alexandra Bertron and Prof Nele De Belie. They have
gone well beyond the call of duty in ensuring an excellent outcome to the
STAR, besides acting as convenors of their own working groups. I am
much obliged to them!

Prof Mark G Alexander (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Chair of RILEM Technical Committee TC-211 PAE
Editors: M. G. Alexander (1), A. Bertron (2), N. De Belie (3)
(1) Department of Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town, Cape Town,
South Africa
(2) Université de Toulouse; UPS-INSA; LMDC (Laboratoire Matériaux et
Durabilité des Constructions); 135, avenue de Rangueil; F-31 077
Toulouse Cedex 04, France
(3) Magnel Laboratory for Concrete Research, Department of Structural
Engineering, Ghent University, Technologiepark - Zwijnaarde 904, B-9052
Ghent, Belgium
RILEM TC 211-PAE Members
Prof Mark Alexander (Chair). Department of Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town, PO
Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa. Email: [email protected]
Dr Eric Samson (Secretary). SIMCO Technologies Inc., 1400 Boul. du Parc Technologique, Suite
203, Québec (Qc), Canada, G1P 4R7. Email: [email protected]
Dr Alexandra Bertron. Université de Toulouse, UPS-INSA, LMDC (Laboratoire Matériaux et
Durabilité des Constructions), 135, Avenue de Rangueil, 31077 Toulouse Cedex 4 – France.
Email: [email protected]
Dr Marta Castellote. Instituto Eduardo Torroja, C/ Serrano Galvache, 4. 28033 Madrid, Spain.
Email: [email protected]
Dr Anjan Chatterjee. Conmat Technologies Private Limited, CF 318, Sector 1, Salt Lake, Kolkata
700064, India. Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Prof Nele De Belie. Magnel Laboratory for Concrete Research, Ghent University,
Technologiepark Zwijnaarde 904, B-9052 Ghent, Belgium. Email: [email protected]
Prof Josée Duchesne. Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, CRIB, Université
Laval, Québec, Canada G1K 7P4. Email : [email protected]
Prof Gilles Escadeillas, Université de Toulouse, UPS-INSA, LMDC (Laboratoire Matériaux et
Durabilité des Constructions), 135, Avenue de Rangueil, 31077 Toulouse Cedex 4 – France.
Email: [email protected]
Prof Fred Glasser. University of Aberdeen, King's College, Engineering & Physical Sciences
School, Chemistry, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK . Email: [email protected]
Mr Alaster Goyns. PIPES Consultancy, PO Box 12519, Clubview, 0014, South Africa. Email:
[email protected]
Dr Emmanuel Guillon. Lafarge Centre de Recherches, 95 rue Montmurier, BP 15, F-38291 Saint-
Quentin Fallavier, France. Email: [email protected]
Prof Doug Hooton. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, 35 St George St,
Toronto, Ont., Canada M5S 1A4. Email: [email protected]
Dr Patrick Le Bescop. CEA, DEN, DPC, SECR, Laboratoire d’Etude du Comportement des Bétons
et des Argiles, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France. Email: [email protected]
Dr Barbara Lothenbach. EMPA, Ueberlandstrasse 129, CH-8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland
Email: [email protected]
Dr Esperanza Menéndez. Instituto Eduardo Torroja, C/ Serrano Galvache, 4. 28033 Madrid,
Spain. Email: [email protected]
Dr Manu Santhanam. Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, India.
Email: [email protected]
Prof Karen Scrivener. Laboratory of Construction Materials, EPFL, CH-1015 Lausanne,
Switzerland. Email: [email protected]
Dr Kenneth A. Snyder. NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Bldg 226, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8615, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Student Member
Ms Kim Van Tittelboom. Magnel Laboratory for Concrete Research, Ghent University,
Technologiepark Zwijnaarde 904, B-9052 Ghent, Belgium.
Email: [email protected]
Corresponding member
Mr Clyde Fourie. 1 Yarrow Rd., Milnerton, 7441 Cape Town, South Africa.
Email: [email protected]
Contributors
Dr Thomas Matschei. Research and Development (Holcim Group Support Ltd.), Holderbank,
Switzerland. Email: [email protected]
(T. Matschei was an author in Part I but not formally a member of the TC.)
Dr Q Yuan. School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, 22 Shaoshan Nan Lu, 410075,
Changsha, China. Email: [email protected]