Proceedings of the International rilem conference Materials, Systems and Structures in Civil Engineering 2016

112

International RILEM Conference on Materials, Systems and Structures in Civil Engineering 

Conference segment on Service Life of Cement-Based Materials and Structures 

22-24 August 2016, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark 

 

 

 

Figure 4: Mass loss of mortars as a function of thermal cycles  

 

 

Figure 5: Mass loss rate of mortars as a function of thermal cycles 

 

It can be seen that suggested exposure conditions combined with mass loss measurements are 

valuable methods for testing the resistance of cementitious materials to PSA. This method 

demonstrated good sensitivity that enabled precise capture of the differences in rate of 

deterioration due to PSA in mortar mixes with a wide range of w/b ratios and two different 

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113

International RILEM Conference on Materials, Systems and Structures in Civil Engineering 

Conference segment on Service Life of Cement-Based Materials and Structures 

22-24 August 2016, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark 

 

SCMs.  The results of such testing method can be used for comparison of different mixture 

designs for a construction project. In order to use the results of this type of test method for 

service life prediction, the performance of suggested concrete mixture can be compared to the 

performance of a mixture with known performance from field testing.However, it is 

impossible to mimic all possible real live scenarios of aggressive environmental conditions 

either by laboratory or by field testing. The best approach is to obtain basic properties using 

laboratory testing and use them for service life predictions by means of modeling. Further 

research is needed to extend this testing method to concretes. 

    

 

4. Conclusions 

 

Based on the presented experimental results the following conclusions can be made: 

 

 

The combination of the selected sample size and thermal cycling in 30% sodium sulfate 

solution produced exposure conditions suitable for testing of the resistance to physical 

sulfate salt attack for a wide range of mortar mixture designs. 

 

Mass loss was the most efficient and sensitive method for the evaluation of the extent of 

damage and rate of deterioration during exposure to physical sulfate salt attack. 

 

Further research is needed to extend the suggested testing method to concretes. 

 

 

References 

 

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114

International RILEM Conference on Materials, Systems and Structures in Civil Engineering 

Conference segment on Service Life of Cement-Based Materials and Structures 

22-24 August 2016, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark 

 

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