DURABILITY OF PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE DETERMINED BY PRIMARY DIRECTIONAL FREEZING AND UNIFORM THAWING

AN AUTOMATIC FREEZING AND THAWING CABINET SIMILAR TO A COMMERCIAL LOCKER PLANT QUICK-FREEZE CABINET WAS EQUIPPED WITH HORIZONTAL FREEZER PLATES. CONCRETE BEAMS WERE PLACED DIRECTLY ON THE FREEZER PLATES AND FROZEN. THAWING OF THE BEAMS WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE INTRODUCTION OF STEAM INTO A SYSTEM WHICH CONTINUOUSLY CIRCULATED AIR OVER THE BEAMS IN THE CABINET. THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR WAS 70 F. DURING THE THAWING CYCLE, AND THE MINIMUM PLATE TEMPERATURE DURING THE FREEZING CYCLE WAS -30 F. TIME-TEMPERATURE RELATIONS ARE PRESENTED FOR 3-BY 4-BY 16-IN. CONCRETE BEAMS IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE PLATES AND ALSO WITH THE BEAMS LOCATED AT DIFFERENT HEIGHTS ABOVE THE PLATES. THE INVESTIGATION DEVELOPED A FREEZING AND THAWING TEST IN WHICH FIVE CYCLES OF PRIMARY DIRECTIONAL FREEZING AND UNIFORM THAWING WERE PRODUCED EACH DAY. THE EFFECT OF PRIMARY DIRECTIONAL FREEZING ON 3- BY 4-BY 16-IN. CONCRETE BEAMS CURED FOR 7 DAYS AND ALSO FOR BEAMS CURED FOR 28 DAYS ARE SHOWN. LENGTH CHANGE, SONIC MODULUS, FLEXURAL STRENGTH, AND COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH WERE DETERMINED AT FIVE CYCLE INTERVALS. THE DATA INDICATE THAT THE PRIMARY DIRECTIONAL FREEZING AND UNIFORM THAWING IS A RAPID AND SEVERE TEST AND THAT MORE UNIFORM RESULTS CAN BE OBTAINED BY USING BEAMS WHICH HAVE BEEN CURED FOR A MINIMUM OF 28 DAYS, THAN BY BEAMS WHICH HAVE BEEN CURED ONLY 7 DAYS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/28/28-018.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 28, pp 218-232, 14 FIG, 6 TAB. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Bollen, R E
  • Woods, K B
• Publication Date: 1949

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board Held at Washington, D.C. December 7-10, 1948
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 28
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Beams; Compressive strength; Concrete; Concrete curing; Durability; Flexural strength; Freeze thaw tests; Portland cement concrete
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00213939
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Oct 3 1971 12:00AM