Experimental and Numerical Investigation on the Effect of Cooling/Heating Rate on the Freeze-Thaw Behavior of Mortar Containing Deicing Salt Solution

Published

June 3, 2015

Author(s)

Yaghoob Farnam, Hadi S. Esmaeeli, Dale P. Bentz, Pablo Zavattieri, Jason Weiss

Abstract

In North America, some concrete pavements and sidewalks have shown severe damage during freezing. Research has been performed to better understand the cause of damage. A test method (called longitudinal guarded comparative calorimeter (LGCC)) has been developed to assess the damage. This paper discusses the influence of rate at which the temperature of a concrete element is decreased on the damage that develops in the LGCC test. Different cooling/heating rates were applied to freeze/thaw mortar specimens containing different concentrations of NaCl deicing salt. The heat flow and phase changes were monitored during the test. Damage development was determined using ultrasonic wave speed. It was observed that the rate of cooling/heating can alter the freeze-thaw damage as does the concentration of the solution in the pores (NaCl). A finite difference model was also used to describe how different cooling/heating rates may influence the test. The results obtained from numerical simulation were in good agreement with experimental results.

Proceedings Title

International Conference on the Regeneration and Conservation of Concrete Structures (RCCS)

Conference Dates

June 1-3, 2015

Conference Location

Nagasaki, JP

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

cementitious material, deicing salt, freeze-thaw, heating/cooling rate, mortar, thermal behavior

Citation

Farnam, Y. , Esmaeeli, H. , Bentz, D. , Zavattieri, P. and Weiss, J. (2015), Experimental and Numerical Investigation on the Effect of Cooling/Heating Rate on the Freeze-Thaw Behavior of Mortar Containing Deicing Salt Solution, International Conference on the Regeneration and Conservation of Concrete Structures (RCCS), Nagasaki, JP, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=918015 (Accessed October 14, 2025)