DURABILITY OF

CONCRETE
Definition –
• A durable concrete is one that performs satisfactorily in the
working environment during its anticipated exposure
conditions during service (IS 456-2000)
• Durability of concrete is its ability to resist weathering action,
chemical attack, abrasion or any other process of
deterioration (American Concrete Institute).
• When exposed to environment durable concrete is
likely to retain its original form, quality and serviceability
during its lifetime.
• Durable Concrete envisage limits for maximum water cement
ratio, minimum cement content, cover thickness, type of
cement used and presence of amount of chloride and
sulphates in concrete. ( IS-SP-28)
 Consequences of Improper Quality and
Inadequate Durability
• Loss of strength of concrete
• Concrete liable to be easily affected by deterrents
• Corrosion of rebars
• Loss of serviceability
• Unpleasant appearance
• Danger to persons and property
• Expensive repair costs
• Poor perception of concrete as a material
• Poor perception of agencies involved
• Reduction of service life
• External agencies like weathering, attack by natural or Industrial liquids, Gases,
bacterial Growth etc.
• Alkali- aggregate reaction.
• Ingression of moisture/air facilitating corrosion of steel and cracking concrete cover.
 Factors Affecting Durability
DURABILITY

The Concrete System Aggressiveness of the

Environment

Materials Process Physical Chemical

• Binder type • Mixing

• Binder content • • Abrasion • Dissolution
Transporting
• Aggregates • • Erosion • Leaching
Compaction
• Admixture • • Cavitation • Expansion
Curing
• Mix design • • Freeze-thaw • Alteration
Temperature
• workmanship 4
 Selection of
Good Quality Materials
(Conforming to relevant IS codes)

• Cement (from Reputed Manufacturers)

• Sand (River / Crushed, Silt < 5%)
• Aggregates (Cubical in shape, Innocuous)

• Water (Tested) with PH value ranging 6to 8

• Admixture (From Reputed Manufacturer)
• Compatibility of cement and plasticizer (PC based or Naphtha
based) and 3rd generation superplasticiters of Polycarboxylates
base, Polyacrylates based or Monovinyl alcohols based
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 Impact of W/C Ratio
On Durability
• For a durable concrete, use of lowest possible W/C ratio
is the fundamental requirement to produce dense and
impermeable concrete.
• Modern superplasticizers of Polymer base are so efficient
that it is now possible to make flowing concrete with a
W/C as low as 0.31 or even as low as 0.29 with increased
slump more than 250mm.

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 Workmanship for
Durable Concrete

 Batching

 Mixing
 Transportation
 Placing
 Compaction
 Finishing
 Protection
 Curing 7
Compaction of Concrete
• Ensuring suitable workability employing appropriate
placing and compaction equipment
• Adequate compaction without segregation
• 1% voids reduces strength by 5%
Criticality of Curing
• Extremely important if the water-cement ratio is low &
cement content is high.
• If the cement has a high rate of strength development

• Ambient temperature during placing is high and day is

windy
 Recommended Moist Curing
(IS 456: 2000)
• Normal Weather Conditions
* OPC Based Concretes - 7 Days
* Blended Cements based concretes - 10 Days

• Harsh Weather Conditions (Hot and Dry)

* OPC Based Concretes - 10 Days

* Blended Cements based concretes - 14 Days
 Environment can be classified as

a) Physical –
Temperature, Moisture, alternate wetting and
drying, freezing and thawing

b) Chemical –
Acidic, gaseous, alkaline, corrosive
 Physical Environment impacts
Temperature
 Significantly affects rate of hydration of cement.
 Leads to Plastic shrinkage cracks in fresh concrete
 Volume changes and cracking especially in mass
concrete
 Spalling and disintegration of concrete at higher
temperature
 Variation in ambient temperature causes secondary
stresses in structures
 Physical Environment impacts
Moisture
 Shrinkage on drying, consequent volume change and
cracking
 Induces corrosion of steel
 Acts as carrier of chemicals inside the body of concrete
 Causes efflorescence and deposition of Ca(Cao+2H2 0=
Ca (OH)2 +H2 0 OH)2 on surface
 Seepage / Leakages cause inconvenience to occupants
and deteriorates structures due to permeable concrete.
 Physical Environment impacts

Alternate wetting and drying

 Causes secondary stresses in the structures

 Accelerates corrosion of steel and

 Chemical attack on concrete

Freezing and Thawing

 Leads to expansion of concrete and cracking

 Ice-melting salts cause erosion of concrete

 Chemical Action
When we are dealing with durability, chemical attack
which results in volume change, cracking and
consequent deterioration of concrete become a major
cause of concern
Types of Chemical attack
• Sulphate attack
• Alkali aggregate reaction
• Chloride ion attack - Corrosion
• Carbonation
• Acid Attack
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 1. Sulphate attack
• Sulphate attack denotes an increase in the volume of
cement paste in concrete or mortar due to chemical
action between the products of hydration of cement
and solution containing sulphate, and also sodium,
magnesium and Cholorides.
• In hardened concrete, calcium aluminate hydrate (C-A-
H) can react with sulphate salt from outside, product of
reaction is calcium sulphoaluminate, which can cause
an increase in volume
• Rate of sulphate attack increases with a saturated
sulphate solution.
• A saturate solution of magnesium sulphate can cause
serious damage to concrete with high w/c ratio.
 2. Alkali - Aggregate Reaction
• Alkali from cement, reacts with reactive silica (of
aggregates) to form alkali-silica gel of unlimited
swelling type.
• The continuous growth of silica gel exerts osmotic
pressure within the concrete.
• This manifests into cracking and bulging of concrete

Occurrence is due to :
1. High alkali content in
cement (more than 0.6%)
2. Reactive silica in
aggregate
3. Availability of moisture
 3. Chlorides in Concrete
• Chlorides in concrete increases risk of corrosion of
steel (Electrochemical reaction) (IS 456:2000)
• Higher Chloride content or exposure to warm moist
conditions increase the risk of corrosion
• To minimize the chances of corrosion, the levels of
chlorides in concrete should be limited
• Total amount of chloride content (as Cl) in concrete
at the time of placing is provided by IS 456:2000
 Methods of Controlling
Chlorides
• Chlorides in cement to be less than 0.1 % max ( or
0.05% max for prestressed works)
• Chlorides in water to be less than 2000 mg/ltr for
PCC and below 500 mg/ltr for RCC
• Chlorides in aggregates are generally not
encountered but, it’s a good practice to wash
aggregate containing salt more than 3%
• Chloride traces are also found in chemical
admixtures. Chloride free admixtures should be
generally preferred.`
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 4. Carbonation of Concrete
• Mechanism : Carbon dioxide from the air reacts
with calcium hydroxide to form calcium carbonates
in the presence of moisture, carbonic acid is formed
which reduces the alkalinity of concrete
• pH value of concrete reduces from 12.5 to 9, thus
destroying the protective layer and exposing the
steel to corrosion
• Rate of Carbonation depends upon relative
humidity, grade of concrete, permeability of
concrete, depth of cover and time
• Nearly 1 mm carbonation is reported per year in
normal M-20 grade of concrete
 Measurement of
Depth of Carbonation

Pink color indicates that Ca(OH)2 is unaffected by carbonation.

The uncolored portion indicates that concrete is carbonated