Historically, the prime concern for concrete designers has been its resistance to mechanical stress, i.e. strength. In recent years, durability has emerged as equally important.
However, durability cannot be achieved with reducing the W/C ratio, high compressive strength, more cement, air-entraining admixtures or corrosion inhibitors alone.
To achieve concrete durability in critical environments, properties like low permeability, low shrinkage, self-healing and protection against chemical attack must be realized. PENETRON ADMIX incorporates the technology that provides such properties and recent testing has shown it can add up to 60 years or more to a variety of concretes, including CEM II /B-P, CEM II / B–S and CEM III/A, in critical environments before the onset of corrosion.
These results are in line with ACI report 212.R3-10, which concludes that crystalline admixtures are the best PRAH (permeability reducing admixtures for hydrostatic conditions) and increase durability of concrete.
Details of this durability testing are provided below.
Jozef Van Beeck
Director International Sales & Marketing
PENETRON ADMIX DURABILITY RESEARCH RESULTS
In order to establish the effect of PENETRON ADMIX on the durability of concrete, a complete research project was executed at leading independent laboratories over a 2-year period. The testing included compressive strength, drying shrinkage, permeability, sulphate resistance, chloride diffusion resistance, freeze-thaw cycle resistance, self-healing ability, microscopic examination of crystalline formation and most importantly – a resulting service-life estimation of concrete treated with PENETRON ADMIX.
The results of this testing regime are summarized in the following table.
