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- Alkali-silica-reaction (3) (entfernen)
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In recent years the German highway network has seen an increase in the occurrence of damage in concrete road surfaces which can be attributed to the alkali-silica reaction (ASR). In view of the often drastic reduction in life expectancy experienced by concrete pavements due to ASR, research activity in this field has notably increased. Until now the main research focus has been, alongside preventative measures in concrete technology, the development of performance-oriented testing procedures for ASR prevention. This included more specifically the accelerated simulation of climatic effects and external alkali supply on concrete pavements. The effects of pre-damage from the additionally interacting cyclic traffic loading had previously not been taken into consideration.
Since 2011, a five-partner research group from the German Research Foundation has been pursuing research on the effects of simultaneous cyclic loading and external alkali supply on the destructive ASR in concrete pavements. The depiction of the myriad degradation and transport processes necessary for an understanding of these effects requires a close interaction between experiments and their multi-scale modelling. This contribution aims to focus on the aforementioned experiments by means of innovative testing techniques. The research is founded on a series of cyclic fatigue tests performed on large-format beams, both with and without previous application of a NaCl solution, with simultaneous tracking of crack development. Thereafter, smaller test specimens were extracted from the pre-damaged beams for further experiments. These included the spatial visualization and quantification of fatigue-induced cracks with X-ray 3D-computed tomography. Additionally, the effects of fatigue-induced cracks on moisture and alkali transport were investigated using 3D-CT and Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). Subsequent storage of the small-format test specimens, with and without cyclic pre-damage, in an ASR-conducive environment was then able to shed light on the influence of fatigue-induced pre-damage on the ASR.
A significant number of German concrete motorway pavements have shown damage only a few years after construction. The alkali-silica-reaction (ASR) is often one of the reasons for this damage. German guidelines and regulations focus on the optimisation of the concrete composition to avoid damage due to ASR. Moreover, diverse research projects have dealt with the development and optimisation of ASR performance test methods with and without external alkali supply. However, the influence of other parameters on the occurrence and intensity of a damaging ASR had not yet been taken into account. Such parameters include, e.g., insufficient curing and the modifications of concrete’s porosity due to the use of slip form pavers. Likewise, the increased traffic loading had not yet been considered. The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) assesses these parameters and processes in a number of projects. These projects aim primarily to increase the durability of the concrete pavements, in particular by improving preventive measures that may be taken before or after the construction of concrete pavements. This paper gives a short overview of BAM’s projects concerning ASR in concrete pavements. Furthermore, results regarding the influence of the cyclic traffic loading on ASR are presented.