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Concrete is the most applied building material in modern times. It is present in all kinds of structures and no other material secms to rcplace concrete as the most selected building material in the near future. The prime advantages are the high performance, the easy production and a facile processability. The sustainability and durability are important requirements to concrete. Even if concrete is significantly less susceptible against factors promoting a damage, compared to other materials, there are still mechanisms affecting it. In particular, high-ways and hydraulic structures made of concrete worldwide show cases of alkali-silica reaction (ASR) damages. This article refers to experience at BAM Federal InstituteforMaterials Research and Testing for several decades to ASR research and darnage assessment. ASR is a severe darnage mechanism that can occur in concrete, when certain conditions related to composition and cxposition arise in a critical combination. The chemical reaction is based on the alkalis and the silica in the concrete and was first identified by Stanton in highway structures in California (Stanton, 1940). Actually three components are needed to initiate ASR: alkali-sensitive siliceous aggregates, alkalis coming from internal (cement or other components) or external sources (de-icing salt or sea water) and water. If all of these components are sufficiently present an alkali-silica gel could be formed (Hobbs, 1988). This gel itself needs additional space when it is formed. Furthermore it is able to swell in the presence of humidity, both processes generating an expansion pressure inside the concrete. As a consequence of intensive expansion, cracks can occur, which significantly lowers thc strength of the material. Parameters like amount and chemical composition of the gel as weil as the pattern and width of cracks can help to classify the ASR darnage (Swamy, 1992). The objective of this article is to demoostrate the microscopic work on ASR affected concrete samples, carried out to assess the damaging process or to evaluate various alkali-sensitive aggregates. It will explain the approach of ASR investigation from the macroscale to microscale, starting briefly with the condition assessment, over treatment and investigations of samples in the laboratory, to the use of different microscopical and analytical techniques. In the main part the characteristic features for identifying ASR in concrete are presented by using microscopic images. Especially the emphasis lies on the role of the aggregate.
Alkali silica reaction (ASR) is a major concrete durability problem resulting in significant maintenance and reconstruction costs for concrete infrastructures all over the world. To determine whether an aggregate is potentially reactive, accelerated concrete tests are used. Aim of this study is the chemical and microstructural characterization of ASR-products formed under the performance conditions of motorway pavements and during subsequent tests on the remaining ASR susceptibility. Samples were taken from concrete motorway pavements. Some of the samples already showed first indications for beginning damages whereas others showed deteriorations only after applying a performance testing procedure for the estimation of future risk of ASR damage. In a first step ASR-products were identified by polarized light microscopy in thin sections. The reaction products where then analyzed by Raman Spectroscopy and finally the chemical composition of the ASR-products was identified by SEM with EDX.
The results indicate that most reaction products show an increasing Ca/Si-ratio with progressive crack length. If an ASR-product develops inside an aggregate and moves through the cement paste, it has a high (Na+K)/Si-ratio at the beginning which decreases with increasing distance from its place of origin. The Raman spectra of the ASR-products are characterized by two broad bands indicating specific Q-species of different amorphous gel networks. Within the scope of the analysis distinctions in the microstructure and the chemical composition of the ASR-gels were detected relating to various conditions of accelerated testing.