United States Department of Transportation
i
Bridge Decks: Mitigation of Cracking and Increased Durability—Materials Solution (Phase III)
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2020-12-01
[PDF-2.50 MB]
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Edition:Final Report 9/15/17–12/15/20
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Abstract:Type K cement offers a lower slump than conventional concrete, even at a higher water-to-cement ratio. Therefore, a suitable chemical admixture should be added to the Type K concrete mix design at a feasible dosage to achieve and retain target slump. In this project, a compatibility study was performed for Type K concrete with commercially available water-reducing and air-entraining admixtures. Slump and air content losses were measured over a period of 60 minutes after mixing and a particular mid-range water-reducing admixture was found to retain slump effectively. Furthermore, no significant difference in admixture interaction between conventional and Type K concrete was observed. Another concern regarding the use of Type K concrete is that its higher water-to-cement ratio can potentially lead to higher permeability and durability issues. This study also explored the effectiveness of presoaked lightweight aggregates in providing extra water for Type K hydration without increasing the water-to-cement ratio. Permeability of concrete was measured to validate that the use of presoaked lightweight aggregates can lower water adsorption in Type K concrete, enhancing its durability. Extensive data analysis was performed to link the small-scale material test results with a structural test performed at Saint Louis University. A consistent relation was established in most cases, validating the effectiveness of both testing methods in understanding the performance of proposed shrinkage-mitigation strategies. Stress analysis was performed to rank the mitigation strategies. Type K incorporation is reported to be the most effective method for shrinkage-related crack mitigation among the mixes tested in this study. The second-best choice is the use of Type K in combination with either presoaked lightweight aggregates or shrinkage-reducing admixtures. All mitigation strategies tested in this work were proved to be significantly better than using no mitigation strategy.
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