Effect of excess air entrainment on behaviour of reinforced concrete structure

The effect of excess air entrainment on the mechanical and durability properties of concrete is uncertain. The structural behavior of concrete with excess air entrainment was not widely investigated nor is it generally understood. The relationships assumed for the different material properties of concrete in the Eurocodes (EN1992-1-1) might not be valid for structural design. In addition, the design checks assumed may need to be confirmed or adjusted for concrete with excess AE.
Furthermore, current understanding on the durability performance of air-entrained concrete subject to multiple deterioration mechanisms (freeze-thaw damage, carbonation and de-icing salt induced reinforcement corrosion) has not considered concrete with excessive air entrainment. Current prescriptive requirements would likely be insufficient to guarantee expected service life of infrastructure, for high level of air entrainment.

For concretes outdoors, one consideration is getting damaged when it freezes. To overcome such damage, a limited amount of small air-pores are induced into the concrete. But, we are not entirely sure how adding too much air, by accident, will affects concrete performance. The rules used to design buildings might not work well for concrete with lots of air in it.

changes of concrete properties with entrained air (AE), recommendations for design of concrete with high AE