Deterioration by frost, chloride and carbonation interactions based on combining field station and laboratory results

Over the past years various field stations have been established in the Nordic countries and worldwide to assess the real-time performance of concrete. Evaluation of material performance in actual environments is necessary for comparison to accelerated laboratory tests to assess the validity of deterioration models. By obtaining better data on deterioration with the field to laboratory correlations, along with incorporating local weather data, it is possible to improve calculation tools, computer simulations and service life models to predict concrete behaviour. Existing tools typically account for limited deterioration mechanisms, such as frost or chloride alone. The current need is for evaluating interaction of deterioration, such as carbonation, frost and chlorides together, to assess how actual combined forces create a total impact. This need leads to requirements for further laboratory-based research of interacted deterioration to provide for accurate modelling of concrete durability.
This paper presents results from three Finnish field stations and their evaluation compared to accelerated laboratory tests of frost, chloride and carbonation exposure. The field and laboratory durability results are used to develop better service life models which account for various attack types and exposure classes.