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The influence of sodium and magnesium sulphate on the penetration of chlorides in mortar

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Abstract

Marine environments are very aggressive to concrete, mainly due to the presence of chlorides and sulphates. The influence of sulphates on chloride penetration in mortars was investigated by immersion in combined test solutions containing 165 g/l NaCl and 33.8 g/l SO4 2− (as MgSO4 or Na2SO4) at temperatures of 5, 20 and 35 °C. After immersion periods ranging from 7 weeks up to 37 weeks, chloride profiles were measured by means of potentiometric titrations, XRD analysis and electron probe micro analysis. In general, chloride ions penetrate much deeper into the mortar than sulphate ions. Nevertheless, chloride penetration is clearly influenced by the presence of sulphates in the environment. Sulphate ions compete with chloride ions to bind to aluminate phases. Therefore, the presence of sulphates initially increases chloride diffusion. When magnesium sulphate is present the formation of Mg-related reaction products such as brucite additionally influences the chloride penetration. Later, up to 37 weeks of immersion, a decreasing chloride diffusion is noticed compared to samples exposed to a single chloride solution, due to pore blocking products of the sulphate reaction. Contrarily, immersion periods longer than 37 weeks in combined solutions result in increasing chloride diffusion due to sulphate induced cracking at the outermost layers. Notwithstanding the reciprocal influence of chlorides and sulphates, the magnitude of the effect of sulphate on the chloride diffusion coefficient was limited. Chloride diffusion generally increases with increasing temperature. The presence of sulphates decreases chloride binding even more significantly at 5 and 35 °C than at 20 °C.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Hugo Eguez Alava and for critically reading the manuscript.

Funding

Research funded by a Ph.D. Grant of the Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) (Grant No. 101342).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Magnel Laboratory for Concrete Research, Department of Structural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 904, 9052, Ghent, Belgium

    Mathias Maes & Nele De Belie

  2. Institute of Technology and Testing of Building Materials, Graz University of Technology, Inffeldgasse 24, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Florian Mittermayr

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  1. Mathias Maes
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  2. Florian Mittermayr
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  3. Nele De Belie
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Correspondence to Nele De Belie.

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Maes, M., Mittermayr, F. & De Belie, N. The influence of sodium and magnesium sulphate on the penetration of chlorides in mortar. Mater Struct 50, 153 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-017-1024-8

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