Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Monitoring accelerated alkali-silica reaction in concrete prisms with petrography and electrical conductivity measurements

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Materials and Structures Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Deterioration of concrete due to alkali-silica reaction (ASR) involves a reaction between alkaline ions in the cement pore solution and non-crystalline silica found in many aggregates. Diagnosing and quantifying deterioration due to ASR in concrete currently requires destructive testing for microscopy examinations. In this paper, electrical conductivity is investigated qualitatively as an alternative non-destructive evaluation (NDE) method of ASR in hardened concrete. The study was performed using an unrestrained set of small concrete prism specimens made with highly reactive small aggregates, and kept in an environmental chamber according to ASTM C1293 standard. In a companion study, destructive petrography and damage rating index (DRI) assessment, and pore solution extraction and analysis were performed on the same set of accelerated ASR specimens. The results show that temporal evolution of nondestructive bulk resistivity is linearly correlated with destructive DRI score.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Saouma VE, Hariri-Ardebili MA, Le Pape Y, Balaji R (2016) Effect of alkali–silica reaction on the shear strength of reinforced concrete structural members. A numerical and statistical study. Nucl Eng Des 310:295–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Giaccio G, Zerbino R, Ponce JM, Batic R (2008) Mechanical behavior of concretes damage due to ASR. Cem Concr Res 38:993–1004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Ulm FJ, Cousy L, Larive C (2000) Thermo-chemo-mechanics of ASR expansion in concrete structures. J Eng Mech 126:233–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bazant ZP, Steffens A (2000) Mathematical model for kinetics of alkali-silica reaction in concrete. Cem Concr Res 30:419–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Rajabipour F, Giannini E, Dunanat C, Ideker JH, Thomas MDA (2015) Alkali-silica reaction: Current understanding of the reaction mechanisms and the knowledge gaps. Cem Concr Res 76:130–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Figueira RB, Sousa R, Coelho L, Azenha M, de Almeida JM, Jorge PAS, Silva CJR (2019) Alkali-silica reaction in concrete: mechanisms, mitigation and test methods. Constr Build Mater 222:903–931

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. ASTM C1260-07 (2007) Standard test method for potential alkali reactivity of aggregates (Mortar Bar Method). West Conshohocken, PA, USA, ASTM International

  8. Multon S, Toutlemonde F (2006) Effect of applied stresses on alkali-silica reaction-induced expansions. Cem Concr Res 36:912–920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Alnaggar M, Cusatis G, Di Luzio G (2013) Lattice discrete particle modleing (LDPM) of alkali silica reaction (ASR) deterioration of concrete structures. Cem Conc Comp 41:45–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Rivard P, Saint-Pierre F (2009) Assessing alkali-silica reaction damage to concrete with non-destructive methods: from the lab to the field. Constr Build Mater 23:902–909

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Ju T, Achenbach JD, Jacobs LJ, Guimares M, Qu J (2017) Ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation of alkali-silica reaction in concrete prism samples. Mater Struct 50:60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lesnicki KJ, Kim J-Y, Kurtis K, Jacobs L (2013) Assessment of alkali-silica reaction damage through quantification of concrete nonlinearity. Mater Struct 46:497–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Donnel KM, Zoughi R, Kurtis KE (2013) Demonstration of microwave method for detection of alkali-silica reaction (ASR) gel in cement-based materials Cem Concr Res 44: 1–7

  14. Hashemi A, Kurtis KE, Donnell KM, Zoughi R (2017) Empirical multiphase dielectric mixing model for cement-based materials containing alakali-silica reaction gel. IEEE Trans Instrum Meas 66:2428–2436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Rashidi M, Knapp MCL, Hashemi A, Kim J-Y, Donnell KM, Zoughi R, Jacobs LJ, Kurtis KE (2016) Detecting alkali-silica reaction: a multiphysics approach. Cem Concr Compos 73:123–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Heifetz A, Strow M, Liu Y, Bevington P, Zapol P, Bakhtiari S, Bentivegna A (2020) Monitoring of dielectric permittivity in accelerated alkali-silica reaction concrete with microwave backscattering. Mater Struct 53:130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Heifetz A, Bakhtiari S, Lu J, Aranson IS, Vinokur VM, Bentivegna AF (2017) Development of microwave and impedance spectroscopy methods for in-situ nondestructive evaluation of alkali-silica reaction in concrete. AIP Conf Proc 1806:12003

    Google Scholar 

  18. Heifetz A, Bakhtiari S, Lu J, Bentivegna A (2017) Nondestructive evaluation of alkali-silica reaction in high-strength concrete for aging structure sustainability. Trans Am Nucl Soc 116:453–456

    Google Scholar 

  19. Bakhtiari S, Chien HT, Heifetz A, Elmer TW (2018) Nondestructive testing research and development efforts at Argonne National Laboratory: an overview. Mater Eval 76:911–920

    Google Scholar 

  20. Christensen BJ, Coverdale RT, Olson RA, Ford SJ, Garboczi EJ, Jennings HM, Mason TO (1994) Impedance spectroscopy of hydrating cement-based materials: measurement, interpretation and application. J Am Ceram Soc 77:2789–2804

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Rajabipour F, Weiss J (2007) Electrical conductivity of drying cement paste. Mater Struct 40:1143–1160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Cabeza M, Keddam M, Nóvoa XR, Sánchez I, Tekenouti H (2006) Impedance spectroscopy to characterize the pore structure during the hardening process of Portland cement paste. Electrochim Acta 51:1831–1841

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Bentz DP (2007) A virtual rapid chloride permeability test. Cem Concr Compos 29:723–731

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Snyder KA, Feng X, Keen BD, Mason TO (2003) Estimating the electrical conductivity of cement pore solutions from OH-, K+ and Na+ concentrations. Cem Concr Res 33:793–798

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. ASTM C1293-08b (2008) Standard test method for determination of length change of concrete due to alkali-silica reaction. West Conshohocken, PA, USA, ASTM International

  26. Rivard P, Ballivy G (2005) Assessment of the expansion related to alkali-silica reaction by the Damage Rating Index method. Constr Build Mater 19:83–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Rivard P, Fournier B, Ballivy G (2002) The DRI method for ASR affected concrete: a critical review of petrographic features of deterioration and evaluation criteria. Cem Concr Aggr 24:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Sanchez LMF, Drimalas T, Fournier B (2020) Assessing condition of concrete affected by internal swelling reactions through the Damage Rating Index (DRI). Cement 1–2: 100001

  29. Dunbar P, Grattan-Bellew PE (1995) Results of damage rating evaluation of condition of concrete from a number of structures affected by ASR. In: Proceedings of the CANMET/ACI international workshop on alkali-aggregate reactions in concrete, Dartmouth, Canada

  30. Grattan-Bellew PE, Mitchell LD (2006) Quantitative petrographic analysis of concrete: the damage rating index (DRI) method, a review. In: Proceedings of the Marc-Andre Berube symposium on AAR in Concrete, ANMET/ACI advances in concrete technology seminar, Montreal, Canada

  31. ASTM C150/C150M-21 (2021) Standard specification for portland cement. West Conshohocken, PA, USA, ASTM International

  32. ASTM Standard C294 (2017) Standard descriptive nomenclature for constituents of concrete aggregates. West Conshohocken, PA, ASTM International

  33. ASTM C231 (2017). Standard test method for air content of freshly mixed concrete by the pressure method. West Conshohocken, PA, USA,

  34. ASTM C192 (2016) Standard practice for making and curing concrete test specimens in the laboratory. West Conshohocken, PA, ASTM International

  35. ASTM C157 (2017) Standard test method for length change of hardened hydraulic-cement mortar and concrete. West Conshohocken, PA, ASTM International

  36. ASTM International ASTM C856-11 (2011) Standard practice for petrographic examination of hardened concrete. West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, USA, ASTM International

Download references

Acknowledgements

Argonne National Laboratory’s work was supported by the Nuclear Energy Science and Technology Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Science and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA

    Meredith Strow, Peter Bevington, Sasan Bakhtiari & Alexander Heifetz

  2. Department of Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Meredith Strow, Didem Ozevin & Alexander Heifetz

  3. DRP, A Twinning Company, Boulder, CO, USA

    Meredith Strow

  4. Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Peter Bevington

  5. Durability Engineers, Chicago, IL, USA

    Anthony Bentivegna

  6. Material Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA

    Igor Aranson

  7. Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA

    Igor Aranson

Authors
  1. Meredith Strow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter Bevington
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anthony Bentivegna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sasan Bakhtiari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Igor Aranson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Didem Ozevin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Alexander Heifetz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander Heifetz.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Strow, M., Bevington, P., Bentivegna, A. et al. Monitoring accelerated alkali-silica reaction in concrete prisms with petrography and electrical conductivity measurements. Mater Struct 55, 119 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-022-01942-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-022-01942-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation