Service Life Prediction Based on Sorptivity for Highway Concrete Exposed to Sulfate Attack and Freeze-Thaw Conditions

Published

March 1, 2002

Author(s)

Dale P. Bentz, M A. Ehlen, Chiara F. Ferraris, John A. Winpigler

Abstract

This user's guide describes the set of screens and an example analysis for CONCLIFE, user-friendly software for estimating the service life of concrete pavements and bridge decks exposed to sulfate attack and freeze-thaw deterioration. CONCLIFE uses three concrete models and user-specified data on concrete properties and external environmental conditions to estimate the time at which the concrete spalls beyond a user-specified limit. Ingress of sulfate ions and water are the primary means of degradation considered; the software uses a laboratory test, currently in the ASTM standardization process, for measuring concrete sorptivity. The software also produces graphs of concrete sorptivity, annual precipitation, and estimated rates of concrete spalling. Separate appendices provide the details of the experimental program conducted at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in support of the software development and the underlying technical bases for the models employed in CONCLIFE.

Citation

Federal Highway Administration

Volume

FHWA-RD-01-162

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

building technology, concrete bridge decks, concrete pavements, environmental conditions, freeze-thaw degradation, service life, sorptivity, sulfate attack

Citation

Bentz, D. , Ehlen, M. , Ferraris, C. and Winpigler, J. (2002), Service Life Prediction Based on Sorptivity for Highway Concrete Exposed to Sulfate Attack and Freeze-Thaw Conditions, Federal Highway Administration, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=860362 (Accessed February 6, 2025)