Freeze Thaw Resistance of Concrete

The Freeze Thaw Resistance of Concrete online PDH course is a part of the Civil Engineering category of courses.

Freeze-thaw resistance is a key durability factor for concrete pavements. Recommendations for the air void system parameters are normally: 6 ± 1 percent total air, and spacing factor less than 0.20 millimeters. However, it was observed that some concretes that did not possess these commonly accepted thresholds presented good freeze-thaw resistance in laboratory studies.

This course discusses the freeze-thaw resistance of several “marginal” air void mixes, with two different types of air-entraining admixtures (AEA)—a Vinsol resin and a synthetic admixture. It incorporates using rapid cycles of freezing and thawing in plain water, in the absence of deicing salts.

This course is based on US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration publication FHWA-HRT-06-117 “Freeze Thaw Resistance of Concrete with Marginal Air Content”.

This course is intended for civil engineers and other design and construction professionals interested in freeze thaw resistance of concrete with marginal air content.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Understand concrete composition at chemical level and its microstructure
• Explain the use of Air-Entraining Admixtures
• Explain freeze-thaw damage mechanism
• Discuss role air voids play in resistance to freeze-thaw phenomenon
• Evaluate the water-cement (w/c) ratio influence on the freeze-thaw resistance of the mixes with Vinsol resin air-entraining admixture
• Compare the performance of the mixes with Vinsol resin and synthetic air-entraining admixtures