• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.79-86
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• 2012

Cemented soils have been used for subbase or base materials of roads, backfill materials of retaining walls and cofferdam. Such cemented soils can be degraded due to repeated wetting and drying or various weathering actions. Unlike rocks, a standard method was not defined for evaluating the durability of cemented soils. In this study, a slaking durability test and an ultrasound cleaner were used for developing a new durability test method for cemented soils. For durability tests, cemented sands with different cement ratios (4, 6, 8, and 12%) with cylindrical specimens were prepared and then air cured or under-water cured for three days. Three-day-cured specimens were dried for one day and then submerged for one day before testing. The weight loss after the slake durability test or ultrasonic cleaner operation for 10 or 20 min was measured and used for assessing durability. When a cement ratio was 4%, the weight loss from ultrasonic cleaner test was 7-25% but that from slake durability test was as much as 30-60%. For specimens with cement ratio of more than 8%, the weight loss was less than 10% from both tests. A durability index increased with increasing a cement ratio. The durability index of under-water cured specimen was higher than that of air cured specimen. The ultrasonic cleaner test was found to be an effective tool for durability assessment of cemented sands rather than the slake durability test.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.17 no.2 s.86
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• pp.179-189
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• 2005

Corrosion of steel due to chloride attack is a major concern in reinforced concrete structures which are located in the marine environments. In this case, Fick's 2nd law has been used for the prediction of chloride diffusion related with service life of concrete structures. However, those studies were confined mostly to the single deterioration due to chloride only, although actual environment is rather of combined type. The purpose of the present study is, therefore, to explore the influences of carbonation to chloride attack in concrete structures and to investigate the validity of Fick's law to chloride attack combined carbonation. The test results indicate that the chloride ion profiles from Fick's law using the diffusion coefficient of immersion tests is not reflected the effect of separation of chloride ions in carbonation region but valid in sound region in case of combined action. On the other hand, the chloride ion profiles from Fick's law using the diffusion coefficient of Tang and Nilsson's method coincide with test results under dry-wet condition but not under combined condition. The results of present study may Imply that the new method for the measurement of diffusion coefficient is required to predict the chloride ion profiles in case of combined action at early.