International Concrete Abstracts Portal

Title: Durability Indicators of High Performance Concrete Including a Ternary Blend

Author(s): P. Devillers, J.P. Bournazel, J.C. Templier, and F. Cussigh

Publication: Special Publication

Volume: 234

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 99-110

Keywords: durability indicators; high performance concrete; self-compacting concrete; storage of radioactive waste; ternary blend

Date: 3/22/2006

Abstract:
In the framework of radioactive waste storage, the French atomic energy agency needs to design a concrete container with a service life of 300 years. Regarding durability and mechanical problems, we propose a mixture of proportions of high performance and self compacting concrete including a ternary blend. In order to evaluate the durability of such a formulation a large set of experiments was carried out. Gas and water permeability, diffusivity of chlorides, carbonation, freezing and thawing resistance were studied in laboratory. All results obtained during this study show that the concrete mixture proportions chosen are in accordance with the durability criteria imposed for security reasons. Nevertheless several complementary tests were performed to investigate the microstructure of the material, such as x ray diffraction, thermo-gravimetric analysis or microscope analysis, in order to confirm the results obtained for the durability indicators. In this paper we present all the results obtained during this experimental study, which has been carried out over two years. All values of durability indicators obtained will be introduced in mathematical models in order to verify the service life of 300 years.