Title: Concrete Durability: From Basic Research to Practical Reality

Author(s): D. Pomeroy

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 100

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 111-130

Keywords: compressive strength; concrete durability; performance; permeability; portland cements; research; tests.

DOI: 10.14359/1806

Date: 4/1/1987

Abstract:
Laboratory and theoretical studies of the individual factors that influence the durability and long-term behavior of concrete have the virtues that they provide evidence of performance that can be analyzed and understood in physical and chemical terms and also that many experiments covering a wide range of variables can be undertaken at modest cost. Concrete, in reality, does not necessarily conform with the laboratory idealizations; the scale of operation is much greater, the temperatures and environmental histories are less finely controlled, and the composite actions between one part of a structure and another will add a further complication. There is thus the need to use the knowledge gained from the fundamental studies to help to explain and to predict the performance of real structures. The way in which this problem is being tackled at the Cement and Concrete Association is discussed. Predictive models based on basic understanding have been developed and site observations from structures in the U.K. are used to validate or to challenge these predictions, and so lead the way to improvements both in realistic understanding and prediction.