Performance Tests for Sulfate Resistance and Alkali-Silica Reactivity of Hydraulic Cements
SourceThe performance tests are either unsatisfactory or nonexistent with regard to evaluation of sulfate resistance and alkali-silica reactivity of both portland and blended portland cements. Investigations on development of accelerated laboratory tests which can be completed within a few weeks are described.
The sulfate attack was accelerated in the laboratory by immersion of small specimens in a standard sulfate solution which was held at constant pH and sulfate concentration. The alkali-silica attack was accelerated by using fine fractions of either borosilicate or an opaline silica mineral as standard reactive aggregate.
Tests on several portland cements, portland pozzolan cements, and portland blastfurnace slag cements in accordance with the proposed methods show that the results are consistent with the expected field behavior of the cements.