Although the use of pervious concrete is expanding, only a limited number of scholarly papers have been published on the resistance of pervious concrete to deterioration under frost action. Based on this need for additional research on the durability of pervious concrete in cold regions, the objective of this research was to evaluate the resistance of pervious concrete to degradation during freeze-thaw cycling under different soil clogging and water saturation conditions. The laboratory research associated with this project involved three primary measures of pervious concrete performance, including freeze-thaw durability, compressive strength, and permeability. Testing associated with freeze-thaw durability involved two levels of soil clogging, two water saturation conditions, and two curing durations in a full-factorial experimental design. Field testing involved measurements of stiffness, permeability, and compressive strength at a single site in Orem, Utah. The factor of water saturation and the interaction between the factors of curing condition and clogging condition played significant roles in testing throughout the entire course of freeze-thaw testing. Regarding the factor of water saturation, specimens that were completely submerged in water during freeze-thaw testing were damaged at a notably faster rate than those specimens that were tested in a moist but unsaturated condition for both curing conditions. Regarding the interaction between the factors of curing condition and clogging condition, the effect of clogging on the number of freeze-thaw cycles to failure depended upon the curing condition. A comparison of in situ modulus values, core modulus values, and core compressive strengths associated with clogged locations and unclogged locations in the field indicated no significant differences in structural properties in the clogged and unclogged locations. Although the results of this research suggest that pervious concrete similar to that evaluated in this study can be successfully used in cold regions under essentially ideal conditions, further laboratory and field research should be performed to more carefully examine the effect of moisture content on the freeze-thaw durability of moist but unsaturated specimens. Also, given that clogging can reduce the freeze-thaw durability of pervious concrete, the efficacy of maintenance procedures available for cleaning partially clogged pervious concrete slabs should be investigated. Long-term monitoring of and supplementary experimentation on the pervious concrete slab tested in this research should be considered for these purposes. More conclusive data about the performance of pervious concrete in cold regions will be derived from such field tests.

Yes / Experimental and theoretical investigations on the flexural performance of steel reinforced ECC-concrete composite beams subjected to freeze–thaw cycles are presented in this paper. Four groups of reinforced composite beams with different ECC height replacement ratios subject to 0, 50, 100 and 150 cycles of freeze–thaw were physically tested to failure. Experimental results show that the bending capacity decreases with the increase of freeze–thaw cycles regardless of ECC height replacement ratios. However, the ultimate moment, stiffness and durability of ECC specimens and ECC-concrete composite specimens are greater than those of traditional concrete specimens, owing to the excellent tensile performance of ECC materials. With the increase of ECC height, the crack width and average crack spacing gradually decrease. According to materials’ constitutive models, compatibility and equilibrium conditions, three failure modes with two boundary failure conditions are proposed. Simplified formulas for the moment capacity are also developed. The results predicted by the simplified formulas show good agreement with the experimental moment capacity and failure modes. A parametric analysis is conducted to study the influence of strength and height of ECC, amount of reinforcement, concrete strength and cycles of freeze–thaw on moment capacity and curvature ductility of ECC-concrete composite beams.

No description available.

No description available.

Since the introduction of Portland cement in the early nineteenth century the number of buildings constructed from concrete or using cement mortars and renders has grown exponentially, and cement is one of the most common building materials in use today. Consequently a significant proportion of the built heritage contains cementitious materials. The relative youth of these buildings means that less research has been undertaken to understand how and why they deteriorate than for traditional buildings, and that the development of appropriate conservation methods and techniques is less advanced. The primary aim of this research was to understand the causes and mechanisms of some of the types of deterioration commonly found in historic concrete and cement buildings and structures, with reference to the Second World War reinforced concrete and cement-rendered buildings at East Fortune airfield in East Lothian, Scotland. Additional aims were to investigate the efficacy of the building repairs and maintenance regimes undertaken to date, and to make recommendations for the future conservation of the buildings. East Fortune airfield contains a number of cement-rendered brick masonry buildings and a reinforced concrete air raid shelter. The initial visual survey identified several types of deterioration, from which the blistering and flaking of the render; the cracking and delamination of the render; and the spalling of the concrete in the air raid shelter were selected for further research. The research included time lapse photography, non-destructive testing, environmental monitoring and the physical, chemical and petrographic characterisation of the building materials. Hypotheses regarding the causes of deterioration were tested in the laboratory, for example with linear variable displacement transducer measurements, and modelled using crack propagation theories and models for water transport through porous media. It is demonstrated that the blistering and flaking of the render is caused by shale aggregate particles, which undergo sufficient expansion during freeze-thaw cycles to crack the surrounding render. This phenomenon is termed ‘pop-outs’ in the concrete literature. The more catastrophic cracking and delamination of the renders is also due to freeze-thaw cycling, which is shown to cause significant damage provided the moisture content of the render is above a certain threshold level. This type of deterioration has occurred at an accelerated rate for some of the modern render repairs, due to an inadequate understanding of the properties of the original and repair materials. In particular, the properties of the bricks are critical to the performance of the cement renders, and it is found that the sorptivity of historic bricks may vary considerably depending upon the orientation of the brick. Finally, the diagnosis for the air raid shelter is that the corrosion of the steel reinforcements is caused by high levels of chlorides present within the raw materials used to make the pre-cast concrete sections. The results of the investigations are used to suggest building conservation solutions for this particular site. Furthermore, since the deterioration mechanisms investigated are common for historic cement and concrete, the findings are relevant to many other sites. The over-arching methodology used to investigate the deterioration at the site and the methodologies developed to test particular hypotheses are also applicable for other investigations of historic building materials. There is much about this research that is innovative and new. The work on render cracking compares the results of dilation tests on cementitious and ceramic materials, which has not been done previously, and the pop-outs diagnosed in the work on render flaking have rarely, if ever, been reported for cement renders. The modelling work undertaken to quantify the stresses produced by the pop-outs and to explain the inclined crack formation patterns is entirely original. The use of petrography to diagnose causes of render failure is described in the literature, but this is one of very few case studies to be written up, and the work on the air raid shelter constitutes the only formal investigation of this type of Stanton shelter.

6 ABSTRACT Thermal and moisture regime of patterned ground is closely associated with the presence of the regelation phenomenon. Generally, the regelation includes all processes leading to the water freeze-thaw alternations in soil or bedrock. As a result of cyclic freezing and thawing of soil water under specific conditions, processes, such a moisture migration, ice segregation or frost heaving, operate. Termal and moisture regime is the main factor of these processes and consequentely, of the patterned ground formation. The submited diploma thesis is concerned with thermal and moisture regime of patterned ground in the High Tatras. The main aims of the thesis was to characterize thermal and moisture regime of patterned ground, to evaluate and confront the patterned ground regelation activity depending on the diverse soil depths and different types of the patterned ground and to evaluate the soil temperature relationship to the air temperatures, soil moisture content and the water level regime of the nearest lakes. The partial purpose of the thesis was to assess the applicability of different methods of the regelation cycle determination based on the soil temperature measurements. During the study period 2007 - 2012 the regelation activity of sorted paterned ground (Hincove oká, Lúčne sedlo and Skalnaté...

<p>Research on freeze-thaw resistance of concrete in general and on curing and moisture conditions in particular is motivated from an economic and product sustainability point of view. Specifically, it is argued for the importance of considering the effect of curing and test exposure conditions on the moisture uptake and performance during freeze-thaw. Due to the demonstrated importance of moisture conditions on performance, they should be related to those of field service conditions when choosing a test procedure in a particular case. This is vital for adequate testing of new</p><p>and more sustainable concrete materials.</p>

Research on freeze-thaw resistance of concrete in general and on curing and moisture conditions in particular is motivated from an economic and product sustainability point of view. Specifically, it is argued for the importance of considering the effect of curing and test exposure conditions on the moisture uptake and performance during freeze-thaw. Due to the demonstrated importance of moisture conditions on performance, they should be related to those of field service conditions when choosing a test procedure in a particular case. This is vital for adequate testing of new and more sustainable concrete materials.

A gel is a cross-linked polymer network that spans an entire liquid medium; its properties depend strongly on the interaction of the polymer and the liquid medium. There are various ways to induce gelation in different systems such as altering temperature or pH. In this study, phenol extracted protein fractions from non-acclimated (NA) and cold-acclimated (CA) winter rye (Secale cereale L. cv Musketeer) leaf tissue were subjected to freeze-thaw treatment. Gelation was induced in the NA and CA extracts after repeated freeze-thaw treatments, accompanied by a change in sample rheological properties. Further experimentation revealed that gel formation only occurred at high pH (pH 12.0) and that a minimum of 3 to 4 freeze-thaw cycles were required. The viscosity of the protein gel increased 5.7- to 9.5-fold in the NA and CA extracts respectively upon freeze-thaw. Experiments optimizing the extraction conditions and protein concentration were also performed. The gel was stable and only a specific combination of chaotropic agent, anionic surfactant and reducing agent such as urea, sodium docecyl sulfate (SDS) and â-mercaptoethanol (â-ME) with heating could disrupt the gel network. The gel was composed of several proteins in the extracts as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Based on SDS-PAGE analysis, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (Rubisco) was identified as the major protein component in the gel. Various experiments were performed to assess the role of Rubisco in gel formation; however, the results were inconclusive. It is suggested that these extracts may contain antifreeze proteins (AFPs) that have been demonstrated to form amyloid gels upon freeze-thaw. Further studies examining the composition and mechanism of gel formation may result in a future role for this material in the food industry.

Knowing the control of landscape position in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from the Prairie pothole region is necessary to provide reliable emission estimates needed to formulate strategies for reducing emission from the region. Presented here are results of a study investigating the control of landscape position on the flux of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) from an agricultural soil. Field flux of N2O and CH4 and associated soil parameters from the Upper, Middle, Lower and Riparian slope positions were monitored from spring to fall of 2005, and spring of 2006, at the Manitoba Zero-Tillage Research Association (MTRZA) farm, 17.6km North of Brandon, MB. The field site consisted of a transect of 128 chambers segmented into the four landscape positions, with either all chambers or a subset of the chambers (32) sampled on select days. Spring thaw is an important period for annual inventory of N2O emission, thus, soil samples were also collected from the four slope positions in fall 2005, and treated in the laboratory to examine how antecedent moisture and landscape position affect the freeze-thaw emission of N2O from soil. Daily emissions of N2O and CH4 for 2005 were generally higher than for 2006, the former being a wetter year. There was high temporal variability in N2O and CH4 emission, with high fluxes associated with events like spring thaw and fertilizer application in the case of N2O, and rapid changes in soil moisture and temperature in the case of CH4. There was a high occurrence of hotspots for N2O emission at the Lower slope, associated with its high soil water-filled porosity (WFP) and carbon (C) availability. The Riparian zone was not a source of N2O emission, despite its soil WFP and organic C being comparable with the Lower slope. The hotspot for CH4 emission was located at the Riparian zone, associated with its high soil WFP and C availability. The Upper and Middle slope positions gave low emission or consumed CH4, associated with having low soil WFP and available C. This pattern in N2O and CH4 emission over the landscape was consistent with examination of entire 128 chambers on the transect or the 32 subset chambers. Significantly lowering the antecedent moisture content of soil by drying eliminated the freeze-thaw emission of N2O, despite the addition of nitrate to the soil. This was linked to drying slightly reducing the denitrifying enzyme activity (DEA) of soil. The highest and earliest freeze-thaw emission of N2O was from the Riparian zone, associated with its high antecedent moisture content, DEA and total organic C content. The addition of nitrate to soil before freezing failed to enhance freeze-thaw emission of N2O from the Upper, Middle and Lower slope positions, but increased emission three-fold for the Riparian zone. Despite the greater potential of the Riparian zone to produce N2O at thaw compared to the Upland slopes, there was no spring-thaw emission of N2O from the zone on the field. This was because this zone did not freeze over the winter, due to insulation by high and persistent snow cover, vegetation and saturated condition. The denitrifying potential and freeze-thaw N2O emission increased in going from the Upper to the Lower slope position, similar to the pattern of N2O emission observed on the field. The localization of hotspots for N2O and CH4 emission within the landscape was therefore found to be driven by soil moisture and C availability. When estimating GHG emission from soil, higher emission index for N2O and CH4 should be given to poorly-drained cropped and vegetated areas of the landscape, respectively. The high potential of the Riparian zone for spring-thaw emission of N2O should not be discountenanced when conducting annual inventory of N2O emission at the landscape scale. When fall soil moisture is high, snow cover is low, and winter temperature is very cold, freeze-thaw emission of N2O at the Riparian zones of the Prairie pothole region may be very high. / May 2007