External sulphate attack on concrete can lead to cracking, expansion and sometimes loss of cohesiveness of hardened cement paste. Therefore, aside from using sulphate resistant cementitious binders, it is important to design concrete which can resist sulphate penetration. In this research, both ASTM C1202 and NT Build 492 electrical migration tests were modified such that sulphate rather than chloride penetration resistances were measured. Modifications included exposing concrete specimens to Na2SO4 rather than NaCl solutions and measuring the depth of sulphate penetration visually using BaCl2+KMnO4 rather than AgNO3 solution. Nine concrete mixtures of varying w/cm, slag replacement and cement types were tested in both original standard tests and modified tests to evaluate the influence of these material variables on test results and compare chloride to sulphate results. It was found that while migration coefficients and total charge passing were lower for sulphate, the influence of material variables were relatively similar.

External sulphate attack on concrete can lead to cracking, expansion and sometimes loss of cohesiveness of hardened cement paste. Therefore, aside from using sulphate resistant cementitious binders, it is important to design concrete which can resist sulphate penetration. In this research, both ASTM C1202 and NT Build 492 electrical migration tests were modified such that sulphate rather than chloride penetration resistances were measured. Modifications included exposing concrete specimens to Na2SO4 rather than NaCl solutions and measuring the depth of sulphate penetration visually using BaCl2+KMnO4 rather than AgNO3 solution. Nine concrete mixtures of varying w/cm, slag replacement and cement types were tested in both original standard tests and modified tests to evaluate the influence of these material variables on test results and compare chloride to sulphate results. It was found that while migration coefficients and total charge passing were lower for sulphate, the influence of material variables were relatively similar.