Abstract
Early-age concretes with high degrees of water saturation were examined for their deterioration behavior and internal damage by subjecting them to slow freeze-thaw cycles which simulated a severe cold weather condition in Japan.
It was found that, if concretes were exposed to cold weather at a compressive strength level higher than 4.0N/mm2, their internal damage during the first winter would be such magnitude as to cause little expansion. Concrete with a lower water content than its sealed condition had little internal damage, provided its water-cement ratio was smaller than 60% and exposure strength exceeded 5.0N/mm2. Lowering water-cement ratio was quite effective to prevent the frost damage in concrete. A proposal was also made for the length of protection period for cold weather concrete.
