Effect of various de-icers containing chloride ions on scaling resistance and chloride penetration depth of highway concrete

Abstract

The use of chloride-based de-icers belongs to the most common road winter maintenance measures applied to prevent dangerous driving conditions. Chloride-based de-icers are the most frequently used worldwide. The essential difficulty with de-icers is their detrimental effect on concrete, other components of the road infrastructure and on vehicles. The interaction of various individual chloride salts with concrete is described in the paper; the experimental programme was focused on evaluation of the most frequently applied chloride-based de-icers in terms of damage to the air-entrained concrete used for highway construction. Three individual salts – NaCl, CaCl2, MgCl2 – and one blend (NaCl + CaCl2) were used. Their effect on concrete was investigated in terms of surface scaling during freezing-thawing cycles, residual mechanical properties and final ingress of chloride ions. Calcium chloride exhibited the most detrimental effect on the studied concrete.