Durability evaluation of repair materials in hot-arid environments

The repair and rehabilitation of bridge decks in the western countries and reinforced concrete structures in the countries along the Arabian Gulf is a major challenge to civil engineers. The need for repair of these structures results from concrete deterioration caused mainly by reinforcement corrosion. The use of deicer salts in Nmth America and Europe accelerates reinforcement corrosion in the bridge decks. The aggressive environmental conditions in the Arabian Gulf are responsible for deterioration of concrete structures in this area. This investigation was carried out to evaluate the durability performance of various repair materials. The repair materials were exposed to thermal variations to evaluate their performance in arid environments, such as in the Arabian Gulf. The durability performance was evaluated by measuring water and chloride permeability, and resistance to reinforcement corrosion. Results indicate that the water permeability in all the repair materials was less than that in plain concrete. Water permeability was significantly increased in all the specimens which were subjected to thermal variations as compared to those cured at the laboratory temperature. Ordinary cement mortar specimens indicated higher chloride permeability and lower corrosion resistance, than other repair materials and plain concrete which could be attributed to its lower electrical resistivity in saturated condition.