Improvement of Durability of Precast Concrete Member by Granulated Blast Furnace Slag Sand

Concrete deck slabs of bridges are often deteriorated by heavy traffic and freezing and thawing actions. Spraying salt during the winter further promotes the deterioration of concrete. Some reports estimate that the length of highway roads requiring the renewal of deteriorated concrete slabs exceeds 230 km. In order to extend the lifespan of damaged bridge girders, the load for these girders must not be increased. This means that prestressed concrete (hereafter, PC) members are desirable to sustain bridge life, because they can be thinner than reinforced concrete (hereafter, RC) members. In addition, to shorten the period of traffic regulation during renewal construction, precast members should be applied. One problem in manufacturing durable precast concrete is steam curing. When the temperature, period, or both of the steam curing process are inadequate, the effect of air-entraining (hereafter, AE) agents is lost because the warmed air trapped by the AE agent expands and escapes from the concrete. Another problem is concrete fatigue. It is well known that the fatigue lives of concrete slabs in wet conditions are much shorter than those in dry conditions. Concrete slabs are waterproofed immediately after construction, but the waterproofing can be fractured soon after opening bridges, and water can reach the concrete surface. The lifespan of concrete slabs in contact with water often depends on the fatigue of the concrete. Granulated blast furnace slag sand (hereafter, BFS) can enhance the resistance to freezing and thawing actions without using AE agents. Therefore, the resistance to freezing and thawing of concrete mixed with BFS is not damaged by steam curing. The fatigue of concrete in water is also improved by the addition of BFS. Furthermore, BFS can reduce the drying shrinkage of concrete. It is advantageous to restrict the loss of prestress in PC. This study shows that precast PC members with high durability can be manufactured when granulated blast furnace slag is used as a fine aggregate in the concrete. BFS reacts with cement hydrates. It is well known that the carbonation of concrete with ground granulated blast furnace slag (hereafter, GGBF) is much greater than that with ordinary binder. However, BFS does not accelerate the carbonation of concrete. When using granulated blast furnace slag as a fine aggregate, no disadvantage in the concrete properties is detected.