lack of legislation about durability of concrete 1

[SivieroMichele]

Hi everybody, I'm a new users, I'm a italian structural engineer.
I think that european legislation about this problem is not so exhaustive. I would know your opinions for american legilation.
Thanks...

 

[Ron]

Unfortunately US codes generally only address concrete by strength parameters, not durability. Quantification of durability parameters is difficult; however, I'm a firm believer that if you design a concrete mix for durability, strength is rarely an issue.

 

[Teguci]

No legislation is ever exhaustive, but they keep trying.

As for US concrete durability requirements, we have an assortment of requirements in our ACI 318 code for Structural Concrete as follows:
- Freezing and thawing requirements which controls air content of the mix
- Permeability requirements which controls mostly the water to cement ratio
- Chloride corrosion control which controls both w/c ratio and depth to rebar
- Sulfate degradation control which limits the type of cementitious material in the mix.

Other types of durability problems that haven't been codified:
Alkali Silica Reaction
Carbonation

 

[SivieroMichele]

Thanck you very much!
Only another question can you tell me where in the web I can find some information or documentation about this argument?

 

[TXStructural]

Visit the American Concrete Institute, ACI, website (

http://concrete.org)

and look under Technical Committees 222 and 201. The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, CRSI, (

http://crsi.org)

is also working on durability issues related to corrosion of reinforcement (I am the staff liaison for this work). NACE also has a task group (TG057) assigned to corrosion of reinforcement, as well as groups working on concrete-related issues.

US building codes are minimum standards for safety. They do not address optimal design, since they may represent an unnecessary barrier to owners who are purchasing structures. Several organizations, including the Institute for Business and Home Safety, an insurance consortium, are working on incentives for safer-than-minimum designs, which include durability objectives.

 

[Grahammachin]

Not sure if you are able to access the British Standards but BS 8500-1:2006 has guidance for concrete specifiers.

It takes a while to get used to but, it gives guidance on cover and strength requirements, cement and water contents (inc. type of cement). All based upon enviromental exposure and ground conditions, chemical exposure etc.

Not sure if it will help, but it has certainly proved useful to me.