Concrete Admixtures that Defend against Salt Scaling and Freeze-Thaw

THE PHASE I STUDY OF THIS SBIR WAS COMPLETED IN RESPONSE TO THE NEED TO ENHANCE DURABILITY OF CHEMICAL ADMIXTURES THAT WILL ALLOW COLD-WEATHER CONCRETEING TO BE CONDUCTED BELOW FREEZING TEMPERATURES WITHOUT THE NECESSITY OF HEATING THE FORM WORK AND IMBEDDED REINFORCING STEEL. UNDER THIS STUDY THREE IPANEX-CONTAINING POTENTIAL FORMULATIONS WHERE SELECTED THAT EXHIBITED PROMISE FOR ANTI-FREEZE ADMIXTURES. THE PHASE II SBIR PROPOSAL HAS AS ITS OBJECTIVES THE OPTIMIZATION OF THE PROPORTIONS OF CONSTITUENTS IN THE THREE ADMIXTURES, CARRYING THE OPTIMIZED FORMULATIONS INTO FULL-SCALE DEMONSTRATIONS OF 8 TO 12 YARDS, COLLECTING PERTINENT EARLY-AGE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES DATA ON COMMON GRAD A AND AA CONCRETE FORMULATIONS AND ULTIMATELY DOWN SELECTING FROM THREE ADMIXTURES TO TWO ADMIXTURES. THE PHASE I STUDIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT SURFACE AIR FLOW (SAF) MEASUREMENTS DEVELOPED AS PART OF THE FHWA'S SHRP PROGRAM IN THE 1990'S DELINEATES THE DURABILITY ENHANCING PERFORMANCE OF CONCRETES CONTAINING IPANEX. ANOTHER COMPONENT OF THIS PHASE II STUDY WILL BE A REDESIGN OF THE SAF APPARATUS. CONCURRENT WITH THE RESEARCH PROGRAM, DATA NECESSARY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT AND COMMERCIALIZATION PLAN WILL BE GATHER FORMULATED INTO A BUSINESS PLAN TO MARKET THE DEVELOPED ADMIXTURES AND SURFACE AIR FLOW APPARATUS.