Corelation beetween frost resistance of concrete measured by cif test and by microscopic analysis

Concrete structures should be designed and performed in the way that, under expected environmental conditions, their safety and usability hold over the structure’s lifetime with minimal repair and maintenance costs. Long-life concrete must be resistant to destruction when exposed to agressive environment like it is, among other things, the freezing effect without deicing salt. In this paper proportioning of frost resistant concrete is presented depending on the w/c ratio and amount of cement and admixtures. 15 concrete mixtures have been prepared and all the concrete’s physical and mechanical properties have been tested. Methods of testing frost resistance through the air void distribution with linear microscopical analysis are used. The microscopic method in hardened concrete has significantly reduced time necessary for the execution of preliminary testing by the alternating freezing and thawing cycles. The analysis of the internal damage will be presented by using the CIF-test. The CIF-test basing on this shows the strong correlation between freeze-thaw cycles, frost suction and internal damage of concrete.