Comparing the durability of self-compacting concretes and conventionally vibrated concretes in chloride rich environments

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is an important new concrete technology, with ever increasing uptake in industry. Despite its widespread use, little is known about the durability of SCC in chloride rich environments. This paper seeks to build on existing knowledge in this area by presenting the details and results of an experimental programme which benchmarks the chloride resistance of SCCs against that of the more established traditional vibrated concretes. The comparative study utilised natural chloride migration testing to obtain chloride transport properties, and make service life predictions, for both ordinary Portland cement concretes, and concretes incorporating supplementary cementing materials. The study identified different patterns across the different concrete types considered. The experimental results, together with discussion of existing literature findings, indicate that the chloride resistance of conventional vibrated concretes can in some cases be greater than that of equivalent SCCs, depending on the parameters of the comparative study.