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Determine the Durability of Hardened Concrete with RCON™
The RMCAO Technical Committee is currently conducting a research project with Giatec Scientific to evaluate the possible uses of their RCON™ test apparatus to determine the durability of hardened concrete. This device measures the electrical resistance of a saturated surface dry concrete cylinder or core and, similar to the existing rapid chloride permeability test method (which measures the amount of current flow over a 6 hour period), uses this data as a proxy measurement of the concrete’s long term durability.
Special thanks to the CBM Leaside Laboratory that will be running companion testing between the standard RCP test method, and the new bulk resistivity test method for the next three months on more than 150 different concrete samples. As part of this testing program, we will also be looking at:
- The effect of calcium nitrite on the test method
- Effect of age of testing (7, 14, 21, 28 & 56 days)
- Effects of variable moisture conditions
- Relationship between resistivity & strength
- Effects of specimen length on resistivity
- Variability of test method (cast 6 cylinders from the same load and compare results)
Source: RMCAO Newsletter
