What Is An Abrasion Resistance In Concrete?

What Is An Abrasion Resistance In Concrete?

What Is An Abrasion Resistance In Concrete?

Abrasion resistance refers to a surface’s ability to withstand wear and tear from rubbing or friction. It is crucial in the construction of floors, roads, and pavements, and is affected by factors such as material, surface finishing, aggregate hardness and proper curing.

The durability of concrete can be measured by its abrasion resistance as the concrete surface can deteriorate due to abrasion caused by sliding, scraping and the impact of abrasive materials.

The standard test for determining the abrasion resistance of concrete is by measuring the abrasion loss of a specimen exposed to an abrasive charge.

This test is used to evaluate the abrasion resistance of concrete surfaces in various settings, such as pavement, industrial floors, railway platforms and walkways.

Factors Affecting Abrasion Resistance Of Concrete Surface

The abrasion resistance of a concrete surface can be affected by several factors, including the concrete strength, curing procedure, use of supplementary cementitious materials, two-course floors, special concrete aggregates, proper finishing procedures, and vacuum dewatering.

Factors that directly impact concrete strength, such as low water-to-cement ratio, well-graded aggregate, and air content, also influence concrete abrasion resistance. Proper curing can increase concrete strength and toughness, which are important for surface abrasion resistance.

Using supplementary materials, such as polymer concrete and calcium aluminate cement, can also improve abrasion resistance. Two-course floors using high-strength topping can provide excellent abrasion resistance but are more expensive.

Using hard and tough aggregates, such as quartz and traprock, can also increase the life span of floors subjected to severe abrasion.

Proper finishing procedures, including delaying finishing work until the concrete surface reaches the right point and avoiding standing water, can also affect abrasion resistance.

Apparatus Required For The Test

The equipment required for the test includes:

A scale with a minimum capacity of 5000 grams and a permissible variation of 15 grams when loaded to 5000 grams.

A pneumatic sand blasting cabinet that includes a wooden cabinet with a tightly closed door, a high carbon steel nozzle of 15 cm in length and mounted at a distance of 50.02 cm from the surface of the concrete sample an annular copper or brass air tube of 0.48 cm in diameter, and four holes for passing sand into the nozzle. The cabinet also includes a cradle.

A conical galvanized iron hopper is placed at the top of the cabinet to store the charge of sand pushed by air pressure.

The entire nozzle assembly is secured to the cabinet with a lock nut and washer combination and the copper or brass air tube is connected to a pressure gauge and a compressor with a pressure control device providing air supply at a pressure of 0.14 N/mm2 as recorded in the pressure gauge.

Test Procedure Abrasion Resistance In Concrete

The procedure for testing the abrasion resistance of concrete involves placing a weighted, dry specimen on a carrier with the surface to be examined facing a nozzle tip. The nozzle is positioned 2.5 cm away from the edge of the specimen and sand is blasted at the specimen for a full charge of 4000 g.

The specimen is moved slowly between two fixed points while the test is performed on the same surface by rotating the sample 180 degrees.

After the test, the specimen is removed, cleaned, and weighed to determine mass loss in grams for one surface. This process is repeated on the three other vertical surfaces of the same specimen.

 

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