Compressive Strength Development of Seawater-Mixed Concrete Subject to Different Curing Regimes

A review of recent advances in the science and technology of seawater-mixed concrete

“…The enhanced hydration is responsible for the greater early-age strength of seawatermixed concretes when compared to freshwater-mixed concrete, although most evidence suggests that the strength difference is relatively minimal after 7 days of curing [2].…”

“…The high concentrations of various ions in the pore solution may lead to potential leaching when exposed to ground water or rain. When exposed to seawater, they may also result in lower seawater ingress and leaching due to reduced concentration gradients leading to potentially improved long-term strength [2,11]. The higher pH is anticipated to increase alkali silica reaction in seawater-mixed concrete.…”

“…Seawater reduces the porosity and causes a refinement of the pore sizes (lesser capillary pores, especially large capillary pores) [11,16,18,21,23]. As with compressive strength, the impact on the pore sizes is significant at early ages (less than 3 days) and relatively minor at later ages [2,11,17], likely because the differences in pore structure between the freshwater and seawater mixes are largely driven by differences in the degree of hydration.…”

“…Depending on the required concrete properties, the use of certain chemical admixtures, such as retarders to slow down rapid setting, might be essential [3]. Studies performed on seawater-mixed concrete (or cement paste or mortar) have generally found that incorporation of SCMs resulted in performance improvements when compared to the seawater-mixed concrete without SCMs [2,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Research on the effects of SCMs and seawater on fresh and hardened properties is discussed in other sections, here, we largely focus on interactions between SCMs and seawater.…”

“…The use of seawater-mixed concrete is likely to be most beneficial in desert locations (for example, the Middle East, which relies extensively on expensive desalination processes to produce freshwater), isolated islands, and in regions after the occurrence of natural disasters which lead to simultaneous reconstruction needs and freshwater shortfalls [2,3]. The use of seawater-mixed concrete could be a solution for marine/offshore structures, where conventional concrete performs poorly; indeed some research shows that for marine conditions, technology of seawater-mixed concrete and Roman concretes is required to recreate Roman concretes and could help create more durable modern concretes.…”