Improvement of Concrete Parameters by the Method of Sodium Silicates Impregnation by Internal Vacuum Tamping

Abstract

A fundamentally new technology of intensive saturation of the porous space of concrete or reinforced concrete has been developed, which makes it possible to significantly increase the degree of filling the pores and, therefore, to extent increase the strength and density of the material being saturated with a hardening liquid. The results of the experiments show that the strength of concrete has increased, and the water absorption rate has significantly decreased. This is achieved by creating an internal vacuum in the cement matrix. The structure of the porous space of concrete after impregnation became significantly denser: capillaries, pores, microcracks and various defects were filled with sodium silicate and created a structure that practically does not allow moisture to penetrate into the concrete body, the water absorption value decreased to 1.15%.