Pore Structure of Calcium Sulfoaluminate Paste and Durability of Concrete in Freeze-Thaw Environment

Mercury intrusion and nitrogen sorption porosimetry were employed to investigate the pore structure of calcium sulfoaluminate ($C{\bar{S}}A$) and portland cement pastes with cement-to-water ratio (w/c) of 0.40, 0.50, and 0.60. A unimodal distribution of pore size was drawn for $C{\bar{S}}A$ cement pastes, whereas a bimodal distribution was established for the portland cement pastes through analysis of mercury intrusion porosimetry. For the experimental results generated by nitrogen sorption porosimetry, the $C{\bar{S}}A$ cement pastes have a smaller and coarser pore volume than cement paste samples under the same w/c condition. The relative dynamic modulus and percentage weight loss were used for investigation of the concrete durability in freeze-thaw condition. When coarse aggregate with good freeze-thaw durability was mixed, air entrained portland cement concrete has the same durability in terms of relative dynamic modulus as $C{\bar{S}}A$ cement concrete in a freeze-thaw environment. The $C{\bar{S}}A$ cement concrete with poor performance of durability in a freeze-thaw environment demonstrates the improved durability by 300 % over portland cement concrete. The $C{\bar{S}}A$ concrete with good performance aggregate also exhibits less surface scaling in a freeze-thaw environment, losing 11 % less mass after 297 cycles.