Operational control of concrete frost resistance

The analysis of some methods for determining the frost resistance of concrete, including computational and experimental and accelerated ones, has been performed.It is noted that direct methods for determining the frost resistance of concrete are characterized by considerable labor intensity, as well as a long test time, which for concretes of high grades in frost resistance can be several months. Indirect methods do not always make it possible to determine the grade of concrete by frost resistance with a high degree of reliability. The paper proposes an accelerated method for determining the frost resistance of concrete, based on the principles of fracture mechanics, namely the relationship between the frost resistance of concrete and changes in the stress intensity coefficient after a single freeze to a temperature of -50оC. The proposed method allows for operational control of concrete produced monolithic and prefabricated structures. It is shown that the provisions of fracture mechanics describing the process of fatigue failure can be used to describe and analyze the mechanism of frost failure.This will make it possible to develop ways to control the process of frost destruction, slow it down and increase the frost resistance of concrete.