This research project is a collaboration between Donald Janssen of the University of Washington and Jochen Stark of the University of Weimar. The purpose of the research is to study the response of aggregate concretes to freeze-thaw cycles in order to understand why they fail and to identify aggregates that are susceptible to damage. The collaboration draws on the complementary expertise of the foreign and domestic research groups, and the different testing methods make comparison testing possible. The German group has considerable experience in testing concrete for resistance to salt scaling and the microstructural evaluation. The U.S. group has 10 years of experience investigating D-cracking mechanisms and susceptibility. Results of the collaboration are expected to include development of improved identification of frost-susceptible aggregates, improved understanding of the frost damage mechanism in aggregates, and the development of U.S. experience in the use of alternate testing procedures.
