ACI MATERIALS JOURNAL
Title no. 99-M6
Residual Strength of Reinforced Concrete Beams
Damaged by Alkali-Silica Reaction—Examination of
Damage Rating Index Method
by L. J. Monette, N. J. Gardner, and P. E. Grattan-Bellew
Estimating the residual strength of structural members affected by
alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is a significant problem. Small-scale,
singly reinforced concrete beams, concrete cylinders, and prisms
made with reactive and nonreactive aggregates and high-alkali
cement, were stored submerged in a high-alkali solution at 38 C to
accelerate the ASR. Beams were conditioned either without load,
under sustained load, or under cyclic load. Beam and cylinder
expansions were measured. After significant expansion, both sides of
each reactive aggregate beam and one reactive aggregate resonant
frequency prism were polished and examined under a microscope
for features consistent with damage due to ASR. These features were
tabulated to determine the damage rating indexes (DRIs) of the vari-
ous specimens. After measurement of the DRIs, the various reactive
and nonreactive specimens were loaded to failure.
Sustained and cyclic flexural load and the longitudinal rein-
forcement had significant restraining effects on ASR expansions.
The DRIs did represent, approximately, the measured expansions.
Flexural tests to failure showed that neither ASR expansions nor
load conditioning significantly affected the stiffnesses and load-
carrying capacities of the reactive concrete beams.
Material tests showed that ASR reduced the compressive stiff-
ness, resonant frequency, and flexural strength of the concrete, but
not the compressive strength. The test specimens were conditioned
submerged in a one normal sodium hydroxide solution and not
subject to cycles of wetting and drying as would occur in practice.
The DRI of the concrete prism correlated with the loss in stiffness,
resonant frequency, and flexural strength.
Keywords: alkali-silica reaction; concrete; expansion; reinforced concrete.
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
The presence of significant concrete damage due to alkali-
silica reaction (ASR) expansions in numerous reinforced
concrete structures throughout the world has prompted the
need to predict the residual strength and structural behavior of
such structures. This paper investigates the correlation of
measured expansions caused by ASR in reinforced concrete
beams conditioned without load, under sustained load, or under
cyclic load to the observable damage, quantified as a damage
rating index (DRI), and the measured residual flexural
strengths of the beams.
INTRODUCTION
Increasing evidence of ASR in bridges, parking, and hy-
draulic structures is a concern to engineers and administra-
tors responsible for such structures. ASR in concrete is the
dissolution of amorphous and poorly crystalline silica min-
eral phases in susceptible aggregates by the hydroxyl ions in
the pore solution associated with the hydration reactions of
high-alkali cements. The reaction product is a silica gel that
can absorb significant amounts of water and expand, causing
42
TECHNICAL PAPER
tensile stresses in the surrounding aggregate or paste. In
sufficient amounts, the gel can generate enough internal
pressure to crack concrete.1
Many aspects of ASR have been investigated, ranging
from the reaction mechanism to the effects of ASR on exist-
ing reinforced concrete structures.1,2 Some papers deal with
the effect of static compressive load (restraint) and concrete
microcracking on the expansions due to ASR under labora-
tory conditions.3,4 Few papers, however, deal with the devel-
opment and effects of ASR in reinforced concrete flexural
members under load.5,6
The primary object was to determine the usefulness of
visually observed damage due to ASR, as quantified by a
DRI, to predict the residual strength of existing in-service
structures damaged by ASR. The methodology was to exam-
ine the relationship between measured ASR expansions in
reinforced concrete beams conditioned without load, under
sustained load, or under cyclic load, with the visual evidence
of ASR in the beams, as quantified by the DRI, and the residual
strengths and stiffnesses of the beams.
EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM
Two sets of specimens were prepared, one using a high-
alkali cement and a reactive aggregate (reactive specimens),
and the second using the same cement and mixture propor-
tions with a nonreactive aggregate (nonreactive specimens).
The reactive concrete specimens were used to determine the
development of ASR in concrete under load (expansions,
DRI, concrete properties, and residual strengths), and the
nonreactive concrete specimens were used for comparison
(expansions, concrete properties, and residual strengths) and
to determine length changes due to causes other than ASR
(shrinkage, creep) for the same conditioning regimes. Each
set of specimens included small-scale reinforced concrete
beams, cylinders, resonant frequency prisms, and CSA7
prisms. Table 1 summarizes the test program. Two reactive
and one nonreactive reinforced concrete beams were tested
to failure at 28 days. From each set of specimens, two rein-
forced concrete beams were conditioned without load, two
under sustained load, and two under cyclic load while sub-
merged in a 1N sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH) at 38 C
to accelerate the ASR in the reactive beams. Concrete cylin-
ders and resonant frequency prisms were stored without load
ACI Materials Journal, V. 99, No. 1, January-February 2002.
MS No. 01-086 received March, 20, 2001, and reviewed under Institute publication
policies. Copyright © 2002, American Concrete Institute. All rights reserved, includ-
ing the making of copies unless permission is obtained from the copyright proprietors.
Pertinent discussion will be published in the November-December 2002 ACI Materi-
als Journal if received by August 1, 2002.
ACI Materials Journal/January-February 2002

L. J. Monette is a structural engineer with Harmer Podolak Engineering Consultants
Inc., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He received his MASc in civil engineering from the
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
N. J. Gardner, FACI, is a professor of civil engineering at the University of Ottawa,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is a member of ACI Committees 209, Shrinkage and
Creep; 231, Early-Age Properties of Concrete; 347, Formwork; and 435, Deflection
of Concrete Building Structures. His research interests include early-age member
behavior, shrinkage, creep, deflection serviceability, and formwork pressures.
ACI member P. E. Gratten-Bellew is a senior research officer in the Urban Infra-
structure Directorate at the Institute for Research in Construction of the National
Research Council of Canada. His main research interest is the durability of concrete,
with particular emphasis on alkali-aggregate reactivity.
in the same sodium hydroxide solution to monitor expan-
sions and to provide material properties. Use of a condition-
ing environment of 38 C and NaOH is well documented in
other ASR studies and is used in some of the standard Canadian
tests for the determination of ASR reactivity in aggregates
(CSA A23.2-14A prism test uses 38 C, CSA A23.2-25A
mortar bar test uses 1N NaOH at 80 C). The presence of large
ASR expansions was taken as evidence of concrete damage
due to ASR.
Conditioning of the reactive beams was terminated after
significant expansions had been measured. The vertical sides
of the reactive beams were ground and polished and a petro-
graphic examination conducted to determine the DRIs,
which were to be correlated with the measured expansions
and the beams’ residual strengths. After determination of the
DRI, the beams, cylinders, and prisms were loaded to failure
to determine their residual strengths and stiffnesses.
The nonreactive concrete beams were used to determine
changes in length due to creep and shrinkage. Their residual
flexural strengths after conditioning were measured to
provide comparisons with those of the reactive concrete
beams. The properties of the nonreactive cylinders and
prisms were compared with those of the reactive specimens.
To examine the possibility that part of the reported degra-
dation in the mechanical properties of concrete in ASR
experiments is due to the effects of NaOH used to accelerate
the reaction, a companion set of nonreactive cylinders was
stored immersed in a lime water solution at 38 C for the same
duration as the set stored in NaOH. These were failed in
compression at the same age as the nonreactive cylinders
immersed in the NaOH solution.
Mixture design
The two concrete mixtures were designed according to
CSA A23.2-1994, and the proportions are given in Table 2.
The only differences between the reactive and nonreactive
mixtures were the coarse and fine aggregates. The mixture
proportions were chosen so that the concrete could be placed

Table 1(a)—Details of specimens tested: reactive concrete specimens

Specimen designation No. of specimens Type of specimen Age at test, days Conditioning regime Measurements
RB-2, RB-5 2 Reinforced concrete beam 28 — Flexural strength
Expansion, flexural strength, damage
RB-1, RB-6 2 Reinforced concrete beam 325* No load, NaOH rating index
Expansion, flexural strength, damage
RB-7, RB-8 2 Reinforced concrete beam 325 Sustained load, NaOH
rating index

RB-3, RB-4 2 Reinforced concrete beam 325 Cyclic load, NaOH Expansion, flexural strength, damage
rating index
RC-1 to 6 6 Concrete cylinder 28 No load, NaOH Compressive strength, stiffness

RC-7 to 10 4 Concrete cylinder 325 No load, NaOH Expansion, compressive strength,

stiffness
RFP-1 to 4 4 Resonant frequency prism 28 No load, NaOH Flexural strength
RFP-6 to 8 3 Resonant frequency prism 325 No load, NaOH Resonant frequency, flexural strength
Resonant frequency, damage rating
RFP-5 1 Resonant frequency prism 325 No load, NaOH
index
RCSA-1 to 4 4 CSA concrete prism 325 100% RH Expansion
*28 days moist curing, 147 days of conditioning, and 150 days in air.

Table 1(b)—Nonreactive concrete specimens

Specimen designation No. of specimens Type of specimen Age at test, days Conditioning regime Measurements
NB-2 1 Reinforced concrete beam 28 — Flexural strength
NB-1, NB-7 2 Reinforced concrete beam 249* No load, NaOH Expansion, flexural strength
NB-4, NB-5 2 Reinforced concrete beam 249 Sustained load, NaOH Expansion, flexural strength
NB-3, NB-6 2 Reinforced concrete beam 249 Cyclic load, NaOH Expansion, flexural strength
NC-1,3,4,
NC-11,13,15 6 Concrete cylinder 28 No load, NaOH Compressive strength, stiffness

NC-2,5, Concrete cylinder stored in Expansion, compressive strength,

4 249 No load, NaOH
NC-12,14 NaOH stiffness

NC-6,8,9,10 4 Concrete cylinder stored in

249 No load, lime water Compressive strength, stiffness
limewater
NFP-1,2,7,8 4 Resonant frequency prism 28 No load, NaOH Flexural strength
Resonant frequency, flexural
NFP-3 to 6 4 Resonant frequency prism 249 No load, NaOH strength
NCSA-1 to 4 4 CSA expansion prism 249 100% RH Expansion
*28 days moist curing, 161 days of conditioning, and 60 days in air.

ACI Materials Journal/January-February 2002 43

Table 2—Concrete mixture proportions
Water-cement ratio 0.61
Slump 200 mm
Coarse aggregate dry rodded density 1700 kg/m3
Coarse aggregate (10 mm nominal size) 748 kg/m3
Fine aggregate 1000 kg/m3
Cement (0.9 % Na2O equivalent) 423 kg/m3
Water 258 kg/m3
NaOH added (0.35 % Na2O equivalent) 1.48 kg/m3
Total Na2O equivalent 1.25%
without using a plasticizer and to provide a compressive
strength of at least 25 MPa. All specimens were demolded
24 h after casting and cured for 28 days at 20 C in a curing
chamber (approximately 95 to 98% relative humidity) prior
to conditioning in the NaOH.
The expansiveness of the reactive concrete was determined
using the provisions of CSA A23.2-14A-1994 “Procedure for
Length Change due to Alkali-Aggregate Reaction in Concrete
Prisms,”7 identified as the CSA concrete prism test. The
nonexpansiveness of the nonreactive concrete was con-
firmed using the same test.
Aggregates
The ASR-susceptible coarse aggregate was obtained from
the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario stockpiles in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. It is a very reactive, fine-grained, dark gray
siliceous limestone originating from Stittsville, Ontario. The
nonreactive coarse aggregate was a fine-grained, light gray
limestone of high purity originating from the province of
Newfoundland, Canada. The maximum nominal size of the
coarse aggregate for both reactive and nonreactive mixtures
was 10 mm.
The reactive fine aggregate was crusher fines taken from
the Stittsville, Ontario quarry and mixed with nonreactive
quartz sand to obtain the required gradation for concrete.
The nonreactive fine aggregate was crushed Newfound-
land limestone mixed with the nonreactive quartz sand.
Cement
The cement used for the experiment was a CSA Type 10
(ASTM Type I) portland cement with an alkali content of
0.9% Na2O equivalent. The alkalinity was increased to
1.25% Na2O equivalent by adding sodium hydroxide to the
concrete during mixing.
Beam specimens
Eight reactive and seven nonreactive reinforced concrete
beams 89 x 121 x 902 mm were cast and moist-cured for
28 days. Two reactive beams and one nonreactive beam
were loaded to failure in four-point bending at 28 days.
The remaining three pairs of reactive and nonreactive
beams were conditioned in an ASR accelerating environ-
ment for 147 and 161 days, respectively. The size of the
beams was sufficient to enable standard behavior equa-
tions to be used, but small enough to permit conditioning
in existing NaOH reservoirs and handling of the beams into
and out of the conditioning apparatus.
Each beam was singly reinforced with two hot-rolled, 8
mm diameter deformed bars (yield strength = 530 MPa, steel
ratio = 1.1%) and provided with 4.8 mm diameter, hot-rolled
44
plain stirrups at 63.5 mm spacing to ensure flexural failure.
The ends of the flexural reinforcing bars had 90 degree
hooks. The yield strengths of the reinforcing steels were
measured using standard tension tests. The stirrup spacing
used was less than the maximum spacing permitted by the
Canadian code (CSA A23.3-1994), which is 70% of the
effective depth rather than the 50% permitted by ACI 318.
All beams attained full flexural capacity confirming the
adequacy of the shear reinforcement.
Steel rods (6 mm diameter) passing through the width of the
beams were located in the sides of the beam molds before
placement of the concrete. The steel rods had conical holes at
each end to act as targets for the Demec gages. Previous
experience has shown that Demec targets cannot be glued
successfully to a concrete specimen in a high-alkaline solu-
tion. The Demec target arrangement was chosen to enable
measurement of longitudinal strains in the constant shear end re-
gions, in the constant moment midspan region, over the entire
length of the beams, and vertically in the end and midspan regions.
Details of the beams, the Demec target layout, and the DRI
areas are shown in Fig. 1.
Concrete specimens
For both mixtures, four cylinders 100 mm diameter x 200
mm long, and four prisms, 100 x 75 x 400 mm long, were
cast and stored under the same accelerating conditions as the
beams. The cylinders were used to monitor concrete expan-
sions and compressive strength. Demec targets, consisting of
parallel steel rods (similar to those used for the beams) passing
through the diameter of the cylinders at a gage length of 51 mm,
were used to monitor expansions. The prisms were used to
monitor the resonant frequency and to determine the flexural
strength of the concrete.
CSA concrete prisms 75 x 75 x 300 mm were made using
the same mixture proportions, moist-cured 28 days at 20 to
23 C, and then stored in 100% relative humidity at 38 C.
Test program
Two reactive and two nonreactive reinforced concrete
beam specimens were conditioned without load, two reactive
and two nonreactive beams under sustained service load, and
two reactive and two nonreactive beams under cyclic load,
from zero to the service load, while immersed in a 1N NaOH
solution at 38 C. The service load of the beams was calculated
to be 52% of the calculated ultimate flexural load. The NaOH
solution was used to accelerate the ASR to enable significant
expansions (up to 0.4%) to be reached within a reasonable
time. The effect of NaOH on the strength of concrete was
examined using nonreactive concrete cylinders. Use of a
conditioning environment of 38 C and NaOH is well docu-
mented in other ASR studies and is used in some of the standard
Canadian tests for the determination of ASR reactivity in
aggregates (CSA A23.2-14A prism test uses 38 C, CSA
A23.2-25A mortar bar test uses 1N NaOH at 80 C).
The beams conditioned under sustained and cyclic loading
were loaded using four-point loading. Spreader beams with
fixed load points were used to provide the two-point loads
while the concrete beams were immersed in the NaOH. Un-
fortunately, the fixed load points, without freedom to move
longitudinally, caused abrasion of the cyclically loaded
beams. At their service load, beams conditioned under sus-
tained and cyclic loads were cracked in the midspan, posi-
tive moment, tension face locations. Air pistons, controlled
by a signal generator, provided the cyclic loading, and a
ACI Materials Journal/January-February 2002
 Fig. 1—Details of reinforced concrete beam specimens (all measurements
in mm).

combination of a hydraulic jack and a screw jack provided

the sustained loading. The air pistons and the screw jack
were calibrated using a load cell. The cyclic loading frequency
was 0.5 Hz.
The reinforced concrete beams were stored immersed in
the 1N NaOH solution in four stainless steel baths. The
NaOH solution was continuously circulated through the
baths from a reservoir, which contained a heater, to ensure a
constant temperature of 38 C. The conditioning apparatus is
shown in Fig. 2. The cylinders and resonant frequency
prisms were stored without load in the NaOH reservoir.
Beam and cylinder expansions and prism resonant frequen-
cies were measured during the conditioning period. The
reactive and nonreactive specimens were conditioned for
147 and 161 days, respectively. The exposure durations
Fig. 2—Photograph of conditioning apparatus.
were arbitrary; conditioning of the reactive concrete spec-
imens was terminated after ASR induced expansions larger surfaces of the reactive beams were polished to perform
than 0.4% had developed. Conditioning of the nonreactive DRI measurements.
beams was terminated when one of the beams under cyclic The reactive samples were loaded to failure 325 days after
load conditioning failed due to severe abrasion under the casting (28 days moist curing, 147 days of conditioning, and
load points. At the loading frequency of 0.5 Hz, the beams 150 days in air) and the nonreactive samples 249 days after
subjected to cyclic loading underwent approximately 5 and 6 casting (28 days moist curing, 161 days of conditioning, and
million cycles of loading and unloading for the reactive and 60 days in air).
nonreactive beams, respectively. The nonreactive cylinders
in lime water solution were conditioned for 161 days at 38 C. Measurement of expansions
After conditioning, the reactive and nonreactive samples Specimen expansions were measured at intervals ranging
were stored in the laboratory at room temperature. The side from 2 weeks to 1 month. Samples were removed from the

ACI Materials Journal/January-February 2002 45

Table 3—Features associated with ASR
Feature associated with ASR
Coarse aggregate with cracks
Coarse aggregate debonded from paste
Reaction rims around aggregate
Cement paste with cracks
Air voids lined with gel
ing factor, summed, and normalized for an area of 100 cm2
Weighting factor (standard DRI measurement area) to obtain the final DRI
0.25 number. This final number is a quantification of concrete
3.0
damage due to ASR, and the concept has previously been ap-
plied to hydroelectric dams. The DRIs were compared with
0.5
the residual structural behavior of the beams to identify any
2.0
correlation between the DRI and structural residual strength.
0.5

Flexural capacity of beams and concrete

conditioning environment and allowed to cool overnight in a
controlled environment room at 20 C and 50% relative humidity
to enable the beams to reach constant temperature. During this
time, the specimens were wrapped in plastic to prevent
excessive loss of moisture from affecting expansion mea-
surements. The specimens were re-immersed in the condi-
tioning environment after expansion measurements
(approximately 24 h after removal from the NaOH).
Expansion readings were taken with Demec and Huggen-
burger gages (local horizontal and vertical, and overall hori-
zontal length measurements, respectively). For local
horizontal expansion measurements, the gage length was
51 mm. Similarly, a 70 mm gage length was used for ver-
tical expansions and a 750 mm gage length was used for
overall horizontal expansion measurements. The gage length
used for cylinder expansions was 51 mm.
Three well-repeated readings at each Demec gage length
on each side of each beam were taken for each expansion
measurement (total of six readings, three on each side of
each beam for each specific gage length). These readings
were averaged to provide the length change for each gage
location. The concrete cylinder expansions were obtained
in a similar manner.
The various reactive beam expansion measurements were
taken to compare the progression of ASR expansions in
regions of different states of sustained and cyclic stress.
The expansions of the nonreactive beams were measured to
determine length changes due to non-ASR causes such as
creep and shrinkage.
Damage rating index (DRI)
After completion of conditioning, the vertical sides of the
reactive concrete beams and resonant frequency prisms were
polished for the determination of the concrete DRIs. The
DRI is a petrographic method used to quantify concrete
damage. 8 Polished concrete sections are examined using
a stereo binocular microscope to visually identify signs
associated with various durability problems. Each feature
linked to a given durability problem is given a weighting factor
according to its likelihood of having caused the damage. The
ASR features and weighting factors used in determining the
DRI for the reactive beam specimens are given in Table 3.
Weighting factors less than unity indicate features common
to ASR but which may be due to other causes, such as coarse
aggregate cracks created during the crushing process and
coarse aggregate rims caused by weathering of the aggregate.
Some features, such as air voids with reactive gel, which
indicate the presence of ASR, are not given high importance
factors as they are not features indicating damage due to
the reaction. Weighting factors greater than unity indicate
signs of concrete damage caused by ASR such as coarse
aggregate and cement paste cracks containing reactive gel.
The 80 cm2 areas used to perform the DRI on each side of
the beams are shown in Fig. 1. For each area, the sums of in-
dividual features were multiplied by their respective weight-
properties
The reactive and nonreactive beams were monotonically
loaded to flexural failure at ages of 325 days (28 days moist
curing, 147 days of conditioning, and 150 days in air) and
249 days (28 days moist curing, 161 days of conditioning,
and 60 days in air), respectively. The beams were loaded to
failure in four-point bending, as shown in Fig. 1. Beam midspan
deflections were measured during loading using a dial gage.
The reactive and nonreactive cylinders were loaded in
compression at the same age as the beams, and their stress-
strain curves were compared with those established at 28 days.
The reactive and nonreactive concrete prisms were loaded
in three-point bending at 28, 325 (reactive), and 249 days
(nonreactive), respectively. The dynamic modulus of
elasticity was determined using the resonant frequency
measurements of the concrete prisms.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Expansion measurements, DRI, and residual properties are
presented, compared, and discussed in the following sections.
Expansion results
A limited set of the expansion results is presented in the
following section. The complete set of experimental results
can be found in Reference 9. Expansion measurements taken
from the nonreactive beam specimens and the nonreactive
concrete cylinders were negligible and are not presented.
The vertical expansions of the variously conditioned reactive
beams were similar, indicating that flexural load condition-
ing of the beams had little or no effect on vertical expansions.
Vertical expansions are not discussed further.
The CSA prisms for the reactive concrete mixtures had an
average expansion of 0.06% after 104 days and 0.33% after
147 days, which is significantly greater than the CSA 1-year
limit of 0.04%. This confirmed the expansiveness of the
reactive concrete mixtures. The CSA prism test is normally
used to test the reactivity of either the coarse aggregate or the
fine aggregate. The CSA prisms for the nonreactive con-
crete mixtures showed no appreciable expansion after the
conditioning period.
The expansions measured during conditioning in the mid-
span, constant moment region (Demec gage locations 7, 8, 9),
of the reactive concrete beams are shown in Fig. 3. Beam
expansions presented are the combined average of three
measurements taken on each side of two replicate beams for
each gage location (an average of 12 expansion readings for
each data point for each type of load conditioning for each
gage location).
There is a large difference in expansions at the top gage
locations for the variously conditioned beams. The top
gage expansions of the beams conditioned without load are
similar to the unrestrained concrete cylinder expansions. The
beams conditioned under cyclic load displayed smaller
expansions than the beams conditioned without load at the
top gage location, indicating restraint from the compressive

46 ACI Materials Journal/January-February 2002

 a.

(a)

(b)

Fig. 3—Measured expansions of reactive beam specimens.

stresses due to cyclic loading. The top location expansions for (c)
the beams conditioned under sustained load were smaller than
the other two conditioning regimes, indicating greater restraint
to expansion due to continuous flexural compressive stresses. Fig. 4—Surface cracks after conditioning: (a) never loaded
reactive beam (RB-1); (b) statically loaded reactive beam
Expansions were similar for the beams conditioned with-
(RB-7); and (c) dynamically loaded reactive beam (RB-3).
out load and under cyclic load for the midheight, midspan
gage location. The beams conditioned under sustained load
displayed less expansion than the other two conditioning
regimes at this gage location.
For expansions at the reinforcement level, midspan gage
results showed little difference between the beams condi-
tioned without load and under sustained load. The beams
conditioned under cyclic load displayed larger expansions
at the reinforcement level gage locations than the other
two load cases. This may indicate a loss of local reinforc-
ing steel-to-concrete bond due to repeated cycles of load-
ing and unloading in the constant moment area of the
beams, which was where the majority of the load induced
cracking occurred.
Comparing expansions from the variously conditioned
beams, it appears that microcracking in the tension zones, in-
duced by flexural loading, did not increase ASR expansions
in the reinforced concrete beams. The reinforcement in the Fig. 5—Comparison of midspan damage rating indexes.
beams was sufficient to restrain any additional expansion
promoted by mechanically induced microcracking. As the very little cracking due to ASR below their centroidal axes,
test specimens were entirely submerged in a NaOH solution which agrees with the expansion results and confirms restraint
and thus constantly saturated, the additional microcracking to expansion by the flexural reinforcement.
due to load did not increase the level of saturation of the When the polished surfaces of the reactive beams were
beams (entry of additional moisture/water into the concrete) examined under a stereo-binocular microscope, with the exception
as would occur in exterior structures subjected to cycles of of a few air voids, none of the features typical to ASR with
wetting and drying. reactive gel were observed. It was concluded that as the
beams were continuously immersed in the conditioning
DRIs environment, any gel at or near the beam surfaces was leached
After conditioning for 147 days, all the reactive concrete out by the sodium hydroxide solution during conditioning.
beams displayed visible surface cracking above their cent-
The DRIs for the three midspan locations, Zones 2, 5 and
roidal axes. Figure 4(a), (b), and (c) show the surface cracks
after conditioning, but before the vertical faces were ground, 8, corresponding to the three midspan Demec gage locations,
of a never-loaded reactive beam (RB-1), a statically loaded are shown in Fig. 5. The DRIs shown are the averaged values
reactive beam (RB-7), and a dynamically loaded reactive for each side of individual beams that were then averaged for
beam (RB3). The most severe (the beams conditioned with- each pair of beams for each load condition. The top midspan
out load) were homogeneously cracked in this region, which locations displayed more damage in the beams conditioned
was similar to the surface cracking of the concrete prisms. without load than in the beams conditioned under load,
The beams conditioned under load were generally cracked and displayed mechanically induced cracking due to hog-
horizontally in the direction of compressive flexural stresses, ging of the specimens (upward bending of the beams due
indicating restraint to expansion by the flexural compressive to differential expansions between the top fibers and the
stresses above the centroidal axis. All specimens showed level of reinforcement).

ACI Materials Journal/January-February 2002 47


Fig. 6—Load-deflection curves of beam specimens.
Fig. 7—Flexural failure typical of all reactive aggregate
beams with post steel yield concrete crushing.
The DRIs at the midheight, midspan locations were simi-
lar for the beams conditioned without load and under sus-
tained load. The beams conditioned under cyclic load
displayed more damage than the beams for the other two load
conditions. The greater amount of damage at this location in the
beams conditioned under cyclic load may have been caused by
an increase in mechanically induced cracking due to the
repeated cycles of loading and unloading.
The lower midspan locations displayed less damage in the
beams conditioned without load than those conditioned
under load. This is due to mechanically induced cracking
in the beam tension zones due to flexural loading. These me-
chanically induced cracks contributed to the DRIs of the
loaded beams, even though they were not caused by ASR.
This demonstrates one of the limitations of the DRI, which
does not differentiate between concrete damage due to
different causes.
The expansions measured at the upper regions of the reac-
tive beams conditioned without load correspond well with
the expansions of reactive concrete cylinders. The DRI of the
reactive concrete prism, however, was less than that measured
at the top of these beams. This is attributed to mechanical crack-
ing due to hogging caused by the differential expansions
between the top fibers and the reinforcement levels of
these beams (approximately 6 mm upward deflection of
the beams).
Residual mechanical properties
Reinforced concrete beams—The reactive and nonreac-
tive beams were monotonically loaded to failure in four-
48
Table 4—Initial stiffnesses of beams loaded to
failure in flexure
Average slope of load-
Conditioning regime deflection curve, kN/mm
Never loaded reactive (325 days) 19
Sustained load reactive (325 days) 23
Cyclic load reactive (325 days) 17
28 day nonreactive 17
Never loaded nonreactive (249 days) 20
Sustained load nonreactive (249 days) 30
Cyclic load nonreactive (249 days) 12
point bending at ages of 325 and 249 days, respectively.
Beam midspan deflections were measured using a dial gage.
The load-deflection curves presented are the average curves
for two beams for each load condition for reactive and non-
reactive specimens (except for the 28-day nonreactive case,
which only had one specimen due to lack of reinforcing steel,
and one nonreactive beam, conditioned under cyclic load,
that failed during conditioning due to severe concrete
abrasion damage under the loading points).
The load-deflection curves for the reactive and nonreac-
tive beams for the various load conditioning regimes are pre-
sented in Fig. 6. The 28-day reactive beam flexural tests
experienced load cell problems, and the results were discarded.
Thus, there are seven load deflection curves as follows: reactive
without load, reactive under sustained load, reactive under
cyclic load, nonreactive at 28 days, nonreactive without
load, nonreactive under sustained load, and nonreactive
under cyclic load. These curves show that the ultimate behavior
under load of the various beams is generally similar regardless
of either ASR expansions or the type of load conditioning.
The reactive beams conditioned under cyclic load did exhibit
a slightly lower ultimate flexural capacity than the other
beams. As would be predicted by section analysis, the flex-
ural capacities of the beams were limited by yielding of the
flexural reinforcement.
The slopes of the linear portions of the load-deflection
curves are given in Table 4. The initial slopes of the load
deflection curves of the reactive and nonreactive beams
are similar, with the beams conditioned under sustained load
having the largest stiffness, and the beams conditioned under
cyclic load having the smallest stiffness. The differences
observed, however, are not large and are considered to be
within the range of experimental error. In addition, the abra-
sion damage of the concrete directly under the loading points
(which occurred early during conditioning and was repaired) due
to cyclic loading may have reduced the initial stiffness of the re-
active and nonreactive beams conditioned under cyclic load.
All reactive beams failed in a flexural mode (even those with
severe abrasion damage to the concrete under the loading points).
The beams failed by yielding of the reinforcing steel, with large
flexural cracks forming in the concrete at the bottom of the
beams, followed by the crushing of the concrete at the top of the
beams between the loading points. Figure 7 shows a typical reac-
tive beam loaded to failure.
All nonreactive beams attained full flexural capacity, but the
post steel yield failure crack patterns of two of these beams, NB4
(Fig. 8), were similar to a shear failure (diagonal cracks from load
points to the supports). The prestressing effect from ASR expan-
sions in the reactive beams may have inhibited diagonal
shear-type crack patterns.
ACI Materials Journal/January-February 2002
Fig. 8—Post steel yield shear failure crack pattern of nonre-
active aggregate Beam NB4.
Table 5—Summary of concrete mechanical
properties
Specimen Ec, MPa Ed, MPa f c′ , MPa
28 days
20,000 38,500 26
reactive
325 days
6450 35,500 40
reactive
28 days
nonreactive 20,000 39,000 24
249 days
nonreactive 26,700 43,000 34
249 days
26,700 — 37
(lime water)
Note: Ec = static modulus of elasticity; Ed = dynamic modulus of elasticity; f c′ = cyl-
inder strength; and fr = modulus of rupture.
Residual mechanical properties of concrete
The reactive and nonreactive cylinders were failed in
compression at the same ages as the beams. The average
stress-strain curves are presented in Fig. 9, and the average
measured strengths and stiffnesses are given in Table 5.
The strength of the reactive concrete cylinders at the end of
the experiment increased by approximately 30% from the
28-day results (26 to 40 MPa). Previous research is incon-
clusive; some research reports strength reductions, while other
research reports no appreciable strength reductions with
time.5,10-12 The increase in strength of the reactive aggregate
concrete with time is much larger than the losses due to ASR.
It should be noted that the strength of the test concrete would
have been greater than that of field-cured concrete because
of continuous immersion in a warm solution, which accelerated
the hydration process. The stiffness of the reactive concrete
cylinders after conditioning was significantly less than the
stiffness of the 28-day reactive concrete and all the nonreac-
tive concrete cylinders. A gain in compressive strength with
a loss in static modulus may indicate that the loss in stiffness
of the concrete was due to ASR-induced microcracks that
closed during compressive loading. The strength of the reac-
tive cylinders at the end of the experiment was slightly larger
than that of the nonreactive cylinders, perhaps due to their
slightly greater age (325 against 249 days).
The nonreactive concrete cylinders stored in lime water
solution at 38 C had a marginally higher compressive
strength at the end of the experiment than the cylinders
stored in NaOH at the same temperature. This indicates that
storage in NaOH did not have a significant effect on the com-
pressive strength of the nonreactive concrete specimens and,
by implication, none on the compressive strength of reactive
concrete specimens.
ACI Materials Journal/January-February 2002
Fig. 9—Stress-strain curves of concrete cylinders.
fr , MPa
6
4.1
4.8
6.3
—
Fig. 10—Measured resonant frequencies.
The resonant frequency of the reactive prisms (Fig. 10)
increased during the first 20 days of storage, and subse-
quently dropped for the remainder of the experiment. The
resonant frequency of the nonreactive prisms increased
during the first 60 days and then stabilized or dropped
slightly. These results indicate that while the resonant frequency
of the reactive aggregate concrete was affected by ASR
damage, curing in NaOH had an insignificant effect on the
resonant frequency of the nonreactive concrete.
Table 5 summarizes the various plain concrete properties
measured from the reactive and nonreactive specimens. The
static modulus of elasticity proved to be very sensitive to the
damage in concrete from ASR and decreased by 68% from
the 28-day results, while the dynamic modulus only decreased
by 9% during the same period. This is contrary to what
was expected, and no explanation is suggested. Both the
static and dynamic moduli of elasticity for the nonreactive
concrete increased or stabilized from 28 days until the end of
the experiment.
The concrete flexural strength was significantly reduced
by ASR, which indicates that the flexural tensile strength is
a better predictor of ASR damage than the compressive
strength. This reduction, however, is not significant in prac-
tice because reinforcing steel is used in the tension zones of
reinforced concrete members. This loss in concrete flexural
strength may affect the cracking load of beams, increasing
deflections, but would not affect the ultimate load-carrying
capacity of under-reinforced concrete beams.
After this research was completed, Fan and Hanson13
reported the results of a project on ASR expansion and the
49
structural behavior of reinforced concrete beams conditioned
in 0.5 N sodium hydroxide cyclically heated to 38 C and
cooled to 24 C. They concluded that ASR did not affect flex-
ural strength, but the mechanical properties of the concrete
decreased after visible ASR cracks were observed. No attempt
was made to quantify the visually observed damage.
CONCLUSION
The major conclusion derived from this research is that the
expansions and concrete damage due to the ASR did not reduce
the flexural capacity of simply supported, under-reinforced
concrete beams conditioned under sustained, or cyclic, service
loads. The type of load conditioning may affect the precracking
stiffness and cracking loads of the beams to a minor extent.
There is some evidence that ASR may increase the shear
capacity of beams due to a prestressing effect from expan-
sions. This agrees with previously published results. These
conclusions agree with what would be predicted from section
analysis using the measured concrete properties. Sustained and
cyclic flexural load, as well as the longitudinal reinforcement,
had significant restraining effects on ASR expansions.
The DRIs did approximate the measured expansions. The lack
of surface features typical of ASR with reactive gel was attribut-
ed to the surface gel being leached out by conditioning speci-
mens in warm sodium hydroxide solution. Expansion
measurements were more sensitive in indicating the magnitude
of ASR expansions than the DRI measurements due to the inabil-
ity of the DRI to differentiate between ASR cracks and mechan-
ical cracks. In the future, effort should be made to eliminate
damage other than that from ASR from the DRI. The DRI
and measured expansions correlated well with the reduction
in the static modulus of plain concrete, but neither was a
good indicator of residual beam or concrete strength.
Conclusions related to the mechanical properties of concrete
are limited in that the test specimens were entirely submerged in
a NaOH solution and not subjected to cycles of wetting and
drying that would occur in exterior structures and reduce fur-
ther hydration. The compressive strength of the reactive cylinders
at 325 days (28 days moist curing, 147 days of conditioning, and
150 days in air) was slightly higher than that of the nonreactive
cylinders’ 249 days (28 days moist curing, 161 days of condi-
tioning, and 60 days in air), but similar to nonreactive cylinders
stored in lime water. Expansions from the ASR did not prevent
the increase of reactive concrete compressive strength with
time. The compressive strength of the nonreactive concrete in
NaOH was slightly lower than that of the concrete stored in lime
water, indicating a possible marginal effect from immersion in
warm NaOH. Concrete cracking caused by ASR expansions
50
significantly reduced the stiffness of the reactive concrete cylin-
ders. In this study, the dynamic modulus of elasticity was less
sensitive to the effects of ASR than the static modulus of elas-
ticity. The flexural strength of concrete was reduced by ASR ex-
pansions and proved, as reported previously, to be more
sensitive to ASR expansions than the compressive strength.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank the following people for their help or advice: G. Mould,
T. Hoogeveen, and G. Chan of the National Research Council, B. Kotter and
M. Grira of the University of Ottawa, and T. Law of Carleton University.
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ACI Materials Journal/January-February 2002