ASR assessment – concrete prism testing within a regulatory framework

Abstract

The experience of ASR and ASR testing varies substantially across Europe and outside. Several testing procedures exist but are not always linked to service life records. Also, the European concrete standard on this issue refers to regulations valid in place of use. An attempt to provide a complete set of design and assessment tools is explained in this paper, whereby concrete performance testing is one key element but must be regarded exactly as that, i.e. one step only within a framework of additional requirements and still linked to regional experience. The performance testing concept development is briefly explained in order to display opportunities and limitations. Performance in the sense of combining constituents for concrete prims expansion testing has been adopted in some countries, e.g. in Norway and, hence, providing a tool set for flexible concrete design regulations. Implicitly, several investigations on fly ash quality scatter and processing have been performed. Evidence of the fly ash mitigation effect is provided, but also strong indications supporting performance enhancement when supplied as a composite cement, compared to that of a concrete mixer blend.