Evaluation of the durability of mortar and concrete applied with inorganic coating material and surface treatment system

Abstract Various surface coatings are used to prevent the degradation of durability of concrete structures. Most of them are constituted of organic coatings using volatile organic compound. However, such organic coatings have the decisive shortcoming of being air-polluting during manufacturing process as well as during coating works. Calcium-silicate compound, an inorganic coating which exhibits composition similar to cement, is adopted to compensate this disadvantage. So far clear results are still lacking for the evaluation of durability of concrete using inorganic coating. This study intends to assess the durability of concrete applied with inorganic coating material and concrete surface treatment. The diffusivity of chloride has been evaluated using mortar specimens, and concrete specimens were used to assess the durability performance related to inorganic coating materials via carbonation test and frost resistance test. Experimental results reveal that the resistances against the penetration of chloride, freezing–thawing and carbonation are improved in the hardened mortar and concrete specimens coated with special cement coating compared to non-coated ones. Especially, cases where concrete surface treatment is applied as level III exhibit the most remarkable performances.