Author: Mustafa YILDIZ, Elvan ÜRÜN
Publishing Date: 2010
E-ISSN: 2147-9364
Volume: 25 Issue: 2
ABSTRACT:
Structural reinforced concrete members deteriorate, when they are used in marine environments or placed inside the soils involving sulfated water. In Turkey, a sulfated soil line beginning from the Central Anatolia (South of Konya City) and lying on the line of Kayseri, Sivas and Erzurum cities ends at the inner parts of Iğdır. The structural loads of the multi‐storey buildings constructed in Konya 2nd Organized Industrial Region were transferred to the soil layers of hard clay and gravel using the pile foundation system of 22 m deep due to the weak load carrying capacity of the upper soil layers involving gypsum and large amount of sulfate. Since the groundwater level was at about 6‐9 m depth, the concrete of the constructed piles completed its setting period inside the sulfated water. In this study, Portland Cement and Blast Furnace Cement were used to determine the variations of the bearing capacity of concrete for the piles under groundwater conditions in a long period of time. Most of the recent studies performed on the resistance of concrete against sulfate were applied on the concrete specimens that have completed their setting periods and gained their strengths. However, concrete completed its setting period inside the sulfated medium for the cases where the reinforced concrete piles were constructed on the soils involving sulfate water. This study showed that the concrete specimens produced under aforementioned conditions using Portland Cement and Blast Furnace Cement had considerable strength losses.
Key Words: Blast furnace slag cement; Reinforced concrete piles; Konya 2nd Organized Industrial Zone; Sulphate effect; Portland cement