Freeze thaw damage resistance testing for cementitious compositions

A method for predicting freeze-thaw durability of a cementitious composition specimen comprising:

• a) providing a cured specimen;
• b) contacting the specimen with a microstrain gauge sensor capable of detecting specimen size changes;
• c) soaking the specimen in water;
• d) preventing moisture loss from the specimen during temperature cycling;
• e) equilibrating the specimen in a test chamber at an initial temperature above the freezing point of water;
• f) conducting temperature cycling by:
• i) cooling the test chamber interior containing the specimen from the initial temperature to a temperature below the freezing point of water contained in specimen micropores;
• ii) holding temporarily the test chamber interior at the lowest temperature achieved by said cooling;
• iii) warming the test chamber interior to a temperature above the freezing point of water;
• iv) holding temporarily the test chamber interior at the highest temperature achieved by said warming;
• g) optionally repeating said temperature cycling;
• h) capturing information from the microstrain gauge sensor during the temperature cycling to identify microstrain experienced by the specimen as a function of at least one of test chamber interior temperature or specimen temperature;
• and,
• j) converting said sensor information to specimen microstrain data in at least one of a machine readable or operator readable format representing specimen contraction or expansion.