Guidelines for The Use of Lithium to Mitigate Or Prevent Alkali-Silica Reaction Publication No.: FHWA-RD-03-047 July 2003 Federal Highway Administration Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center 6300 Georgetown Pike, McLean, VA 22101 The original format of this document was an active HTML page(s). The Federal Highway Administration converted the HTML page(s) into an Adobe® Acrobat® PDF file to preserve and support reuse of the information it contained. The intellectual content of this PDF is an authentic capture of the original HTML file. Hyperlinks and other functions of the HTML webpage may have been lost, and this version of the content may not fully work with screen reading software. 2 Foreword Progress is being made in efforts to combat alkali-silica reaction in both new and existing portland cement concrete structures. Of the several viable methods that exist to prevent damage in concrete structures due to this significant durability problem, the use of lithium compounds has been recognized for more than 50 years. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in using lithium compounds as either an admixture in new concrete or to treat existing structures. This report is intended to provide practitioners with the necessary information and guidance to test, specify, and use lithium compounds in new concrete construction, as well as repair and extend the service life of existing concrete structures. This report will be of interest to engineers, contractors, and others involved in designing and specifying new concrete, as well as those involved in mitigating the damaging effects of alkali-silica reaction in existing concrete structures. Sufficient copies of this report are being distributed to provide five copies to each Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Resource Center, five copies to each FHWA Division, and a minimum of eight copies to each State highway agency. Direct distribution is being made to the division offices. Additional copies for the public are available from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), 5825 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA, 22161. T. Paul Teng, P.E. Director, Office of Infrastructure Research and Development Notice This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Department of Transportation. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers' names appear herein only because they are considered essential to the objective of this manual. 3 Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government 3. Recipient's FHWA-RD-03-047 Accession No. Catalog No. 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Guidelines for the Use of Lithium to Mitigate or Prevent ASR 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Kevin J. Folliard, Michael D. A. Thomas, and Kimberly E. Kurtis Organization Report No. 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. The Transtec Group, Inc.1012 East 38 ½ StreetAustin, TX 78751 11. Contract or Grant No. DTFH61-02-C-00051 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report Office of Infrastructure R&D Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, and Period Covered HRDI-126300 Georgetown Pike, Room F-209McLean, VA 22101 Report 14. Sponsoring Agency Code 15. Supplementary Notes Contracting Officer's Technical Representative: Fred Faridazar, HRDI-12 16. Abstract Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is a significant durability problem that has resulted in premature deterioration of various types of concrete structures in the United States and throughout the world. Although several viable methods exist to prevent ASR-induced damage in new concrete structures, very few methods mitigate further damage in structures already affected by ASR- induced expansion and cracking. Lithium compounds have been recognized for more than 50 years as effectively preventing expansion due to ASR, and there has been renewed interest in recent years in using lithium compounds as either an admixture in new concrete or as a treatment of existing structures. This report is intended to provide practitioners with the necessary information and guidance to test, specify, and use lithium compounds in new concrete construction, as well as in repair and service life extension applications. This report first provides a basic overview of ASR, including information on mechanisms, symptoms of ASR damage in field structures, mitigation approaches, test methods, and specifications. A comprehensive summary of lithium compounds is provided next, including information on their production, availability, and use in laboratory concrete studies and field applications (including a range of case studies). Guidelines for using lithium compounds as an admixture in new concrete and for treating existing structures suffering from ASR-induced damage then are presented, including information on how to assess the efficacy of lithium compounds in laboratory tests. Some basic information also is provided on the economics of using lithium both in new concrete and as a treatment for existing structures. Finally, the report provides a summary of conclusions and identifies several technical and practical issues that should be considered for future laboratory studies and field applications. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement alkali-silica reaction, lithium, concrete No Restrictions. This document is available to the durability, mitigation, fresh concrete, public through the National Technical Information hardened concrete, case studies, laboratory Service; Springfield, VA 22161 4 testing, field investigation, existing structures 19. Security 20. Security 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Classif. Classif. 86 (of this report) (of this page) Unclassified Unclassified Form DOT F 1700.7 Reproduction of completed page authorized 5 Table of Contents Foreword ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Notice .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Technical Report Documentation Page ...................................................................................... 4 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. 8 List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. 9 List of Acronyms and Abbreviations .......................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 12 1.1 OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 12 1.2 ORGANIZATION OF REPORT ........................................................................................ 12 CHAPTER 2 ALKALI-SILICA REACTION .............................................................................. 13 2.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 13 2.2 ALKALI-SILICA REACTION .......................................................................................... 13 2.2.1Essential Components of ASR ...................................................................................... 13 2.2.2 Mechanisms of ASR .................................................................................................... 18 2.2.3 Symptoms of ASR ....................................................................................................... 20 2.3 LABORATORY TEST METHODS FOR ASSESSING ASR .......................................... 23 2.4 METHODS OF MITIGATING ASR ................................................................................. 27 2.4.1 Minimizing or Preventing ASR in New Concrete ....................................................... 27 2.4.2 Mitigating ASR in Existing Concrete .......................................................................... 30 2.5 SPECIFICATIONS ............................................................................................................. 30 2.6 CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................. 31 CHAPTER 3 LITHIUM COMPOUNDS FOR CONTROLLING ASR ...................................... 33 3.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 33 3.2 THE BASICS OF LITHIUM .............................................................................................. 33 3.3 USING LITHIUM COMPOUNDS TO CONTROL ASR ................................................. 34 3.3.1 History and Background .............................................................................................. 34 3.3.2 Mechanisms of ASR Suppression by Lithium Compounds ........................................ 34 3.3.3 Laboratory Studies Using Lithium