Alkali-Silica Reactivity Of Three River Basin (Chenab, Satluj And Beas) - An Overview

Lalit Kumar Solanki, S. K. Jain, B. K. Munzni

Alkali-silica reaction is one of the most recognized deleterious phenomenon in concrete that results in excessive expansion, cracks, loss in mechanical properties and serviceability problems. Aggregates constitute about three-quarter of the volume of concrete, and therefore their physical, mechanical and chemical properties need to be correctly assessed before their use in concrete. Aggregate component in concrete define its thermal, elastic properties and mineralogical composition which influences the durability of concrete. This paper presents research on the influence of strain quartz percentage in aggregates for the occurrence of potentially deleterious alkali-silica reaction in concrete. The aggregates susceptible to ASR were evaluated using petrographic analysis, aggregate mineralogy, chemical method of ASTM C 289 and the standard methods of ASTM C 1260 and ASTM C 1293. Aggregate classifications into innocuous and reactive based on the stated mineralogy tests and the potential expansion limits based on the standard test methods and their modifications were compared. The study demonstrated that none of the single method is an ideal approach to evaluate the alkali-silica reactivity of an aggregate in a better way and a suitable combination of various methods can be utilized to better predict the potential ASR of an aggregate.