Freezing-and-Thawing Behavior of Cementitious Materials Containing Superabsorbent Polymers at Early Ages

This paper examines the relationship between the curing time and freezing-and-thawing (F-T) resistance of internally cured (IC) cement paste using superabsorbent polymers (SAP). The degree of saturation (DOS), the amount of freezable water, and F-T damage resistance of plain and IC cement paste at different ages were assessed. For cement paste with a water-cement ratio (w/c) of 0.50 and higher, IC increased the DOS, and the DOS remained higher than the critical DOS even after 28 days of curing, thereby making these mixtures susceptible to F-T damage. For mixtures with a lower w/c, IC increased the DOS at early ages, but the DOS was similar to or less than that of plain cement paste at later ages. IC slightly increases the susceptibility of low w/c mixtures to F-T damage only at very early ages; this susceptibility decreases after 7 days of curing. It is recommended that care be taken to avoid F-T damage during the first few days when IC is used for mixtures with a higher w/c (that is, above 0.42).