Engineering

Epoxy

Materials science

Coating

Durability

Chemical engineering

Carbonation

Service life

Gloss (optics)

Surface modification

Composite material

Sodium silicate

Construction and Building Materials

There are variety of surface treatments used for concrete structures protection. This paper presents a review of the effect of surface treatments on mechanical properties and durability concrete, and the durability of treatment materials themselves. Several common surface treatment are reviewed, including acrylic coating, polyurethane coating, epoxy coating, silanes, siloxanes sodium silicate, and nano-SiO2. These surface treatments showed different impacts on physical and mechanical properties, water permeability, chloride migration, carbonation resistance, sulphate attack, and freeze-thaw cycle. It is important to consider their strengths and weakness when choosing a surface treatment. In addition, there are limited prediction model for the service-life of treated concretes, though many tests were conducted to measure the barriers properties of these surface treatments. Many of the surface treatments, especially organic treatments, are generally subjected to aging and weathering, and thus the long-term protection cannot be promised. Hence, both the protective effect and long-term durability of the surface treatment should be taken into account in service-life modelling.

A review on surface treatment for concrete – Part 2: Performance