What are surface treatment systems and which are used to protect the concrete of marine structures?
Surface treatment systems can be used on concrete structures for a variety of purposes.
The most common uses include:
- protect the concrete from ingress of water, chlorides, and other corrosive elements (PI)
- reduce the moisture content in the concrete (MC)
- increase the physical resistance (PR)
- increase the resistivity of the concrete by limiting the moisture content (IR)
In this sense, in a marine environment, the typical intentions are:
- To prevent the ingress of chlorides caused by seawater, thereby limiting the risk of corrosion.
- To reduce the level of moisture in concrete, thereby reducing the risk for freeze/ thaw cycles and alkali-silica reactions (ASR).
- To increase the resistivity in the concrete, and by this reduce the risk (or speed) of corrosion of reinforcement.
The most common surface protection methods, which are described in the following sections, are the following ones:
- Hydrophobic impregnations
- Impregnations and filmogens
- Coatings
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