Frost Resistance and Pore Structure of Concrete Incorporated with Rubber Aggregates and Nano-SiO2

This paper aims to develop frost-resistant concretes, and investigate their pore structures and freeze–thaw damage mechanism. The frost-resistant concrete mixtures are designed by using rubber particles and nano-SiO₂ to partially replace sands. The chord lengths, specific surface areas, contents and spacing coefficients of the pores in the designed concretes are measured and analyzed. The results show that concrete mixture incorporated with 5% silanized rubber and 3% nanosilica shows good synergetic effect by considering both mass loss and relative dynamic modulus of elasticity (RDME). The freeze–thaw damage degree of the concrete could be reduced by adding high elastic rubber particles, due to filling and constraining pores, and resulting in better uniform pore distribution and smaller pore spacing coefficient. Furthermore, the correlations between frost resistance and pore are analyzed and proposed.