A 3-YEAR FIELD AND LABORATORY EVALUATION OF LINSEED OIL AS A CONCRETESEALER

Sealers are used to enhance concrete durability through their ability to prevent moisture penetration and chloride intrusion, and, consequen tly, improve the freeze-thaw performance of the concrete and prevent c orrosion of the steel reinforcement, respectively. This paper summariz es the results of three years of comprehensive field and laboratory in vestigations, undertaken at The University of Manitoba, to study the e ffectiveness of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits in comparison t o a silane and a siloxane sealer. The field investigation examined the performance of the sealers applied to the concrete pavements of a cit y street, a provincial highway, and an airport apron in Winnipeg, Mani toba. The laboratory investigation included sealer penetration, salt-w ater absorption and vapour transmission, abrasion, chloride ion intrus ion, surface scaling resistance, and rapid freeze-thaw cycling. Test r esults of the field and laboratory investigation indicated that boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits was the most effective sealer at redu cing chloride ion intrusion. It was found that boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits was comparable to siloxane and much more effective tha n the silane at reducing salt-water absorption. The results also indic ated that boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits was most effective at reducing surface scaling and remained effective when subjected to sal t-water absorption after abrasion.