Cavitation Resistence of Concrete with Varying Compressive Strengths - Scoping

Project ID: 1786
Principal Investigator: Katie Bartojay P.E.
Research Topic: Repair and Maintenance
Funded Fiscal Years: 2017
Keywords: None

Research Question

Can the relationship between concrete compressive strength versus concrete cavitation resistance be quantified and presented in terms of durabilty and economy? We know from the building code ACI 350 - Environmental Structures Code and Commentary that "Structures exposed to cavitation erosion shall be constructed with high-strength, low water-cementitious materials concrete..." No clear guidance is given to the designers for selecting high-strength boundaries and if a selected strength is unnecessarily high, this can add unnecessary costs to a project.
Through the collaboration between the Concrete, Geotechincal and Structural Laboratory and the Hydraulics Laboratory, along with an external consultant, the potential to create a testing matrix to look at various high-strength concrete mixes in a cavitation environment exists. This is scoping study to identify partners and perform a literature search for the collection of past research from which a full proposal will be submitted next FY.

Need and Benefit

We know from the building code ACI 350 - Environmental Structures Code and Commentary that "Structures exposed to cavitation erosion shall be constructed with high-strength, low water-cementitious materials concrete..." No clear guidance is given to the designers for selecting high-strength boundaries and if a selected strength is unnecessarily high, this can add unnecessary costs to a project.

Contributing Partners

Contact the Principal Investigator for information about partners.

Research Products

Bureau of Reclamation Review

The following documents were reviewed by experts in fields relating to this project's study and findings. The results were determined to be achieved using valid means.

Cavitation Resistence of Concrete with Varying Compressive Strengths - Scoping (final, PDF, 507KB)
By Katie Bartojay
Research Product completed on September 30, 2017

This research product summarizes the research results and potential application to Reclamation's mission.

Cavitation Resistence of Concrete with Varying Compressive Strengths - Scoping (final, PDF, 507KB)
By Katie Bartojay
Research Product completed on September 30, 2017

This research product summarizes the research results and potential application to Reclamation's mission.

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Last Updated: 6/22/20