Assessing the Effects of Mechanical Preventive Measures on Alkali-Silica Reaction Expansion with Accelerated Mortar Bar Test

Abstract This paper presents a modification to the apparatus of the mortar bar test of ASTM C490 in order to assess and compare the influence of mechanical preventive measures in reducing alkali-silica reaction (ASR) expansion in concrete with respect to the traditional measures. For this purpose, reinforced mortar specimens with or without pre-stressing force applied were examined and the effects of the reinforcement ratio and pre-stressing force on ASR-induced expansion and cracking were studied through the accelerated mortar bar test method of ASTM C1260. The mechanical preventive measure was also compared with a traditional preventive measure by using fly ash. The results show that reinforcement and pre-stressing force play a role in limiting expansion and cracking due to ASR and that the developed test apparatus in this study can be used for measurements.