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Cement is subject to degradation by aggressive media found in the environment. Durability tests are therefore necessary for any cementitious material in a given aggressive environment. This study investigated chloride and sulphate diffusivity in mortar made from selected Kenyan cements. In this study, test cements were selected Kenya OPC and PPC. The test cements were labeled with respect to company source and cement category; the letters A, B and C represented companies while O and P represented OPC and PPC respectively. AO for example, represents OPC from company A and AP represents PPC from company A. Based on the results, analysis and discussion in this research the following conclusions were drawn: 1. For all selected test cements, OPC exhibited higher apparent diffusion coefficient (Dapp) than PPC at all w/c ratios. 2. The ingress of the SO42- and Cl- increased with increase in w/c ratio. 3. OPC exhibited higher chloride and sulphate ingress than PPC. 4. The test OPC and PPC exhibited notable compressive strength gain when exposed to Sulphates and Chlorides than in their absence. The gain was more pronounced in chlorides than in sulphates.
About the author
Mutitu, D.K. has a M.Sc. specializing in cement Chemistry from Kenyatta University, Kenya. He is a high school teacher and has worked as a County trainer of teachers since 2007. He is also a renown high school ICT consultant. Muthengia, J.W. has a Ph.D from Kenyatta University, Kenya. Wa-Thiongó, J.K. has a Ph.D from university of MIST, UK.
