The impact of sodium silicate coatings on the freeze-thaw resistance of ground granulated blast furnace slag mortar

The study elucidated how sodium silicate coating halts the deterioration of the mortar samples significantly with the addition of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) into the binder mass (B), the coated samples exhibited a substantial increment in freeze and thaw resistance compared to non-coated samples. The study included implementing freeze and thaw cycles on mortar samples with 4 different GGBS/B ratios: 0%, 30%, 50%, and 70%. The multiple coatings of sodium silicate were also tested against freeze and thaw cycles (3 and 6 coatings). The cumulative scaling was measured for all mortar samples at 7,14,21,28, and 35 freeze-thaw cycles. The freeze-thaw resistance tests indicated that the mortars with the addition of sodium silicate coating were the most resistant to deterioration, moreover, the higher the GGBS/B ratio in the samples the more resilience it shows to the freezing-thawing cycles.