Effect of cement types on carbonation depth of concrete

Reinforced concrete as a building material is the most used in most civil engineering structures. This one is exposed to several attacks (physical, chemical and mechanical). Among these attacks, we can cite the phenomenon of carbonation, which leads to corrosion of the reinforcements and consequently reduces the service life of reinforced concrete structures. In addition, this phenomenon generates additional repair costs, which can sometimes exceed the initial cost of the building. Furthermore, it depends on the type and class of cement, two main classes of cement are used for the formulation of concrete in Algeria, ordinary Portland cements and cements with additions.  This paper enters in the option of sustainable development, in order to study the behavior of these two types of cements against accelerated carbonation. For this purpose, two concrete compositions (based on ordinary Portland cements and cements with additions) were formulated, from these two formulations, samples were made in order to subject them to accelerated carbonation in a chamber rich in CO2 according to the recommendations of the AFPC-AFREM. The results obtained clearly show that concretes based on ordinary Portland cements (OPC) are less sensitive to the phenomenon of carbonation compared to concretes based on blended cements.