Acidic corrosion-abrasion resistance of concrete containing fly ash and silica fume for use as concrete floors in pig farm

The objective of this study is to investigate the resistance of concretes to organic acid corrosion and abrasive corrosion, which occurs in typical pig farms. For the concrete mixtures, cement was replaced by fly ash and silica fume with different weight percentages up to 30%. The cubic mortar and concrete specimens were prepared and tested for compressive strength and mass loss due to organic acid corrosion. The test results indicated that fly ash and silica fume mixed together significantly enhance the compressive strength of the concrete, especially at long-term curing periods. The resistance of the concrete and mortar against organic acid corrosion was greatly improved by the substitution of fly ash and silica fume. Moreover, two testing machines were developed to simulate the abrasion-corrosion attack on concrete floors in pig farms (one for organic acid corrosion tests in wet-dried conditions and the other one for an abrasion testing machine with steel brushes). The concrete slab was cast and tested with a wet-dry switching system in an organic acid solution cooperating with an abrasion test. The test results demonstrated that applying a large amount of fly ash and silica fume is not effective for increasing the resistance of the concrete against organic acid corrosion and abrasive corrosion. The concrete mixture with 5 wt% of silica fume shows the highest resistance to organic acid corrosion together with abrasive corrosion with a mass loss reduction for 7.14% compared to the reference mixture.