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Validity of the Sulfate Soundness Test

Published Thursday, August 01, 2002

Repeated immersions of aggregate samples in sodium or magnesium sulfate solutions and alternating with oven drying to precipitate the salt in the permeable pore spaces is a test deeply rooted in aggregate technology. But is it worthwhile? The test was initially published in ASTM in 1931. Its use, variability and interpretation is discussed by Stephen W. Forster in ASTM STP 169C. After each drying cycle, the sodium or magnesium sulfate salt re-hydration precipitated in aggregate pores causes expansion during soaking cycles. This expansion is said to simulate the expansion of water upon freezing. Soundness is a general descriptor ...

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