A Review of Research on Mechanical Deterioration and Durability of Concrete Structures in Freeze-Thaw Environments

Abstract

Concrete structures for municipal bridges, hydraulic engineering and highways in northern China, high-altitude mountainous areas and seasonal freeze-thaw regions suffer from long-term positive and negative temperature alternations. Resulting freeze-thaw cycles induce surface spalling, internal microcrack propagation and continuous mechanical performance degradation of concrete, which severely reduces the structural design service life and renders freeze-thaw damage a critical problem limiting the durability of concrete in cold regions. This paper systematically reviews domestic and international studies on concrete freeze-thaw damage, covering four key research aspects: the microscopic damage mechanism, the evolutionary law of mechanical property deterioration, indoor accelerated tests and microscopic numerical analysis methods, as well as frost resistance modification technologies. It compares the applicable scopes of the classic hydrostatic pressure and osmotic pressure theories, summarizes the differential attenuation rules of concrete compressive, flexural and tensile strengths, and elaborates the pros and cons of two mainstream research methods, namely the rapid freeze-thaw test and three-dimensional stochastic aggregate microscopic simulation. Furthermore, the improvement mechanisms of air-entraining agents, mineral compound blending and aggregate grading optimization are analyzed. Current research still has several limitations, including ambiguous multi-field coupling damage mechanisms, the absence of freeze-thaw damage models for large-volume bridge components, and the lack of universal long-term service life prediction methods. Future research should focus on the freeze-thaw-load-erosion multi-field coupling damage mechanism, long-term in-situ monitoring of practical cold-region engineering, and low-cost solid waste-based antifreeze modification materials, aiming to provide theoretical support for the durability design and disease prevention of concrete structures in cold regions.