Empirical correlation between compressive strength, electrical resistivity, rapid chloride migration, and water absorption tests of mortars contain different substitute cementitious materials

The durability of concrete against penetration of chloride ions is one of the most important factors that can affect the serviceability of structures. Many tests can measure or predict the durability of concrete structures during their lifespan. Recently, many researchers have tried to provide different relationships and correlations between durability tests. The rapid chloride migration test, the electrical resistivity test and the water absorption test are some of the common and practical tests that may be used for studying the durability and permeability of cementitious materials. Providing an empirical correlation among these tests could yield the opportunity to estimate the durability parameters. This study presents relationships between durability tests and their correlations with the compressive strength in mortars containing rice husk ash, nanosilica and sugar cane bagasse ash. The empirical correlation between electrical resistivity and the migration coefficient followed the Nernst-Einstein equation. A strong linear correlation between electrical resistivity and compressive strength of binary mixtures was found, whereas a weak correlation was found for ternary mixtures. Moreover, a strong power correlation between electrical resistivity and capillary absorption of mortars was found.