SOUZA, J. L. F.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/0389721080381332; SOUZA, Jorge Luís Firmino de.
Resumen:
In concrete construction, the term durability can be understood as the capability of structures to preserve
their safety, stability and ability when subjected to environmental conditions foreseen in project and during the
period of expected life. Constructors and customers want to avoid spending on maintenance and repairs. This
wanted durability depends basically on quality control during the stages of planning, design and execution. One of
the mechanisms responsible for ageing and deterioration of concrete is a reaction between the alkali present in
cement and certain reactive aggregates denominated alkali aggregate reaction - AAR. This complex
phenomenon discovered early in the last century, with pathological effects on more than one hundred dams in the
world, was also detected in bridges and more recently in buildings in the metropolitan area of Recife-PE. It
should be noted that once AAR is triggered there is no procedures that could prevent its advance; however the
best way to prevent it is a prior knowledge of the materials that will be used. This investigation studies the
reaction potential among aggregates obtained from granite rocks and sand normally used in building construction
in the Campina Grande-PB area and lateritic alternative aggregates found in the cities of Sape-PB and Jacuma-
PB. Initially, a state of the art on ARR is presented along with characterization of used materials. To evaluate the
potential of reactive aggregates, bars of mortar, chemical and petrography methods were used. To study the
extension of mortar bars at 16 and 28 days of age for all aggregates the accelerated method was used. In
addition, scanning electron microscopy - MEV - was performed on samples from accelerated method to analyze
the obtained results. The aggregates used in this investigation revealed no reactive potential.