The Assessment of Strength of Cementitious Materials Impregnated Using Hydrophobic Agents Based on Near-Surface Hardness Measurements

Recently, the surfaces of concrete structures are impregnated to protect them against the environment in order to increase their durability. It is still not known how the use of these agents affects the near-surface hardness of concrete. This is especially important for experts who use the near-surface hardness of concrete for estimating its compressive strength. The impregnation agents are colorless and, thus, without knowledge of their use, mistakes can be made when testing the surface hardness of concrete. This paper presents the results of investigations concerning the impact of impregnation on the subsurface hardness concrete measured using a Schmidt hammer. For this research, samples of cement paste with a water–cement ratio of 0.4 and 0.5 were used. The samples were impregnated with one, two, and three layers of two different agents. The first agent has been made based on silanes and siloxanes and the second agent has been made based on based on polymers. The obtained research results allow for the conclusion that impregnation affects the near-surface hardness of concrete. This research highlights the fact that a lack of knowledge about the applied impregnation of concrete when testing its near-surface hardness, which is then translated into its compressive strength, can lead to serious mistakes.