The minimum core diameter as described in C1556 is 75mm (~3″ core diamter). Concrete cores or cylinders with a diameters up to 4″ can be accomodated with minimal sample preparation.

The grinding profile is selected based on the water/cement ratio and the addition of supplementary cementitous materials (fly ash, natural pozzolans, slag). Powders from eight (8) layers are collected using a diamond tipped drill bit and an automated XY translation table.

The acid soluble chloride content of the powders is determined following ASTM C1152 using an ion-slective electrode.

The apparent chloride diffusion coefficient and the chloride concentration at the exposure surface are determined by applying a least-squares refinement fit of the measured chloride concentrations. The chloride profile fit was implemented using SigmaPlot.