Scientific crack dating can play a critical role in any litigation associated with claims from property owners alleging damage due to nearby construction or quarry activities or recent natural disaster events like earthquakes. This paper discusses the influence of surface treatments on the carbonation rates of fly ash concrete (0%, 25% and 50%) for the purpose of evaluating carbonation depths to determine the age of cracks within cementitious materials. Carbonation, a neutralizing reaction within the paste matrix, reduces the pH of cementitious materials from over 14 to less than 9. This reaction is a time-dependent process, which can be measured through various surfaces of both known and unknown age, then compared to determine a relative age and narrow down an absolute age so that such damage can be better linked to causation.
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