A comparative study of the surface glaze characteristics of concrete treated with CO₂ and high power diode lasers Part II: Mechanical, chemical and physical properties

The hardened ordinary Portland cement (OPC) surface layer of concrete which was glazed using a CO₂ and a high power diode laser (see Part I of this paper) has been tested in order to determine the mechanical, chemical and physical characteristics of the glazes. The work showed that the generation of the surface glazes resulted in improved mechanical, chemical and physical properties over the untreated OPC surface of concrete. However, differences in the performance of the CO₂ and high power diode laser (HPDL) generated glazes were observed. These are believed to be due to the differences in the morphology and microstructure of the glazes generated as a result of the differing beam absorption characteristics of the two lasers. Life assessment testing revealed that the laser-glazed OPC surfaces effected an increase in actual wear life of 1.3-17.7 times over the untreated OPC surface of concrete depending upon the corrosive environment. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.