LAUSR

Abstract Since concrete durability issues due to deterioration involve physical and chemical reactions, it is important to understanding the fundamental knowledge of the chemistry changes over time. While a number of analytical tools are available for this purpose, there are certain drawbacks in terms of cost, time consumed and technical limitations. On the other hand, the development of Raman spectroscopy has enabled the determination of symmetric chemical bond stretching and bending vibration change of both amorphous and crystalline phases in cement-based materials. This has opened up new perspectives that differ from previous analytical methods to elucidate the whole chemical reaction process. This paper provides an overview of utilizing Raman spectroscopy in the characterization of sulfate, carbonate and silicate phases as well as hydroxides to study carbonation, sulfate and alkali-silicate reaction (ASR) attacks on cement-based materials. The main wave numbers and changes in chemical phases (SiO42−, CO32–, SO42−, etc.) which occurred under these durability attacks are summarized, compared and discussed. Also, the transformation of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) in these reactions are discussed in detail. In short, Raman spectroscopy is a useful tool which can be further explored to increase the understanding of mechanisms related to some common durability attacks on cement-based materials.