Alkali reaction with reactive aggregates is an example of concrete internal corrosion. Cracks and damage to elements of a concrete structure are the result of the formation of an expansive alkali-silica gel. One of the ways to minimise the effects of this damaging reaction is to use lithium compounds as an admixture to concrete mixes. Lithium ions are believed to reduce the reaction between the alkalis and aggregate or minimise damaging expansivity by modifying chemical composition of the reaction products. This paper presents the results from the tests carried out on mortars from reactive polymineral gravel with lithium nitrate according to the modified ASTM C1260 standard and ASTM C227. The findings show that lithium ions decrease mortar expansion until it reaches the levels markedly lower than those set out in the standards. A considerable reduction in the number of microcracks may indicate either lower swelling capacity of the gels or reduced reactivity of the aggregate, leading to the reduction in the quantity of damaging expansive products.
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Zapała-Sławeta et al. (2016) studied this question.