## 3 Results and Discussion
### Tests with the Laboratory Specimens
#### 3.2.3 Cracked Specimens Constantly Submerged and Subjected to wet/dry Cycles in a NaCl Solution  
The visual aspects of the cracked surface of the specimens under continuous immersion and wet/dry cycles are depicted in Figures 14 and 15. At first look, the specimens subjected to continuous immersion presented no filling of the cracks after the immersion period. In contrast, the specimens subjected to wet/dry cycles presented a slight filling of the surface of the crack, which can be related to salt crystallization during the wet/dry cycles. The chloride ingress profiles of the cracked specimens (subjected to continuous immersion and wet/dry cycles) are presented in Figures 16 and 17. The figures are divided into parts (a), (b), and (c) to facilitate the comparison of each SAP mixture with the two reference mixtures. The zero value in the y-axis represents the top surface of the specimens  
Figure 14: Visual aspects of the cracked surface of specimens under continuous immersion. Figure 13: Chloride profiles were measured over the length of the specimen. The measurements were performed from the exposed surface of the specimen every 10 mm. Figure 15: Visual aspects of the cracked surface of specimens under wet/dry cycles. (from where the chlorides penetrate) and the zero value in the x-axis represents the location of the crack. For the first group, few significant differences were observed when comparing the specimens. Still, the SAP-containing mixtures did not perform worse than the reference mixtures, which again confirms that the inclusion of air voids expected with the addition of SAPs did not necessarily increase the permeability of the matrix, which is a positive outcome. Furthermore, the ingress of chloride solution in the specimen might be delayed by the presence of the SAP in possibly two different ways: (1) if the SAP voids are empty, the dry SAP particle inside the void will have the ability to re-swell upon absorption of the chloride solution; (2) if the SAP void contains a (fully or partially) swollen SAP particle, then it is likely that transport will be slower than in pure liquid given the higher viscosity of the liquid entrapped in the SAP. This has already been hypothesized by [PERSON] et al. in [40] by comparing the transport properties in a swollen SAP with that of a liquid to which a viscosity modifying agent has been added. Apart from that, there is once again an indication of a slight densification of the matrix when SAP1 was used. In terms of relative values for the affected area (meaning the area where chlorides were found in relation to the total area of the specimen), the following values were found: 41.2%, 41.8%, 39.2%, 39.7%, and 38.5% for WR1, WR2, WS1, WS2, and WSC, respectively. For the second group, in terms of relative area affected by the chloride ingress, the following values were found: 38%, 42%, 36%, 37%, and 35% for WR1, WR2, WS1, WS2, and WSC, respectively. In that sense, all SAP-containing mixtures performed better than the reference with the same effective water-to-cement ratio and better than the second reference with the same total water-to-cement ratio. Additionally, although no healing or permanent sealing of the cracks was obtained, there is a visible reduction in the chloride penetration perpendicular to the crack, which could in fact also be related to the partial filling of the crack surface due to salt crystallization (as indicated in Figure 15). Overall, although the internal curing reduced the risk of corrosion for the SAP wall (mostly due to the reduction in the shrinkage cracking potential), and the presence of SAPs could reduce the chloride ingress and the progress of carbonation in the concrete mixtures studied here, it is important to highlight that these results are specific for the concrete mixtures presented in this study. After all, the performance of cementitious materials with SAPs is highly dependent on the total water-to-cement ratio of the mixture [1]. Figure 16: Chloride ingress profiles of the cracked specimens under continuous immersion.