Bidimensional Study of the Diffusion and Migration of Chloride in the Concrete through Radial Basis Functions

Abstract

The main cause of deterioration of concrete structures is due to the penetration of aggressive ions such as chloride ion. Concrete is considered as a material formed by several phases such as paste and aggregate; therefore, obtaining an analytical solution to the problem of ionic transport becomes very complex. In this work the mechanism of ionic transport of diffusion and migration of these ions is investigated using a mesh free method, which does not need to generate a mesh to obtain an approximate solution of the problem. The method of Radial Basis Functions with multiquadric core is used to simulate the transport of ions and obtain profiles of concentration of chlorides at different times of a concrete sample subject to an externally applied electrical potential.