Finite element analysis of the effects of radial expansion of corroded reinforcement

Finite element analysis of cracking and delamination of concrete beam due to steel corrosion

“… = the coefficient of volume expansion of corrosion products [15] However, it should be noted that the amount of corrosion for concrete cracking calculated using the radial expansion from a finite element is generally much smaller than those measured from corrosion tests. This is because a significant amount of corrosion products in corrosion tests diffused into the concrete pores and dissipated out of the concrete.…”

“…It should be pointed out that, in practice, the corrosion of a steel bar is not always uniform but varies around its sectional circumference and along its longitudinal length, which does affect the cracking of the concrete, as addressed previously [15]. The different steel bars in a concrete beam may corrode at different rates, which would affect the cracking, including cracking initiation, development mechanism and cracking patter of a concrete beam.…”

“…This is because a significant amount of corrosion products in corrosion tests diffused into the concrete pores and dissipated out of the concrete. Hence, the issue of the diffusion of corrosion products into concrete pores has to be considered whenever extrapolating laboratory data to field conditions and whenever using analytical corrosion models to predict real structural behaviour [15].…”

“…The rest data adopted the values as recommended in LUSAS Manuals [22] For the purpose of clarifying the initial mechanism and development of beam cracking due to steel bar corrosion, the amount of radial expansion determined using the FE model was deemed to be equivalent to the amount of corrosion that was needed for that type of beam cracking using Equation 1 [15].…”

“…As a result, finite element method was brought into this research field, and facilitated an effective tool to study the corrosion -induced cracks in the concrete [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. In these FE analyses, reinforced concrete beams or slabs were idealised as three or two dimensional analytical models.…”