Modeling corrosion‐induced damage of reinforced concrete elements with multiple‐arranged reinforcement bars

Abstract

Aggressive environmental conditions, such as exposure to the sea climate or use of de-icing salts, have considerable influence on durability of reinforced concrete structures due to the reinforcement corrosion-induced damage. Recently a coupled 3D chemo-hygro-thermo-mechanical (CHTM) model for modeling of processes related to the chloride induced corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete was developed. The model is briefly discussed and subsequently employed in the 3D finite element analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) beams exposed to aggressive environmental conditions, which were recently tested by Dong et al. [1]. In the analysis, the corrosion-induced damage is simulated by accounting for the interaction between several rebars. Moreover, the influence of the stirrups is also investigated. The numerical results are compared with experimental results and it is demonstrated that the numerical model realistically replicates corrosion-induced damage of concrete. The same as in experimental tests, the beams without stirrups exhibits severe damage due to spalling of concrete cover and the presence of stirrups reduces the corrosion-induced damage.

Assessment of reinforcement corrosion and concrete damage on bridges using non-destructive testing

“…Presented NDT results will be applied for the realistic simulation of processes before and after depassivation of reinforcement in concrete using the 3D chemo-hygro-thero-mechanical (CHTM) model [82,[84][85][86][87][88][89][90]. The coupled 3D CHTM is one of the most comprehensive models for service life prediction.…”

Chloride Transport in Cracked Concrete Subjected to Wetting – Drying Cycles: Numerical Simulations and Measurements on Bridges Exposed to De-Icing Salts

“…The 3D CHTM model is a coupled physical model that simulates mechanical, transport, and corrosion processes before and after depassivation of steel reinforcement in concrete in real environmental conditions, but also accelerated corrosion in laboratory (Ožbolt et al, 2010(Ožbolt et al, , 2011(Ožbolt et al, , 2012(Ožbolt et al, , 2013(Ožbolt et al, , 2016a(Ožbolt et al, ,b, 2017aSola et al, 2016). The model includes the following physical, electrochemical, and mechanical processes: (i) transport of capillary water, heat, oxygen, and chloride through the concrete cover; (ii) immobilization of chloride in the concrete; (iii) cathodic and anodic polarization; (iv) transport of OH − ions through electrolyte in concrete pores; (v) oxygen consumption on steel surface due to cathodic and anodic reaction; (vi) distribution of electrical potential and current density; (vii) transport of corrosion products in concrete and cracks; and (viii) concrete cracking due to mechanical and non-mechanical actions.…”

Transient and gradient analyses of depolarization criteria. Valuable tools in chloride‐induced rebar corrosion monitoring

“…[1,2] Numerical studies have been performed on alternating cell geometries and electrode surface ratios, [3] temperature dependencies, [4] and cracked concrete. [5,6] Transient analysis of open circuit potentials has been reported by Issacs and -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Cho, [7] and transient analysis of potential and current decay constants has been conducted by Birbilis and Holloway. [8,9] Most of the studies on corrosion monitoring have the clear goal of quantifying the true loss of cross section due to galvanic loss of mass.…”