Case Studies in Construction Materials (Jul 2025)
Development of 3D satisfaction surface for concrete durability design under chloride attack considering climate change
Abstract
Climate change significantly impacts the durability of concrete structures through variations in temperature and humidity, accelerating chloride ion penetration a primary cause of steel reinforcement corrosion. Rising sea levels, resulting from melting glaciers, further expose coastal infrastructures to these risks. Traditional design methods, which focus mainly on material properties like the water-cement ratio, are inadequate as they do not fully account for the complex and long-term environmental effects on concrete. This study introduces a 3D Performance-Based Evaluation (PBE) method that incorporates the effects of different curing conditions, including temperatures (8°C, 12°C, 20°C, 35°C, and 45°C) and relative humidity levels (40 %, 65 %, and 95 %), to evaluate and enhance concrete durability under chloride exposure. Experimental results indicate that higher curing temperatures increase chloride penetration, whereas higher humidity improves resistance. The service life of the target structure against chloride attack was evaluated using the proposed 3D PBE. The result show that the durability life of the structure decreased as the relative humidity decreased and the temperature increased during curing. In particular, this study predicted that the service life of the structure would decrease by 49 years to 68 years when the distance from the coastline decreased from 250 m to 100 m. The developed 3D PBE framework integrates these findings with probabilistic modeling, providing a comprehensive and adaptable approach to predict the service life of concrete structures affected by climate changes. Detailed information is provided in the main text.
