Reinforced Concrete under the Action of Carbonization and Chloride Aggression: a Probabilistic Model for Service Life Prediction

Abstract

Reinforcement corrosion of marine and coastal hydraulic structures due to chloride aggression and concrete carbonization leads to a sharp decrease in structure safety. The reinforcement is subjected to a depassivation process as soon as a chloride concentration on its surface exceeds a certain threshold concentration, or the pH value in a concrete protective layer is decreased to a threshold value due to carbonation. Electrochemical reactions are realized with formation of corrosion products due to penetration of oxygen up to reinforcement surface. This leads to cracking of the concrete protective layer and decrease in reinforcement cross-section. The paper proposes a method for predicting a complex degradation of reinforced concrete structures with due account of various mechanisms of corrosion wear that allows to develop efficient methods for improvement of structure durability and maintainability which are operated in the marine environment. A methodology for forecasting of reinforced concrete service life prediction has been developed under a combined effect of carbonization and chloride aggression while using finite-difference and probability models. The paper takes into account initiation periods of reinforcement corrosion and propagation periods for conditions of Sakhalin shelf zone. Field surveys of Kholmsk and Korsakov port facilities are presented in the paper. Carbonization front and chloride content have been estimated according to depth of the concrete protective layer. The paper proposes a model that allows to determine an average period prior to repair while taking into account rate of concrete protective layer degradation caused by simultaneous action of two corrosion processes: carbonization and chloride aggression.

Keywords

• reinforced concrete
• carbonization
• chloride aggression
• service life prediction
• probabilistic model