Probabilistic Lifetime Assessment of Marine Reinforced Concrete with Steel Corrosion and Cover Cracking

In order to study the durability behavior of marine reinforced concrete structure suffering from chloride attack, the structural service life is assumed to be divided into three critical stages, which can be characterized by steel corrosion and cover cracking. For each stage, a calculated model used to predict the lifetime is developed. Based on the definition of durability limit state, a probabilistic lifetime model and its time-dependent reliability analytical method are proposed considering the random natures of influencing factors. Then, the probabilistic lifetime prediction models are applied to a bridge pier located in the Hangzhou Bay with Monte Carlo simulation. It is found that the time to corrosion initiation to follows a lognormal distribution, while that the time from corrosion initiation to cover cracking t~ and the time for crack to develop from hairline crack to a limit crack width t2 can be described by Weibull distributions. With the permitted failure probability of 5.0%, it is also observed that the structural durability lifetime mainly depends on the durability life to and that the percentage of participation of the life to to the total service life grows from 61.5% to 83.6% when the cover thickness increases from 40 mm to 80 mm. Therefore, for any part of the marine RC bridge, the lifetime predictions and maintenance efforts should also be directed toward controlling the stage of corrosion initiation induced by chloride ion.

Effect of Fly Ash on Frost-Resistance and Chloride Ions Diffusion Properties of Marine Concrete

It is necessary to pay more attention to the durability of concrete undergoing freeze-thaw cycles and seawater attack simultaneously.Investigated are the effects of water-binder ratio,fly ash（FA）contents and air-entraining agent on resistance to frost and chloride diffusion of marine concrete blended with FA in natural seawater.The results show that fly ash does not improve the frost resistance of concrete but can improve its resistance to chloride diffusion by addition of less than 30%.The resistance to frost and chloride diffusion of FA concrete can be improved with the decrease of water-binder ratio,and FA may improve both of them simultaneously only being mixed with air-entraining agent.A ratio（named as R）of the frost-resisting durability factor to chloride diffusion coefficient can be used to evaluate the durability of marine concrete.Scanning electron microscope（SEM）analyses are consistent with the evaluations by the value of R.

Properties and Microstructure of Marine Concrete with Composite Mineral Admixture

The influences of compositing mineral admixtures on the regularity of mechanical property, workability, durability and microstructure of C50 marine concrete were investigated. The results show that the incorporation of mineral admixtures can improve the mechanical properties and workability of C50 marine concrete, 3 min-doped mineral admixture had excellent resistance to chloride ion permeability. The microscopic structure mixing mineral admixtures system was well-distributed and compact, little macroporeare can be found.

Reliability-based service life prediction of existing concrete structures under marine environment

Chloride-induced corrosion of the reinforcement is considered as one of the major mechanisms resulting in the reduction of structural resistance of reinforced concrete structural elements located in marine and other aggressive environments. A study of reinforced concrete structures located at the Fangcheng dock in the Beibu Gulf port, China, was present. The result from field survey indicates that the concrete cover depth and chloride diffusion coefficient fit best normal distribution and lognormal distribution, respectively. The service life of structure is about 55 a, while initiation time is 45 a. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the most influential factor of the structure service life prediction is concrete cover, followed by diffusion coefficient, diffusion decay index, critical chloride concentration, surface chloride concentration, current density and localized pitting corrosion. Finally, the effects of diffusion decay index and critical chloride concentration on structure service life prediction are discussed.

Oyster Cementation as Protective Covers for Exposed Marine Concrete

Cored concrete specimens from seawall exposed to marine environment for 22 years were evaluated by carbonation depth test,rapid chloride permeability test,absorption of water test and microstructure examination.The results show that concrete exposed to marine environment has smaller carbonation depth and carbonation depth of concrete exposed to tidal zone is less than that in splash zone.There are similar water absorption rate and chloride permeability for concrete exposed to splash zone compared with concrete exposed to splash zone removed 3mm surface layer.However,concrete exposed to tidal zone with bio-films has lower chloride permeability and water absorption rate than those of concrete exposed to tidal zone removed 3mm surface layer.In addition,Results of FE-SEM and EDAX indicate that concrete exposed to splash zone has loose structure,exposed finer aggregate and concrete exposed to tidal zone covers by dense structure of oyster cementation and shell.Microstructures analysis further verified that concrete covered with oysters and their cementation has beneficial effects to durability of concrete.

Effect of Silica Fume on Compressive Strength of Oil-Polluted Concrete in Different Marine Environments

In the present research, effect of silica fume as an additive and oil polluted sands as aggregates on compressive strength of concrete were investigated experimentally. The amount ofoil in the designed mixtures was assumed to be constant and equal to 2% of the sand weight. Silica fume accounting for 10%, 15% and 20% of the weight is added to the designed mixture. After preparation and curing, concrete specimens were placed into the three different conditions： fresh, brackish and saltwater environments （submerged in fresh water, alternation of exposed in air ＆ submerged in sea water and submerged in sea water）. The result of compressive strength tests shows that the compressive strength of the specimens consisting of silica fume increases significantly in comparison with the control specimens in all three environments. The compressive strength of the concrete with 15% silica fume content was about 30% to 50% higher than that of control specimens in all tested environments under the condition of using polluted aggregates in the designed mixture.

Modeling Boundary and Edge Effect of Chloride Diffusion for Durability Design of Concrete Structures Exposed in Marine Environment

According to the Fick＇s second law of diffusion, six analytical solutions of chloride profile in concrete were studied and discussed with regard to different boundary and initial conditions. In those analytical solutions, the most prevailing error-function solution which is based on semi-infinite assumption is the simple one, but may under-estimate the chloride content in concrete and over-rate the life time prediction of concrete structures. The experimental results show that compared with other solutions, the chloride content in concrete predicted by error-function model is the minimum, and the calculation difference produced by different analytical models should not be ignored. The influence of models on chloride content prediction is more than other environment and material coefficients in some time. In order to get a more realistic prediction model, modification to error-function model is suggested based on analysis and calculation examples concerning the boundary and edge effect.

Sensitivity Study on Durability Variables of Marine Concrete Structures

In order to study the influence of parameters on durability of marine concrete structures, the parameter＇s sensitivity analysis was studied in this paper. With the Fick＇s 2nd law of diffusion and the deterministic sensitivity analysis method （DSA）, the sensitivity factors of apparent surface chloride content, apparent chloride diffusion coefficient and its time dependent attenuation factor were analyzed. The results of the analysis show that the impact of design variables on concrete durability was different. The values of sensitivity factor of chloride diffusion coefficient and its time dependent attenuation factor were higher than others. Relative less error in chloride diffusion coefficient and its time dependent attenuation coefficient induces a bigger error in concrete durability design and life prediction. According to probability sensitivity analysis （PSA）, the influence of mean value and variance of concrete durability design variables on the durability failure probability was studied. The results of the study provide quantitative measures of the importance of concrete durability design and life prediction variables. It was concluded that the chloride diffusion coefficient and its time dependent attenuation factor have more influence on the reliability of marine concrete structural durability. In durability design and life prediction of marine concrete structures, it was very important to reduce the measure and statistic error of durability design variables.

Influence of Binder Composition and Concrete Pore Structure on Chloride Diffusion Coefficient in Concrete

The influence of binder composition and pore structure of concrete on chloride diffusion coefficient in concrete were investigated by the natural immersion test, MIP test, SEM and EDS test, respectively. The experimental results showed that the effect of binder composition on chloride diffusion coefficient was the comprehensive result of concrete pore structure and binder hydration products, and the porosity and pore size distribution were the main factors that influence the changes of diffusion coefficient. The chloride diffusion coefficient decreased with increasing the curing temperature and the relative humidity. The hydration degree were promoted by improving curing temperatures, and then the porosity of concrete decreased and the proportion of gel pore and transitional pore increased, respectively. But the water evaporation decreased with increasing the relative humidity and then decreased porosity and increased the proportion of gel pore and transitional pore. Additionally, The chloride diffusion coefficient of concrete got the lower value when the appropriate replacement of fly ash in the ranges of 10%-20%, when the double-adding fly ash and slag content was 50%. The porosity increased and the ratio of C/S in C-S-H decreased with further increasing the fly ash content, which led to increase the chloride diffusion coefficient in concrete.

Durability related environmental zonation and design methodology for marine RC structures

A reliability-based quantitative durability design methodology is presented for reinforced concrete(RC)structures in the marine environment on the basis of natural exposure data derived from four berths(1.5,1.5,4 and 15 years)of a concrete port.More than 200 chloride profiles are obtained and analyzed.The relationship between nominal surface chloride ion concentration and altitude is discussed.Subsequently,the formula of the apparent chloride diffusion coefficient is proposed with consideration of the surrounding temperature,sodium chloride solution concentration,age factor and altitude.Then,the reliability-based method to predict the durability of RC structures is developed according to Fick s second law.Relationships between the predicted penetration depth of the chloride ion,the ratio of the wetting time per-period and the corresponding altitude are discussed.Subsequently,the environmental zonation methodology is established for concrete structures under a marine chloride environment by considering the ratio of the wetting time per-period of concrete as the zoning index.Finally,the corres-ponding durability design method for each zone level is established,which contains the durability design regulations of the specimen,and correction coefficients for different water/binder ratios,ages,temperatures and chloride ion concentrations.

Analysis of inhibition of concrete steel-rebar corrosion by Na_2Cr_2O_7 concentrations:Implications for conflicting reports on inhibitor effectiveness

Corrosion test data were measured using non-destructive electrochemical techniques and analysed for studying inhibition effectiveness by different concentrations of NazCr207 on the corrosion of concrete steel-rehar in NaC1 and in H2SO4 media. For these, specifications of ASTM G16-95 R04 were combined with the normal and the Gumbel probability density functions as model analytical methods for addressing issues of conflicting reports of inhibitor effectiveness that had generated concerns. Results show that reinforced concrete samples admixed with concentrations having 4 g （0.012 7 tool）, 8 g （0.025 4 mol） and 6 g （0.019 l tool） NaaCr207 exhibited, in that order, high inhibition effectiveness, with respective efficiency, r/, of （90.46±1.30）%, （88.41＋2.24）% and （84.87±4.74）%, in the NaC1 medium. These exhibit good agreements within replicates and statistical methods for the samples. Also, optimal inhibition effectiveness model in the H2SO4 medium was exhibited by 8 g （0.025 4 mol） Na2Cr207 concentration having r/=（78.44±1.10）%. These bear implications for addressing conflicting test data in the study of effective inhibitors for mitigating steel-rebar corrosion in aggressive environments.

Effect of Desiccation of Marine Environment on Beam Structure

This paper presents the study on the effect of desiccation for different part of offshore structure corresponding to the water level. A coupled elastoplastic damage model is proposed to describe the mechanical behavior of cement-based materials under external loading and desiccation, in which both the plastic and damage behaviors under multi-axial stress are considered in composition with the desiccation effect. The comparison between numerical simulation and experimental data indicates that the proposed model can well predict the mechanical characteristics of cement-based materials with different saturations. In addition, a series of small beams subjected to desiccation are further analyzed to reveal the response of structure in the drying process.

Crack Prediction Model for Concrete Affected by Reinforcement Corrosion

The purpose of this study was to develop an analytical model to predict the time required for cracking of concrete due to corrosion of the iron reinforcement. The concrete and cement specimens used for this study were batched with cover material ranging from 0.75 to 1.3 in (1.91 to 3.30 cm). The extent of cover material was not formulated into the model under the assumption that crack initiation would tend to produce visible cracking within a relatively short time period. The model was derived using both Hooke’s Law and the volume expansion induced by the corrosion oxides. Correlation achieved with specimen cracking data from the literature was relatively good with a 95% level of confidence. This model presents a key benefit to facility and infrastructure managers by enabling them to plan the time when corrosion mitigating actions are required. It also provides a significant convenience as the condition of the concrete structure or its environment changes over time. The only parameter that needs to be updated over time is the corrosion rate measurement. This single parameter captures the most influential impact that stems from several other parameters which tend to be required in models that are more mechanistically definitive.

Corrosion Evolution of Steel Reinforced Concrete Under Simulated Tidal and Immersion Zones of Marine Environment

The corrosion evolution processes of steel reinforced concrete under simulated tidal and immersion zones of marine environment were investigated by using electrochemical measurements and corrosion morphology observations. The results indicate that the corrosion of rebar in concrete under both environments experiences the deterioration from passivation to pitting corrosion and then to general corrosion. Specially, the pitting plays the major role only in the early stage of corrosion, and the general corrosion replaces the dominate role of pitting during the long-term corrosion. In addition, both the pitting depth on local surface and the rust thickness on the overall surface of rebar in the tidal condition are larger than those in immersion condition, which is attributed to the faster corrosion rate in tidal zone caused by the concentrated chloride ions and sufficient oxygen supply.

Sensitivity analysis of the deterioration of concrete strength in marine environment to multiple corrosive ions

The corrosion degradation behavior of concrete materials plays a crucial role in the change of its mechanical properties under multi-ion interaction in the marine environment.In this study,the variation in the macrophysical and mechanical properties of concrete with corrosion time is investigated,and the source of micro-corrosion products under different salt solutions in seawater are analyzed.Regardless of the continuous hydration effect of concrete,the damage effects of various corrosive ions(Cl^(−),SO_(4)^(2−),and Mg^(2+),etc.)on the tensile and compressive strength of concrete are discussed based on measurement in different salt solutions.The sensitivity analysis method for concrete strength is used to quantitatively analyze the sensitivity of concrete strength to the effects of each ion in a multi-salt solution without considering the influence of continued hydration.The quantitative results indicate that the addition of Cl−can weaken the corrosion effect of SO_(4)^(2−) by about 20%,while the addition of Mg^(2+)or Mg^(2+)and Cl^(−)can strengthen it by 10%–20%during a 600-d corrosion process.

含引气剂海工混凝土的抗冻性能及其梁受弯承载力

为了研究引气剂对海工混凝土抗冻性能及其梁受弯承载力的影响,对2种配合比6根海工混凝土梁及相应的冻损试件进行总计100次快速冻融试验;采用质量损失率、动弹性模量损伤度和抗压强度损失率对混凝土冻融损伤程度进行有效评价;考虑混凝土抗压强度退化以及等效矩形应力图系数的变化,提出了冻融作用下海工混凝土梁正截面受弯承载力计算公式。结果表明:加入引气剂可以增强海工混凝土的抗冻性能,降低梁的开裂弯矩退化速率,但会降低混凝土强度和梁的极限弯矩;在150次冻融循环内,提出的模型能够较好地预测冻融作用下海工混凝土梁的正截面受弯承载力。

重复荷载作用后海工高性能混凝土梁刚度退化试验研究

在荷载长期作用下,钢筋混凝土受弯构件的变形是一个重要的评价指标,也是构件正常使用极限状态的验算内容之一。为了研究经历重复荷载后海工高性能混凝土梁的变形发展规律,设计制作了10根试验梁,分别进行了重复荷载试验、氯盐干湿试验以及两者的共同作用试验;通过四点受弯试验对梁的跨中挠度及刚度退化进行评价,提出了梁短期刚度规范计算公式的修正方法。研究结果表明:荷载水平按梁纯弯段弯矩等于0.4M_(u)确定时,施加30次重复荷载后混凝土的损伤度接近15%;对于仅进行氯盐干湿循环的试验梁,其跨中挠度发展要慢于参照梁;施加重复荷载后,试验梁的跨中挠度发展要快于参照梁;对施加重复荷载后的试验梁再进行氯盐干湿循环,梁的刚度退化更为显著。结合试验结果,采用损伤效应折减系数对梁短期刚度计算公式进行修正,并验证了修正公式的合理性和有效性。

自修复涂料的应用研究进展

自修复涂料能解决传统涂料在使用过程中因损伤而导致的性能下降和寿命缩短的问题。综述了自修复涂料的种类、自修复机制、发展进程;重点分析了本征型、外援型(微胶囊)以及集成多功能复合自修复涂料。探讨了自修复涂料在航空航天、混凝土、海洋和船舶制造等领域的实际应用情况。自修复涂料未来的发展应注重跨学科合作,结合材料科学、化学工程和人工智能等领域的最新研究成果。

丙烯酸-环氧树脂涂层对海工混凝土防腐性能的影响

合成了一种丙烯酸-环氧树脂涂层,研究了海水浸泡条件下涂覆丙烯酸-环氧涂层混凝土的力学性能、耐久性能,并对其水化产物及微观结构进行了分析。结果表明:在海水浸泡条件下,相较于无涂层对照组,涂覆丙烯酸-环氧树脂涂层的混凝土抗压、劈裂抗拉强度均相对较高,表面pH值减小幅度较小,抗氯离子渗透性能较好,可以保持混凝土内部的高碱性,水化产物中水化硅酸钙含量相对较高,基体结构致密,孔隙和微裂纹较少。涂覆丙烯酸-环氧树脂涂层可使海工混凝土具有优异的力学性能和耐久性能。

海洋环境下BFRP筋增强珊瑚混凝土柱抗侵蚀性能

为探究海洋环境下玄武岩纤维(Basalt fiber reinforced polymer,BFRP)筋的劣化机理、评估BFRP筋增强珊瑚混凝土柱抗侵蚀性的退化程度,对海水环境下BFRP筋、珊瑚混凝土进行受压性能试验。基于材性试验,对12根BFRP筋增强珊瑚混凝土柱进行轴心受压试验,并采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)对试件破坏后其内部BFRP筋材进行微观试验,检测分析玄武岩纤维、纤维-树脂界面处的化学成分。结果表明:干湿循环条件对BFRP筋的极限承载力影响强于浸泡环境;珊瑚混凝土轴压柱破坏后,其内部筋材均发生了一定程度的腐蚀劣化,构件的承载性能很大程度取决于内部钢筋的锈蚀程度。最后,基于试验结果,分析不同海水腐蚀类别、不同腐蚀周期对构件内部BFRP筋、珊瑚混凝土微观成分的变化规律,探讨不同因素对构件耐久性能的影响机理。