Predicting the Service Life of Reinforced Concrete by Incorporating the Experimentally Determined Properties of Steel–Concrete Interface and Corrosion

Abstract

Service life of a reinforced concrete structure depends on its durability in aggressive exposure conditions. In the case of reinforced concrete structures, the phenomenon that directly affects its durability is corrosion of rebar, which has direct influence on the residual service life. Corrosion in reinforced concrete basically initiates at its weakest zone called steel–concrete interface due to its porous nature. The extent of this porous zone is being represented in terms of Porous zone thickness which has been extensively reported by various researchers. This porous zone thickness is one of the key influencing factors in the prediction of residual service life of the reinforced concrete structure. Several mathematical models were proposed by various researchers to estimate the time required for cover cracking of concrete due to rebar corrosion by assuming different values of porous zone thickness (PZT) without any systematic experimental investigation. Assuming a steady value of PZT for all kinds of concrete without any practical justification will misinterpret the predicted residual service life. In the present work, an effort has been made to evaluate an existing analytical model to predict the time to concrete cover cracking by incorporating the experimentally obtained and published data on porous zone thickness. It was found that the porous zone thickness and rate of corrosion have a major role in evaluating the residual service life of reinforced concrete structures. © 2021, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.