• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2018

Cracking of concrete cover induced by reinforcement corrosion is a critical issue for life-cycle design and maintenance of reinforced concrete structures. However, the critical degree of corrosion, based on when the concrete surface cracks, is usually hard to predict accurately due to the heterogeneity inherent in concrete. To investigate the influence of concrete heterogeneity, a modified rigid-body-spring model, which could generate concrete sections with randomly distributed coarse aggregates, has been developed to study the corrosion-induced cracking process of the concrete cover and the corresponding critical degree of corrosion. In this model, concrete is assumed to be a three-phase composite composed of coarse aggregate, mortar and an interfacial transition zone (ITZ), and the uniform corrosion of a steel bar is simulated by applying uniform radial displacement. Once the relationship between radial displacement and degree of corrosion is derived, the critical degree of corrosion can be obtained. The mesoscale model demonstrated its validity as it predicted the critical degree of corrosion and cracking patterns in good agreement with analytical solutions and experimental results. The model demonstrates how the random distribution of coarse aggregate results in a variation of critical degrees of corrosion, which follows a normal distribution. A parametric study was conducted, which indicates that both the mean and variation of critical degree of corrosion increased with the increase of concrete cover thickness, coarse aggregates volume fraction and decrease of coarse aggregate size. In addition, as tensile strength of concrete increased, the average critical degree of corrosion increased while its variation almost remained unchanged.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.302-309
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• 2020

This study aimed to predict the pitting corrosion characteristics of AL-6XN super-austenitic steel using multiple linear regression. The variables used in the model are degree of sensitization, temperature, and pH. Experiments were designed and cyclic polarization curve tests were conducted accordingly. The data obtained from the cyclic polarization curve tests were used as training data for the multiple linear regression model. The significance of each factor in the response (critical pitting potential, repassivation potential) was analyzed. The multiple linear regression model was validated using experimental conditions that were not included in the training data. As a result, the degree of sensitization showed a greater effect than the other variables. Multiple linear regression showed poor performance for prediction of repassivation potential. On the other hand, the model showed a considerable degree of predictive performance for critical pitting potential. The coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.7745. The possibility for pitting potential prediction was confirmed using multiple linear regression.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.419-429
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• 2018

Climate changes, such as increasing of $CO_2$ concentration and global warming, will impact on the carbonation service life of concrete structures. Moreover, slag blended concrete has a lower carbonation resistance than control concrete. This study presents a probabilistic numerical procedure for evaluating the impact of climate change on carbonation service life of slag blended concrete. This numerical procedure considers both corrosion initiation period and corrosion propagation period. First, in corrosion initiation period, by using an integrated hydration-carbonation model, the amount of carbonatable substances, porosity, and carbonation depth are calculated. The probability of corrosion initiation is determined through Monte Carlo method. Second, in corrosion propagation period, a probabilistic model is proposed to calculate the critical corrosion degree at surface cracking, the probability of surface cracking, and service life. Third, based on the service life in corrosion initiation period and corrosion propagation period, the whole service life is calculated. The analysis shows that for concrete structures with 50 years service life, after considering climate changes, the service life reduces about 7%.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.353-369
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• 2020

Eight cold-formed thin-walled steel beams were performed to investigate the effect of corrosion damage on the flexural behavior of steel beams. The relationships between failure modes or load-displacement curves and corrosion degree of steel beams were investigated. A series of parametric analysis with more than forty finite element models were also performed with different corrosion degrees, types and locations. The results showed that the reduction of cross-section thickness as well as corrosion pits on the surface would lead to a decline in the stiffness and flexural capacity of steel beams, and gradually intensified with the corrosion degree. The yield load, ultimate load and critical buckling load of the corroded specimen IV-B46-4 decreased by 22.2%, 26% and 45%, respectively. The failure modes of steel beams changed from strength failure to stability failure or brittle fracture with the corrosion degree increasing. In addition, thickness damage and corrosion pits at different locations caused the degradation of flexural capacity, the worst of which was the thickness damage of compression zone. Finally, the method for calculating flexural capacity of corroded cold-formed thin-walled steel beams was also proposed based on experimental investigation and numerical analysis results.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.158-169
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• 2022

The objective of this study was to investigate the electrochemical behavior and damage degree of metal surface under different conditions by performing a potentiodynamic polarization experiment using an electropolishing solution for UNS S31603 based on initial delay time and surface roughness (parameters). A second anodic peak occurred at initial delay time of 0s and 100s. However, it was not discovered at 1000s and 3600s. This research referred to an increase in current density due to hydrogen oxidation reaction among various hypotheses for the second anodic peak. After the experiment, both critical current density and corrosion current density decreased when the initial delay time (immersion time) was longer. As a result of surface analysis, characteristics of the potentiodynamic polarization behavior were similar with roughness, although the degree of damage was clearly different. With an increase in surface roughness value, the degree of surface damage was precisely observed. As such, electrochemical properties were different according to the immersion time in the electropolishing solution. To select electropolishing conditions such as applied current density, voltage, and immersion time, 1000s for initial delay time on the potentiodynamic polarization behavior was the most appropriate in this experiment.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.203-223
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• 2014

The extensive use of prestressed reinforced concrete (PSC) highway bridges in marine environment drastically increases the sensitivity to both fatigue-and corrosion-induced damage of their critical structural components during their service lives. Within this scenario, an integrated method that is capable of evaluating the fatigue reliability, identifying a condition-based maintenance, and predicting the remaining service life of its critical components is therefore needed. To accomplish this goal, a procedure for fatigue reliability prediction of PSC highway bridges is proposed in the present study. Vehicle-bridge coupling vibration analysis is performed for obtaining the equivalent moment ranges of critical section of bridges under typical fatigue truck models. Three-dimensional nonlinear mathematical models of fatigue trucks are simplified as an eleven-degree-of-freedom system. Road surface roughness is simulated as zero-mean stationary Gaussian random processes using the trigonometric series method. The time-dependent stress-concentration factors of reinforcing bars and prestressing tendons are accounted for more accurate stress ranges determination. The limit state functions are constructed according to the Miner's linear damage rule, the time-dependent S-N curves of prestressing tendons and the site-specific stress cycle prediction. The effectiveness of the methodology framework is demonstrated to a T-type simple supported multi-girder bridge for fatigue reliability evaluation.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.214-223
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• 2014

Interest in the durability assessment and structural performance has increased according to an increase of concrete structures in salt damage environment recent years. Reliable way ensuring the most accelerated corrosion test is a method of performing the rebar corrosion monitoring as exposed directly to the marine test site exposure. However, long-term exposure test has a disadvantage because of a long period of time. Therefore, many studies on reinforced concrete in salt damage environments have been developed as alternatives to replace this. However, accelerated corrosion test is appropriate to evaluate the critical chlorine concentration in the short term, but only accelerated test method, is not easy to get correct answer. Accuracy of correlation acceleration test depends on the period of the degree of exposure environments. Therefore, in this study, depending on the concrete mix material, by the test was performed on the basis of the composite degradation of the salt damage, and investigate the difference of corrosion initiation time of the rebar, and indoor corrosion time of the structure, of the marine environment of the actual environments were inuestigated. The correlation coefficient was derived in the experiment. Long-term exposure test was actually conducted in consideration of the exposure conditions submerged zone, splash zone and tidal zone. The accelerated corrosion tests were carried out by immersion conditions, and by the combined deterioration due to the carbonation and accelerated corrosion due to wet and dry condition.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.385-401
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• 2023

Steel is becoming increasingly popular due to its high strength, excellent ductility, great assembly performance, and recyclability. In reality, steel structures serving for a long time in atmospheric, industrial, and marine environments inevitably suffer from corrosion, which significantly decreases the durability and the service life with the exposure time. For the mechanical properties of corroded steel, experimental studies are mainly conducted. The existing numerical analyses only evaluate the mechanical properties based on corroded morphology at the isolated time-in-point, ignoring that this morphology varies continuously with corrosion time. To solve this problem, the relationships between pit depth expectation, standard deviation, and corrosion time are initially constructed based on a large amount of wet-dry cyclic accelerated test data. Successively, based on that, an in-situ pitting evolution method for evaluating the residual tensile strength of corroded steel is proposed. To verify the method, 20 repeated simulations of mass loss rates and mechanical properties are adopted against the test results. Then, numerical analyses are conducted on 135 models of corrosion pits with different aspect ratios and uneven corrosion degree on two corroded surfaces. Results show that the power function with exponents of 1.483 and 1.091 can well describe the increase in pit depth expectation and standard deviation with corrosion time, respectively. The effect of the commonly used pit aspect ratios of 0.10-0.25 on yield strength and ultimate strength is negligible. Besides, pit number ratio α equating to 0.6 is the critical value for the strength degradation. When α is less than 0.6, the pit number increases with α, accelerating the degradation of strength. Otherwise, the strength degradation is weakened. In addition, a power function model is adopted to characterize the degradation of yield strength and ultimate strength with corrosion time, which is revised by initial steel plate thickness.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2006

One of the critical issues in the coating specification is the allowable limit of surface contaminant(s) - such as soluble salt(s), grit dust, and rust - after grit blasting. Yet, there is no universally accepted data supporting the relationship between the long-term coating performance and the amount of various surface contaminants allowed after grit blasting. In this study, it was attempted to prepare epoxy coatings applied on grit-blasted steel substrate dosed with controlled amount of surface contaminants - such as soluble salt(s), grit dust, and rust. Then, coating samples were subjected to 4,200 hours of cyclic test(NORSOK M-501), which were then evaluated in terms of resistance to rust creepage, blistering, chalking, rusting, cracking and adhesion strength. Additional investigations on the possible damage at the paint/steel interface were carried out using an Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy(EIS) and observations of under-film-corrosion. Test results suggested that the current industrial specifications were well matched with the allowable degree of rust, whereas the allowable amount of soluble salt and grit dust after grit blasting showed a certain deviation from the specifications currently employed for fabrication of marine vessels and offshore facilities.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.167-182
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• 2018

The modeling of loss of bond between reinforcing bars (rebars) and concrete due to corrosion is useful in studying the behavior and prediction of residual load bearing capacity of corroded reinforced concrete (RC) members. In the present work, first the possibility of using different methods to simulate the rebars-concrete bonding, which is used in three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) modeling of corroded RC beams, was explored. The cohesive surface interaction method was found to be most suitable for simulating the bond between rebars and concrete. Secondly, using the cohesive surface interaction approach, the 3D FE modeling of the behavior of non-corroded and corroded RC beams was carried out in an ABAQUS environment. Experimental data, reported in literature, were used to validate the models. Then using the developed models, a parametric study was conducted to examine the effects of some parameters, such as degree and location of the corrosion, on the behavior and residual capacity of the corroded beams. The results obtained from the parametric analysis using the developed model showed that corrosion in top compression rebars has very small effect on the flexural behaviors of beams with small flexural reinforcement ratio that is less than the maximum ratio specified in ACI-318-14 (singly RC beam). In addition, the reduction of steel yield strength in tension reinforcement due to corrosion is the main source of reducing the load bearing capacity of corroded RC beams. The most critical corrosion-induced damage is the complete loss of bond between rebars and the concrete as it causes sudden failure and the beam acts as un-reinforced beam.