• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.151-168
• /
• 2004

A two-dimensional nonlinear finite element model is developed to simulate time-dependent cracking of reinforced concrete members under service loads. To predict localized cracking, the crack band model is employed to model individual crack opening. In conjunction with the crack band model, a bond-interface element is used to model the slip between concrete and reinforcing steel permitting large slip displacements between the concrete element nodes and the steel truss element nodes at crack openings. The time-dependent effects of concrete creep and shrinkage are incorporated into the smeared crack model as inelastic pre-strains in an iterative solution procedure. Two test examples are shown to verify the finite element model with good agreement between the model and the observed test results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.713-732
• /
• 2008

Serviceability and durability of the concrete members can be seriously affected by the corrosion of steel rebar. Carbonation front and or chloride ingress can destroy the passive film on rebar and may set the corrosion (oxidation process). Depending on the level of oxidation (expansive corrosion products/rust) damage to the cover concrete takes place in the form of expansion, cracking and spalling or delamination. This makes the concrete unable to develop forces through bond and also become unprotected against further degradation from corrosion; and thus marks the end of service life for corrosion-affected structures. This paper presents an analytical model that predicts the weight loss of steel rebar and the corresponding time from onset of corrosion for the known corrosion rate and thus can be used for the determination of time to cover cracking in corrosion affected RC member. This model uses fully the thick-walled cylinder approach. The gradual crack propagation in radial directions (from inside) is considered when the circumferential tensile stresses at the inner surface of intact concrete have reached the tensile strength of concrete. The analysis is done separately with and without considering the stiffness of reinforcing steel and rust combine along with the assumption of zero residual strength of cracked concrete. The model accounts for the time required for corrosion products to fill a porous zone before they start inducing expansive pressure on the concrete surrounding the steel rebar. The capability of the model to produce the experimental trends is demonstrated by comparing the model's predictions with the results of experimental data published in the literature. The effect of considering the corroded reinforcing steel bar stiffness is demonstrated. A sensitivity analysis has also been carried out to show the influence of the various parameters. It has been found that material properties and their inter-relations significantly influence weight loss of rebar. Time to cover cracking from onset of corrosion for the same weight loss is influenced by corrosion rate and state of oxidation of corrosion product formed. Time to cover cracking from onset of corrosion is useful in making certain decisions pertaining to inspection, repair, rehabilitation, replacement and demolition of RC member/structure in corrosive environment.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
• /
• 2001.11a
• /
• pp.355-362
• /
• 2001

This study deals with cracking control of concrete deck in steel-concrete composite bridges according to the concrete slab casting sequences. In correlation studies between casting sequences, time dependent effects of concrete creep and shrinkage are implemented in the analytical model. Finally, the methods of cracking control in terms of concrete slump and relative humidity are suggested to prevent early transverse cracking of concrete slab.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.39 no.2
• /
• pp.267-285
• /
• 2011

There can be a significant amount of moment redistribution in composite frames consisting of steel columns and composite beams, due to cracking, creep and shrinkage of concrete. Considerable amount of computational effort is required for taking into account these effects for large composite frames. A methodology has been presented in this paper for taking into account these effects. In the methodology that has been demonstrated for moderately high frames, neural network models are developed for rapid prediction of the inelastic moments (typically for 20 years, considering instantaneous cracking, and time effects, i.e., creep and shrinkage, in concrete) at a joint in a frame from the elastic moments (neglecting instantaneous cracking and time effects). The proposed models predict the inelastic moment ratios (ratio of elastic moment to inelastic moment) using eleven input parameters for interior joints and seven input parameters for exterior joints. The training and testing data sets are generated using a hybrid procedure developed by the authors. The neural network models have been validated for frames of different number of spans and storeys. The models drastically reduce the computational effort and predict the inelastic moments, with reasonable accuracy for practical purposes, from the elastic moments, that can be obtained from any of the readily available software.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.79-93
• /
• 2013

One of the biggest problems affecting bridges is the transverse cracking and deterioration of concrete bridge decks. The causes of early age cracking are primarily attributed to plastic shrinkage, temperature effects, autogenous shrinkage, and drying shrinkage. The cracks can be influenced by material characteristics, casting sequence, formwork, climate conditions, geometry, and time dependent factors. The cracking of bridge decks not only creates unsightly aesthetic condition but also greatly reduces durability. It leads to a loss of functionality, loss of stiffness, and ultimately loss of structural safety. This investigation consists of field, laboratory, and analytical phases. The experimental and field testing investigate the early age transverse cracking of bridge decks and evaluate the use of sealant materials. The research identifies suitable materials, for crack sealing, with an ability to span cracks of various widths and to achieve performance criteria such as penetration depth, bond strength, and elongation. This paper also analytically examines the effect of a wide range of parameters on the development of cracking such as the number of spans, the span length, girder spacing, deck thickness, concrete compressive strength, dead load, hydration, temperature, shrinkage, and creep. The importance of each parameter is identified and then evaluated. Also, the AASHTO Standard Specification limits liveload deflections to L/800 for ordinary bridges and L/1000 for bridges in urban areas that are subject to pedestrian use. The deflection is found to be an important parameter to affect cracking. A set of recommendations to limit the transverse deck cracks in bridge decks is also presented.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.61 no.6
• /
• pp.693-700
• /
• 2017

Concrete cover cracking due to the corrosion of steel reinforcing bars is one of the main causes of deterioration in Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures. The oxidation level of the bars causes varying levels of expansion. The rebar expansions could lead to through-thickness cracking of the concrete cover, where depending on the cracking characteristics, the service life of the structures would be affected. In this paper, the effect of geometrical and material parameters, i.e., concrete cover thickness, reinforcing bar diameter, and concrete tensile strength, on the required pressure for concrete cover cracking due to corrosion has been investigated through detailed numerical simulations. ABAQUS finite element software is employed as a modeling platform where the concrete cracking is simulated by means of eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM). The accuracy of the numerical simulations is verified by comparing the numerical results with experimental data obtained from the literature. Using a previously proposed empirical equation and the numerical model, the time from corrosion initiation to the cover cracking is predicted and then compared to the respective experimental data. Finally, a parametric study is undertaken to determine the optimum ratio of the rebar diameter to the reinforcing bars spacing in order to avoid concrete cover delamination.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.377-384
• /
• 2009

The shape of edge cracking in rolling process generally occurred "V" shape. This cracking is successively generated at width edge of strip. The edge cracking is developed to center of strip during rolling process. In the results, the strip is occurred fracture, and the productivity is gone down because of the extensive production time. Accordingly, we need to control crack propagation during rolling process. But, the control of cracking is very difficult in rolling process. Previously the studies of edge cracking were mainly performed on hot rolling process. In this paper, the shape of the edge cracking in rolling was estimated according to process conditions such as initial edge crack size, reduction ratio and tension using FE-simulation and the simplicity experiments on cold rolling process.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.749-769
• /
• 2003

The structural deterioration of concrete structures due to reinforcement corrosion is a major worldwide problem. Service life of the age-degraded concrete structures is governed by the protective action provided by the cover concrete against the susceptibility of the reinforcement to the corrosive environment. The corrosion of steel would result in the various corrosion products, which depending on the level of the oxidation may have much greater volume than the original iron that gets consumed by the process of corrosion. This volume expansion would be responsible for exerting the expansive radial pressure at the steel-concrete interface resulting in the development of hoop tensile stresses in the surrounding cover concrete. Once the maximum hoop tensile stress exceeds the tensile strength of the concrete, cracking of cover concrete would take place. The cracking begins at the steel-concrete interface and propagates outwards and eventually resulting in the through cracking of the cover concrete. The cover cracking would indicate the loss of the service life for the corrosion-affected structures. In the present paper, analytical models have been developed considering the residual strength of the cracked concrete and the stiffness provided by the combination of the reinforcement and expansive corrosion products. The problem is modeled as a boundary value problem and the governing equations are expressed in terms of the radial displacement. The analytical solutions are presented considering a simple 2-zone model for the cover concrete viz. cracked or uncracked. A sensitivity analysis has also been carried out to show the influence of the various parameters of the proposed models. The time to cover cracking is found to be function of initial material properties of the cover concrete and reinforcement plus corrosion products combine, type of rust products, rate of corrosion and the residual strength of the cover concrete. The calculated cracking times are correlated against the published experimental and analytical reference data.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.219-240
• /
• 2007

An analytical-numerical procedure has been presented in this paper to take into account the nonlinear effects of concrete cracking and time-dependent effects of creep and shrinkage in the concrete portion of the continuous composite beams under service load. The procedure is analytical at the element level and numerical at the structural level. The cracked span length beam element consisting of uncracked zone in middle and cracked zones near the ends has been proposed to reduce the computational effort. The progressive nature of cracking of concrete has been taken into account by division of the time into a number of time intervals. Closed form expressions for stiffness matrix, load vector, crack lengths and mid-span deflection of the beam element have been presented in order to reduce the computational effort and bookkeeping. The procedure has been validated by comparison with the experimental and analytical results reported elsewhere and with FEM. The procedure can be readily extended for the analysis of composite building frames where saving in computational effort would be very considerable.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.56 no.2
• /
• pp.257-273
• /
• 2015

Numerical value of correlation between effective parameters in the strength of a structure is as important as its stochastic properties in determining the safety of the structure. In this article investigation is made about the variation of coefficient of correlation between effective parameters in corrosion initiation time of reinforcement and the time of concrete cover cracking in reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Presence of many parameters and also error in measurement of these parameters results in uncertainty in determination of corrosion initiation and the time to crack initiation. In this paper, assuming diffusion process as chloride ingress mechanism in RC structures and considering random properties of effective parameters in this model, correlation between input parameters and predicted time to corrosion is calculated using the Monte Carlo (MC) random sampling. Results show the linear correlation between corrosion initiation time and effective input parameters increases with increasing uncertainty in the input parameters. Diffusion coefficient, concrete cover, surface chloride concentration and threshold chloride concentration have the highest correlation coefficient respectively. Also the uncertainty in the concrete cover has the greatest impact on the coefficient of correlation of corrosion initiation time and the time of crack initiation due to the corrosion phenomenon.