Corrosion in RC construction under chloride and hot weather

Abstract

The electro-chemical reaction of corrosion in reinforced concrete (RC) under the effect of varying chloride and temperature is influenced by several construction material parameters, some of which have been overlooked in past research studies. Furthermore, there exists a difference of opinion between various researchers and there is limited data for high temperatures up to 60°C and high chloride concentration up to 10% total chlorides. The objective of the present research was to investigate the severe effects of chloride and temperature on the corrosion of RC material by developing realistic construction material models and performing actual field condition experiments. The experiments consisted of 24 specimens using Portland cement concrete mixed with 0·0, 0·025, 0·25, 0·6, 1·0, 1·82, 3·65, 6·0, 8·0 and 10·0% chloride (NaCl: 0–16.5% by mass of cement) and three temperature conditions of 20, 40 and 60°C, respectively. The concrete material durability model ‘DuCOM’ developed by the authors' research group was used as a computational platform on which the corrosion-based RC material performance and technology was examined in both space and time domains. The experimental results were found to be in close agreement with the material model developed in the present study.