NUMERICAL MODEL FOR PREDICTION OF TIME FROM CORROSION INITIATION TO CRACKING

Steel corrosion is one of the most predominant deterioration mechanisms in reinforced concrete structures. The serviceability and durability of concrete structures canbe heavily affected by the corrosion of reinforcing steel [1, 2]. After steel de-passivation, corrosion products are formed at the steel/concrete interface. Due to the fact thatthe volume of the corrosion products is greater than that of the original metal [3-5], the formation of the corrosion products induces a pressure on the surrounding concreteand generates stresses in the concrete cover. As the volume of corrosion products increases, cracks initiate at the steel/concrete interface and propagate outward andeventually spread to the surface of the concrete cover. These cracks in turn provide a path for more rapid ingress of the aggressive agents to the reinforcement, which canaccelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, investigation on the corrosion induced cracking process is very important for the prediction of the serviceability anddurability of the reinforced concrete structures.