Modelling of corrosion induced cover cracking in concrete with exposed reinforcement

Abstract

Although reinforced concrete is the mostly widely used construction material, it presents some inherent durability problems. Corrosion of reinforcement is one such issue that researchers across several generations have tried to assess and attenuate. Though different forms of corrosion have been studied, there is not much reported research on the corrosion (and its propagation) of reinforcement embedded in concrete with one end directly exposed to aggressive agents. This phenomenon is explored in this paper through numerical and experimental approaches. The experimental procedure was designed so that accelerated corrosion was induced while the resulting strain values were monitored. Simultaneously a conceptual numerical model was developed to capture the incremental corrosion propagation. A reasonable comparison between the experiment and numerical model is demonstrated, although the observed differences are also discussed.