A Simple Approach to Modeling Chloride Diffusion into Cracked Reinforced Concrete Structures

Up to now, several models of chloride ingress into concrete and cracked concrete have been proposed to simulate the chloride penetration. In the present paper, besides crack widths, crack depths were recognized as a key parameter affecting the chloride penetration depth. A short - term test of chloride diffusion was used to evaluate the influence of crack depths on the chloride penetration depth. By subjecting reinforced concrete beams to bending moments, cracked concrete was generated and investigated as natural cracks. In the field, reinforced concrete structures are under the influence of combined factors such as cracking, loads and marine environment, so in this paper a numerical model was developed and proposed to predict the chloride profile at the crack location of cracked concrete members. In experiments, OPC, Fly ash and Silica-fume concrete were used to verify the proposed model. The comparison between predicted and experimental results showed the fitting well.