3D simulation of localized steel corrosion in chloride contaminated reinforced concrete

Abstract

Pitting corrosion of reinforcement often causes localized concrete cracking in chloride contaminated RC structures. This paper presents a 3-D computational model to examine the localized corrosion of steel rebar under chloride attack. Both circumferential and longitudinal macrocell corrosion have been integrated into the numerical model. Modeling results show that macrocell corrosion controls the localized/pitting corrosion process. Highly localized corrosion pattern may occur due to extremely large cathode/anode ratio. As corrosion front advances around reinforcement, macrocell corrosion may reduce drastically and pitting factor also decreases. Parametric study indicates that chloride diffusion significantly influences pitting factor while longitudinal cathode/anode ratio controls localized macrocell corrosion.