Accelerated simulation of chloride ingress into concrete under drying–wetting alternation condition chloride environment

Abstract

In this study, the chloride diffusion coefficient model coupled with environmental factors is proposed to describe chloride ingress into concrete. The S curve model is also presented to fit the error function. Simultaneously, field test and artificial simulated environment experiments are conducted. Moreover, some typical RC structures are used as examples to investigate the application of the aforementioned models in forecasting service life. The results show that the chloride diffusion in concrete can be described by an equivalent chloride diffusion coefficient model proposed in this study, and the measured data of chloride content in concrete correspond with the fitted profiles. Under natural and artificial simulated environments, the differences of chloride ingress into concrete are in terms of surface chloride content, convective zone depth, and diffusion coefficient. Numerical simulation indicates that the acceleration factor can be considered as a key parameter to determine the correlation of chloride ingress into concrete under various environments.