Concepts and requirements of durability design for concrete structures: an extensive review of CCES01

Abstract

Acquiring enough durability for concrete structures in their design phase is a crucial step against unexpected deterioration during their service life. This article gives an extensive and in-depth review of the first Chinese national guide, CCES01-2004, destined exclusively for durability design of concrete structures. Based on the state-of-art knowledge on durability and in place experiences, this guide formulates its durability requirements from several fundamental concepts: environmental action, durability limit state and structure service life. For each environmental class and expected service life, the guide details its requirements on raw material constituents, concrete curing conditions, material performance as well as structure details, in particular the concrete cover to reinforcement steel. The relevant quantitative requirements are compared with those from other codes such as EuroCode2, EN206, ACI318 and CSA. As a special case, the durability of post-tensioned prestressed concrete structures is treated separately and a multi-layer, environment-based strategy is proposed for the prestress tendon and anchorage protection. At the end, the remaining crucial questions are brought forth for durability design of concrete structures.