Concrete mix design for service life of RC structures exposed to chloride attack

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to propose a design technique of concrete mix proportions satisfying service life through genetic algorithm (GA) and neural network (NN). For this, thirty mix proportions and the related diffusion coefficients in high performance concrete are analyzed and fitness function for diffusion coefficient is obtained considering mix components like w/b (water to binder ratio), cement content, mineral admixture (slag, flay ash and silica fume) content, sand and coarse aggregate content. Through averaging the results of 10 times GA simulations, relative errors to the previous data decrease lower than 5.0% and the simulated mix proportions are verified with the experimental results. Assuming the durability design parameters, intended diffusion coefficient for intended service life is derived and mix proportions satisfying the service life are obtained. Among the mix proportions, the most optimized case which satisfies required concrete strength and the lowest cost is selected through GA algorithm. The proposed technique would be improved with the enhancement of comprehensive data set including wider the range of diffusion coefficients.