Estimation of Corrosion Initiation Time with Observed Data

Abstract

Chlorination affects reinforced and prestressed concrete bridges, and methods are being developed to predict the remaining service life of bridges affected by chlorination. In the probabilistic estimation of service life of bridges, this chapter uses random field theory to model the variation of surface chloride concentration and effective diffusion coefficient. Random field theory requires the value of a parameter called the “scale of fluctuation” from experimental data. Kriging method is applied to estimate the missing data on surface chloride concentration. These values are then used in the estimation of the scale of fluctuation of surface chloride concentration. Therefore, it is suggested that Kriging method be used to estimate missing data on surface chloride concentration in bridges. The research is in progress, and it appears that Kriging can be advantageously used in chlorination problems.