Evaluation of carbonation depth evolution tendencies of reinforced concrete buildings located in coastal and inland areas of north cyprus

Abstract

Carbonation is a critical concrete durability problem that is known to have potential adverse effects both on the concrete cover and steel reinforcing bars. This study involves detailed experimental investigations on the carbonation progress status of 149 samples from 39 existing buildings in North Cyprus that are located in coastal and inland areas. It is known that the varying exposure conditions in coastal and inland areas are likely to affect the durability performance of concrete buildings in different manners. Concrete core samples that were originally extracted from structures for compressive strength determination, were later tested by using Phenolphthalein indicator in order to determine the extent of carbonation occurred throughout their service duration. Besides studying their current carbonation states, the expected carbonation depth at the end of a 50-years of service life, as well as time needed to carbonate 30 mm-depth concrete cover were also investigated by using the Fick’s law. Results showed that 41% of the inland samples have been exhibiting satisfactory carbonation resistance performance according to Eurocodes, where this rate was as high as 71% for the samples obtained from coastal areas of North Cyprus.