Modeling corrosion‐induced damage of reinforced concrete elements with multiple‐arranged reinforcement bars

Abstract

Aggressive environmental conditions, such as exposure to the sea climate or use of de‐icing salts, have considerable influence on durability of reinforced concrete structures due to the reinforcement corrosion‐induced damage. Recently a coupled 3D chemo‐hygro‐thermo‐mechanical (CHTM) model for modeling of processes related to the chloride induced corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete was developed. The model is briefly discussed and subsequently employed in the 3D finite element analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) beams exposed to aggressive environmental conditions, which were recently tested by Dong et al. . In the analysis, the corrosion‐induced damage is simulated by accounting for the interaction between several rebars. Moreover, the influence of the stirrups is also investigated. The numerical results are compared with experimental results and it is demonstrated that the numerical model realistically replicates corrosion‐induced damage of concrete. The same as in experimental tests, the beams without stirrups exhibits severe damage due to spalling of concrete cover and the presence of stirrups reduces the corrosion‐induced damage.