Phase field modeling of concrete cracking for non-uniform corrosion of rebar

Abstract

Non-uniform corrosion of rebar in reinforced concrete will lead to concrete cover cracking, thus significantly reducing the durability of structures. A 2D mesoscale phase field model was developed to explore the failure behaviors of corrosion-induced cracking. The expansion of rust was described by a time-dependent non-uniform corrosion model. The phase field regularized cohesive zone model was employed to study the cracking pattern. The proposed model was validated by available experimental results in publications. The effects of several geometric parameters, such as concrete cover thickness, rebar diameter, and clear spacing, on the crack pattern and crack width of single and multiple rebar models were investigated. Finally, the influence of the ratio of cover thickness to rebar diameter on the failure pressure was discussed.