Stochastic Finite Element Based Reliability Analysis of Concrete Structures in Marine Environment

Abstract

The stochastic model of chloride diffusion is the foundation of evaluating concrete structures’ reliability in marine environment. In this paper, the random field of chloride diffusion coefficient was described as a group of random variables by local average theory. The chloride distribution matrix, diffusion matrix and nodal concentration vector were expanded by using the Taylor series. The stochastic finite element method was developed, and the mean and standard deviation of the chloride distribution concentration were yielded by the presented method. A numerical example demonstrated the high precision of the stochastic finite element method presented, and the service life of concrete structures could be predicted by the method.