Time-dependent reliability analysis of reinforced concrete beams considering marine environmental actions

Abstract

Under marine atmospheric environments, reinforced concrete (RC) structures may suffer from structural deterioration induced by environmental actions, affecting structural performance and safety. Thus, it is essential to evaluate and predict the deterioration process of an RC structure subject to environmental actions. This paper proposes a novel and generic computational framework to assess the time-dependent reliability of an RC beam under environmental actions. This framework includes a comprehensive life-cycle performance assessment model that considers climate change, two-dimensional chloride transport, the coupling effects and corrosion non-uniformity of reinforcement, and the nonlinear behavior of RC beams, which is validated by experimental studies. Additionally, performance functions for an RC beam are established for different failure modes, and their time-dependent probabilistic information and reliability index are captured using the probability density function-informed method (PDFM). To demonstrate the computational processes of the developed framework under practical marine atmospheric conditions, illustrative cases are presented. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are validated by traditional Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). Results indicate that the proposed method is feasible and efficient, aiding the life-cycle design and maintenance of RC structures.