Journal of Civil Engineering (IEB), 36 (1) (2008) 23-42
Simulation of chloride ion profile into repaired
crack concrete
Md. Shafiqul Islam and Md. Mahmud Sazzad
Department of Civil Engineering
Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Kazla 6204, Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Received 10 September 2007
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Abstract
Chloride induced corrosion of steel in concrete is a threatening problem in coastal and marine
environment. The durability of structures decreases and hampers efficient structural performance.
In reality, cracks are often generated at cover concrete. In that case, the transportation of chloride
ion (Cl
-
) may take only a few hours to reach the steel, while transportation through uncracked
concrete would take a longer time. Moreover, if some part of concrete is repaired by polymer
modified cementitious mortar, the transportation of Cl
-
ion is affected by the combination of two
different materials. In this study, experiments were done with partially repaired crack concrete to
simulate real field structure. A model is proposed to calculate the concentration profile inside a
partially repaired crack concrete with the help of a 2-dimansional FORTRAN program.
© 2008 Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Chloride, diffusion, transport properties, cracking
1. Introduction
Chloride induced corrosion of steel in concrete structures, affected by deicing salt,
coastal and a marine environment is a great problem everywhere in the world. A
considerable number of structures cease to function adequately. Extensive research was
conducted over the past decades to study the transport properties of concrete. The
disadvantage is that all predictions are carried out considering a ‘perfect’ and uncracked
concrete. The fact that most reinforced concrete structures having cracks are often
ignored (Pettersson and Sandberg 1997). Once these cracks take place, the transport
properties of material change drastically and it is no longer reasonable to assume that
durability life-span based on uncracked properties will hold. A debate among the
researchers on crack width and corrosion rate relationships has been continuing for a
long time. Several researches found little relationships between crack width and
corrosion rate (Schweitzer 1986).