Reinforced Concrete Structure Performance in Marine Structures: Analyzing Durability Indexes to Obtain More Accurate Corrosion Initiation Time Predictions

This paper presents a comparison of six index properties collected during durability inspections of five Mexican seaports. Typical durability indicators such as compressive strength, saturated electrical resistivity, ultrasonic pulse velocity, percent total void content, capillary porosity, and chloride concentration profiles were analyzed to obtain empirical correlations with the non-steady-state chloride diffusion coefficient. These indices were compared to determine correlation coefficients that are the most important for obtaining better corrosion initiation forecasting. Two models of corrosion initiation time (ti) were used: Fick’s second law of diffusion and the reported UNE-83994-2 (Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE) in which electrical resistivity was used to calculate concrete service life. The data from both models were cleaned using correlated variables, and the initial variables were compared with ti. The main result achieved was the verification of the feasibility of using correlations of variables to clean unnecessary data in order to calculate ti. Additionally, electrical resistivity was identified as one of the main durability indexes for in-service concrete structures exposed to marine environments. This is important because electrical resistivity is a non-destructive and reliable test that can be measured both in the laboratory and in the field very easily.

Chloride Diffusion by Build Orientation of Cementitious Material-Based Binder Jetting 3D Printing Mortar

Binder jetting 3D printing (BJ3DP) is used to create geometrical and topology-optimized building structures via architectural geometric design owing to its high degree of freedom in geometry implementation. However, building structures require high mechanical and durability performance. Because of the recent trend of using 3D printing concrete as a structural component in reinforcing bars, its durability with respect to chloride penetration needs to be reviewed. Therefore, in this study, the compressive strength and durability of the chloride diffusion of cement-based 3D-printed output were evaluated. In addition, to confirm the performance difference based on the build orientation, the compressive strength and chloride diffusion were evaluated with respect to the build direction and transverse direction. The experimental results show that the compressive strength was approximately 22.1–26.5% lower in the transverse direction than in the build direction and that the chloride diffusion coefficient was approximately 186.1–407.1% higher in the transverse direction. Consequently, when a structure that requires long-term durability is produced using BJ3DP, it is necessary to examine the design and manufacturing methods in relation to the build orientation in advance.

Effect of Manufactured Sand with Different Quality on Chloride Penetration Resistance of High–Strength Recycled Concrete

High–strength manufactured sand recycled aggregate concrete (MSRAC) prepared with manufactured sand (MS) and recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) is an effective way to reduce the consumption of natural aggregate resources and environmental impact of concrete industry. In this study, high–, medium– and low–quality MS, which were commercial MS local to Changzhou and 100% by volume of recycled coarse aggregate, were used to prepare MSRAC. The quality of MS was determined based on stone powder content, methylene blue value (MBV), crushing value and soundness as quality characteristic parameters. The variation laws of compressive strength and chloride penetration resistance of high–strength MSRAC with different rates of replacement and different qualities of MS were explored. The results showed that for medium– and low–quality MS, the compressive strength of the MSRAC increased first and then decreased with increasing rate of replacement. Conversely, for high–quality MS, the compressive strength gradually increased with increasing rate of replacement. The chloride diffusion coefficient of MSRAC increased with decreasing MS quality and increasing rate of replacement. The chloride diffusion coefficient of MSRAC basically met the specifications for 50–year and 100–year design working life when the chloride environmental action was D and E. To prepare high–strength MSRAC, high–quality MS can 100% replace RS (river sand), while rates of replacement of 50–75% for medium–quality MS or 25–50% for low–quality MS are proposed. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images indicated that an appropriate amount of stone powder is able to improve the compressive strength of RAC, but excessive stone powder content and MBV are unfavorable to the compressive strength and chloride penetration resistance of RAC.

Investigation on Numerical Simulation of Chloride Transport in Unsaturated Concrete

Marine atmosphere environment accelerates the process of chloride penetration into concrete under the coupling effect of ambient temperature and relative humidity, thereby reducing the durability and service life of concrete. This paper aims to investigate the change of water equilibrium saturation and the chloride transport properties of concrete materials in different environments. The water equilibrium saturation tests at three temperatures and five relative humidity (RH) and salt spray erosion tests at three temperatures were performed. The influence of RH and temperature on the equilibrium saturation of concrete and the influence of temperature and time on the chloride diffusion coefficient are investigated. The results show that, in the process of moisture absorption and desorption, the equilibrium saturation of concrete gradually decreases as temperature rises. At the same depth of concrete, the chloride content gradually increases with temperature increasing, as well as the chloride diffusion coefficient. However, as the corrosion time of salt spray increases, the altering of chloride diffusion coefficient becomes less. Based on the Kelvin equation, a relationship between capillary pressure and water saturation in concrete was established, and a moisture transfer model for concrete in the process of moisture absorption and desorption was derived. Further, based on the established chloride diffusion equation and heat balance equation, a model of temperature-wet-chloride coupling chloride transfer was derived. Theory model simulation results show the transfer speed of chloride under the coupling of diffusion and capillary is higher than pure diffusion in moisture in the absorption process. However, the opposite is true in the desorption process. Moreover, with the increment of saturation rate, the capillary effect on chloride transport is enhanced.

Explicitly Assessing the Durability of RC Structures Considering Spatial Variability and Correlation

The durability design of reinforced concrete (RC) structures that are exposed to aggressive environmental attacks (e.g., corrosion due to chloride ingress in marine environment) plays a vital role in ensuring the structural serviceability within a reference period of interest. Existing approaches for the durability design and assessment of RC structures have, for the most part, not considered the spatial distribution of corrosion-related structural properties. In this paper, a closed-form approach is developed for durability assessment of RC structures, where the structural dimension, spatial variability, and correlation of structural properties such as the concrete cover thickness and the chloride diffusion coefficient are taken into account. The corrosion and crack initiations of an emerged tube tunnel segment that was used in the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge project were assessed to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach. The accuracy of the method was verified through a comparison with Monte Carlo simulation results based on two-dimensional random field modeling. The proposed method can be used to efficiently assess the durability performance of RC structures in the marine environment and has the potential to become an efficient tool to guide the durability design of RC structures subjected to corrosion.

Effect of Ammonia-Soda Residue on the Strength and Chloride-Resistance Performance of Steel Slag-Granulated Blast Furnace Slag-Based Concrete after Immersion in Artificial Seawater

Ammonia-soda residue (ASR) is the main solid waste generated from soda manufacturing and is hard to reuse due to its complex chemical composition. This study investigated the influence of ASR content on the strength and chloride-resistance capacity of concrete based on basic oxygen furnace slag and ground blast furnace slag. The hydration and chloride resistance mechanisms were analysed by comparing the hydrate products and pore structural changes. The results showed that adding ASR had the greatest impact on early strength. ASR-introduced chloride ions may participate in the hydration process to generate Friedel’s salt and decrease ettringite. The optimum pore distribution appeared when the ASR-to-desulphurisation gypsum ratio was 2:3 because of the introduction of nucleation sites and the decrease of C–S–H gels. The two chloride resistance-capacity measurements were affected differently by the ASR content. The apparent chloride diffusion coefficient was mainly affected by the percentage of pores that were larger than 10 nm. However, electric flux increased when ASR increased due to the influence of introduced chloride. The crystallisation pressure of Friedel’s salt decreases the strength of concrete with ASR content after high-concentration artificial-seawater immersion. The significant chloride-resistance property provided an alternative use for the concrete containing ASR.

Novel Nano-Precursor Inhibiting Material for Improving Chloride Penetration Resistance of Concrete: Evaluation and Mechanism

Durability improvement is always important for steel–concrete structures exposed to chloride salt environment. The present research investigated the influence of a novel nano-precursor inhibiting material (NPI), organic carboxylic acid ammonium salt, on the mechanical and transport properties of concrete. The NPI caused a slight reduction in the strength of concrete at later ages. NPI significantly decreased water absorption and slowed down the speed of water absorption of concrete. In addition, the NPI decreased the charge passed and the chloride migration coefficient, and the results of the natural chloride diffusion showed that the NPI decreased the chloride concentration and the chloride diffusion coefficient. The NPI effectively improved the resistance of chloride penetration into testing concrete. The improvement in the impermeability of concrete was ascribed to the incorporation with the NPI, which resulted in increasing the contact angle of cement pastes. The contact angle went up from 17.8° to 85.8° for 0% and 1.2% NPI, respectively, and cement pastes became less hydrophilic. Some small pore throats were unconnected. Besides, the NPI also optimized the pore size distribution of hardened cement paste.