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.

Research on Durability Design of Concrete Structure in Building Engineering Based on Computer Technology

With the continuous progress of The Times and the rapid development of society, great changes have taken place in the way people live, study and work at present. Due to the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, people now have higher and higher requirements for their living environment. People are not only satisfied with the food and clothing they used to have, but also pay more attention to the pursuit of spiritual homes. In our country, the computer technology and the construction industry have always been the focus of our national attention, because they are closely related to the lives of ordinary people. In the construction of the concrete structure is an indispensable building material in the construction process, based on the status of the concrete structure in the construction process, the relevant work technology researchers on the concrete structure of a series of characteristics have been related to the development of the function of the continuous exploration and analysis.

Durability Performance Indices for Cement-Based Mortars

Corrosion-induced damaged structures are generally repaired using locally available materials. Nevertheless, determining the durability of the repair materials to be used is necessary to forecast its service life after being placed on the damaged structure. In previous investigations, the most commonly used durability indices are saturated electrical resistivity (ρS), ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), total void content (TVC), water capillary absorption (WCA), rapid chloride permeability (RCP), and compressive strength (fc). Four repair mortar types were evaluated. For each mortar type, 5 × 5 cm2 cubes, 5 × 10 cm2 (small) cylinders, and 10 × 20 cm2 (large) cylinders were made from each mortar evaluated. On the basis of the present results, the durability design of mortars should consider not only the mechanical strength, but also the durability index values to define its durability performance. According to the empirical correlations obtained between all durability indices, ρS vs. RCP, TVC vs. WCA, and RCP vs. WCA were the ones with higher correlation coefficient. These correlations could be used for mortar mixture durability forecasting.