The premature failure of reinforced concrete (RC) structures is significantly affected by chloride-induced corrosion of reinforcing steel. Although researchers have achieved many outstanding results in the structural capacity of RC structures in the past few decades, the topic of service life has gradually attracted researchers’ attention. In this work, based on the stress intensity, two models are developed to predict the threshold expansive pressure, corrosion rate and cover cracking time of the corrosion-induced cracking process for RC structures. Specifically, in the proposed models, both the influence of initial defects and modified corrosion current density are taken into account. The results given by these models are in a good agreement with practical experience and laboratory studies, and the influence of each parameter on cover cracking is analyzed. In addition, considering the uncertainty existing in the deterioration process of RC structures, a methodology based on the third-moment method in regard to the stochastic process is proposed, which is able to evaluate the cracking risk of RC structures quantitatively and predict their service life. This method provides a good means to solve relevant problems and can prolong the service life of concrete infrastructures subjected to corrosion by applying timely inspection and repairs.
The effect of initial defects on the surface of concrete cover with different sizes on the corrosion cracking time of steel bars was studied by electrochemical acceleration method. The results show that the initial defects on the surface of the concrete cover will significantly shorten the cracking time of the cover and have a strong induction effect on the cracking direction. The degree of cracking time reduction is positively correlated with the length of surface defects. At the engineering site, attention should be paid to the surface quality of the concrete structure. Then, the paper also evaluated the effect of the thickness of the sheath and the diameter of the steel bar on the cracking time of the cover.
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