Coupled thermo‐hydro‐mechanical analysis of reinforced concrete beams under the effect of frost damage and sustained load

Abstract

Frost damage is an important deterioration parameter for reinforced concrete (RC) structures in cold and humid environment, which usually acts simultaneously with sustained load caused by self-weight, immobile weight, and so forth. This article conducts a thermo-hydro-mechanical simulation on the structural behavior of RC beams under the coupled effect of frost damage and sustained load. This simulation approach starts from the microscale materialbased frost damage model of multicomponent substance to the macroscale structural-based performance evaluation of RC beam. On the basis of this approach, the damage accumulation of RC beam model under both frost action and sustained load is simulated. Afterward, flexural bending load is applied to investigate the structural performance of the RC beam which has suffered coupled damage. Laboratory experiments also show a satisfactory agreement with numerical simulation. Parametric study is also conducted to further evaluate the influence by different parameters on the structural deterioration, for example, reinforcement arrangement, water to cement ratio, and so on. Finally, the equivalent frost-damaged strength with respect to the damaged region is adopted to calculate the flexural capacity according to the design code, and a simple method is proposed to verify or predict the properties of RC beam under the coupled effect of frost damage and sustained load.

Multi-scale and multi-chemo–physics lifecycle evaluation of structural concrete under environmental and mechanical impacts

“…Different damaged zones (compression or tension) with various damage depths were prepared and investigated (Fig. 11) [26,27]. After validation with experimental evidence, a parametric study regarding the impact of reinforcement type was conducted.…”

Structural Damage Detection Technique of Secondary Building Components Using Piezoelectric Sensors

“…Ultimately, an evaluation equation was proposed for instant strength evaluation. The recent articles [13,14] revealed that the member performance was degraded by the environmental impact, proving the necessity of long-term monitoring to secure the safety of structures.…”

Full-Scale Experimental Study of Shear and Flexural Behavior of 16-m Retired Reinforced Concrete T-Beams

“…Reinforced concrete structures are one of the most widely used forms of building structures, but most structures suffer from environmental corrosion [1-3], natural hazards (floor and wind loads, fires, earthquakes, etc.) [3][4][5][6][7], impacts [8,9], and increasing vehicle loads [6,10]. The structural damage caused by extreme loads has already caught the attention of scholars, driving the development of structural health monitoring (SHM), which is assisted by sensors and advanced algorithms [7,[11][12][13].…”

“…[3][4][5][6][7], impacts [8,9], and increasing vehicle loads [6,10]. The structural damage caused by extreme loads has already caught the attention of scholars, driving the development of structural health monitoring (SHM), which is assisted by sensors and advanced algorithms [7,[11][12][13]. In order to determine structural behavior under failure and to provide sufficient data for the SHM, destructive tests on structures, especially bridges, are essential.…”