ABSTRACT
Chloride-induced corrosion of the reinforcement is identified as the main cause of deterioration of reinforced concrete structures. Steel corrosion in reinforced concrete structures can lead to cracking of concrete cover due to accumulation of corrosion products. In this study, a finite element model is developed to study crack propagation in concrete as corrosion progresses, in which two neighboring longitudinal reinforcing bars are embedded in the concrete, and three basic parameters, such as the concrete cover thickness, the rebar diameter and the rebar spacing are considered in the model. Non-uniform radial displacement with a half ellipse shape is adopted to describe the expansion distribution of the corrosion products. The failure pattern and the corrosion pressure of cover concrete, and the critical corrosion level when the cover concrete cracks due to non-uniform corrosion expansion are studied based on the damaged plasticity model. The comparison of the simulation results with the available test results shows fairly good agreement. Moreover, the influences of concrete cover thickness, rebar diameter and rebar spacing, on the failure pattern and the corrosion level are examined.
