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Service life of concrete structures considering the effects of temperature and relative humidity on chloride transport

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Abstract

Chloride is one of the main factors responsible for damages related to the corrosion of the concrete reinforcement in marine environments. It is known that this mechanism of degradation is directly related to environmental variables. Within this context, it can be inserted the global climate change. This paper deals with the effects of temperature and relative humidity changes on the service life of concrete structures affected by chloride attack. This way, three situations of environmental aggressiveness were simulated: past, current, and future. Then, models for predicting the chlorides penetration were analyzed to the three selected situations. So, a practical methodology is presented, and the results are consistent with the literature data. Among the results, it can be noted that changes in temperature and relative humidity identified in a period of 100 years were responsible for a reduction from 7.8 to 10.2 years of service life. Most standards provide a design service life of 50 years for reinforced concrete structures.

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Abbreviations

B h :

Surface mass transfer coefficient

C :

Fixing ability of chlorides

d :

Parameter which depends on the ratio between the surface and the critical concentration of chlorides in the structure

D c :

Chloride diffusion coefficient

D c1 :

Reference chloride diffusion coefficient

D c2 :

Corrected chloride diffusion coefficient

E a :

Activation energy of diffusion

e s(T po):

Saturation vapor pressure, determined from the dew point temperature

e s(T m ):

Saturation vapor pressure, calculated from the hourly average temperature

f 1(T):

Factor that represents the influence of temperature

f 2(T e):

Factor that represents the influence of the “equivalent maturation time”

f 3(RH):

Factor that represents the influence of relative humidity

f c :

Compressive strength of the concrete

J h :

Humidity flux

k 1 :

Constants that represent the influence of temperature

k 2 :

Constants that represent the influence of relative humidity

q :

Experimental constant

R :

Universal gas constant

RH:

Relative humidity

RHc :

Humidity at which D c2 drops halfway between its maximum and minimum values

RHXc :

Relative humidity in concrete surface

T :

Air temperature

T 1 :

Reference temperature

T 2 :

Desired temperature

T a :

Annual average temperatures

t e :

Actual time of exposure to chloride

t ic :

Time to initiation of corrosion

T n :

Minimum temperature

T Xc :

Temperature of concrete cover

x :

Chloride penetration depth

x c :

Concrete cover

ζ:

Coefficient that measures the diffusivity decreases with time

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Foundation for Research Support of the State of Sao Paulo (FAPESP), the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the RedeLitoral research group, the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA), the CCR NovaDutra, the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET), and the Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies/National Institute for Space Research (CPTEC/INPE).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA), Marechal Eduardo Gomes, 50, São Jose dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil

    Ronaldo A. de Medeiros-Junior & Maryangela G. de Lima

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Centro Politecnico, University of Parana (UFPR), Jardim das Americas, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil

    Marcelo H. F. de Medeiros

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  1. Ronaldo A. de Medeiros-Junior
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Correspondence to Ronaldo A. de Medeiros-Junior.

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de Medeiros-Junior, R.A., de Lima, M.G. & de Medeiros, M.H.F. Service life of concrete structures considering the effects of temperature and relative humidity on chloride transport. Environ Dev Sustain 17, 1103–1119 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-014-9592-z

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