Abstract
Much effort has been made in recent years to adopt suitable strategies for durability design of concrete. Most of this work has focused on the development of ‘performance specifications’ for concrete. However, there are many barriers and limitations to successful implementation of these strategies for early-age control of reinforced concrete durability. This article reviews some of the recent efforts in the implementation of such strategies. It describes the South African approach to durability design, which is based on performance specifications that are to be satisfied at the time of construction. Case studies are presented on approaches to reinforced concrete design and the corresponding application of a durability performance specification, to highlight the potential for adopting a probability-based methodology for durability design. Finally, the paper attempts to provide a way forward towards successful utilization of such approaches, with particular emphasis on the construction industry in India.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
AASHTO TP64-03: Standard Method of Test for Prediction of Chloride Penetration in Hydraulic Cement Concrete by the Rapid Migration Procedure. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington (2003)
ACI Committee 318.: Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-05) and Commentary (318R-05), 430 pp. American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills (2005)
Alexander, M.G., Ballim, Y., Mackechnie, J.R.: Research Monograph No. 4, 33 pp. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town, Cape Town (1999)
Alexander, M.G., Streicher, P.E., Mackechnie, J.R.: Research Monograph No. 3, 35 pp. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town (1999)
Alexander, M.G., Mackechnie, J.R., Ballim, Y.: Use of durability indexes to achieve durable cover concrete in reinforced concrete structures. In: Skalny, J.P., Mindess, S. (eds.) Materials Science of Concrete, vol. VI, pp. 483–511. American Ceramic Society, Westerville (2001)
AS 1379-1997.: Specification and Supply of Concrete, Incorporating Amendment 1-2000, 35 pp. Standards Australia, Sydney (2000)
AS 3600-2001.: Concrete Structures, Incorporating Amendments No. 1 and 2, 165 pp. Standards Australia, Sydney (2001)
ASTM C1202: Standard Test Method for Electrical Indication of Concretes Ability to Resist Chloride Ion Penetration. ASTM, Philadelphia (2010)
ASTMC1556–04: Standard Test Method for Determining the Apparent Chloride Diffusion Coefficient of Cementitious Mixtures by Bulk Diffusion. ASTM, Philadelphia (2004)
ASTMC1585–04e1: Standard Test Method for Measurement of Rate of Absorption of Water by Hydraulic-Cement Concretes. ASTM, Philadelphia (2004)
ASTMC457/C457 M–10a: Standard Test Method for Microscopical Determination of Parameters of the Air-void System in Hardened Concrete. ASTM, Philadelphia (2010)
Ballim, Y.: Proceedings of International Conference, Concrete 2000. Economic and Durable Construction through Excellence, pp. 1003–1012. E&FN Spon, London (1993)
Bickley, J.A., Hooton, R.D., Hover, K.C.: Performance specifications for durable concrete. Concr. Int. 9, 51–57 (2006)
CAN/CSA-A23.1-04/A23.2-04.: Concrete Materials and Methods of Concrete Construction/Methods of Test and Standard Practices for Concrete, 516 pp. Canadian Standards Association, Toronto (2004)
Day, K.W.: Prescriptive on prescriptions. Concr. Int. 7, 27–30 (2005)
EN 206.: Concrete––Part I: Specification, Performance, Production and Conformity. European Standard (2000)
Gjorv, O.E.: Durability design and quality assurance of concrete infrastructure. Concr. Int. 32(9), 29–36 (2010)
Hooton, R.D., Mindess, S., Roumain, J.C., Boyd, A.J., Rear, K.B.: Proportioning and testing concrete for durability. Concr. Int. 8, 38–41 (2006)
IS 456: Plain and Reinforced Concrete––Code of Practice, 4th edn. Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi (2000)
Kulkarni, V.R.: Exposure classes for designing durable concrete. Indian Concr. J. 83(3), 23–43 (2009)
Lobo, C., Lemay, L., Obla, K.: Performance-based specifications for concrete. Indian Concr. J. 79(12), 13–17 (2005)
Mackecknie, J.M.: Predictions of reinforced concrete durability in the marine. PhD thesis, University of Cape Town (1996)
Mackechnie, J.R., Alexander, M.G.: Rapid chloride test comparisons. Concr. Int. 22(5), 40–46 (2000)
Muigai, R.N., Moyo, P., Alexander, M.G.: Use of durability indexes in probabilistic modelling for durability design of RC members. In: Alexander et al. (eds.) Concrete Repair, Rehabilitation and Retrofitting II. Taylor and Francis, London (2009)
RILEM Report 040.: Non-destructive evaluation of the penetrability and thickness of the concrete cover. In: Torrent, R., Fernandez Luco, L. (eds.) State-of-the-Art Report of RILEM Technical Committee 189-NEC. RILEM, France (2007)
Simons, B.: Concrete performance specifications: New Mexico experience. Concr. Int. 4, 68–71 (2004)
Streicher, P.E., Alexander, M.G.: A chloride conduction test for concrete. Cem. Concr. Res. 25(6), 1284–1294 (1995)
Taylor, P.: Performance-based specifications for concrete. Concr. Int. 8, 91–93 (2004)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alexander, M.G., Santhanam, M. & Ballim, Y. Durability design and specification for concrete structures––the way forward. Int J Adv Eng Sci Appl Math 2, 95–105 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12572-011-0027-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12572-011-0027-x