Title: Modelling the effects of structural cracking on carbonation front advance into concrete

Authors: Sudip Talukdar; Nemkumar Banthia; John R. Grace

Addresses: Department of Civil Engineering, British Columbia Institute of Technology, SW3-2080, 3700 Willingdon Ave, Burnaby, BC, V5G 3H2, Canada ' Department of Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2024-6250 Applied Science Lane, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada ' Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, 229-2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada

Abstract: Concrete structures are almost certain to contain cracks due to different physiochemical mechanisms. The formation of cracks is sure to affect its durability by altering ion and fluid transport properties. This includes the incursion of CO2 into the structure. There presently exists no consensus on how to model the effects of structural cracking on carbonation progress within concrete structures. This paper first examines the concept of effective diffusion based on simultaneous diffusion of CO2 through sound and cracked concrete and then considers a series diffusion concept where CO2 diffuses first into the crack, and then outwards into the sound concrete. It is concluded that the effective diffusion concept is not valid for structurally cracked concrete. Instead, research efforts should be concentrated on developing a two-phase series diffusion model.

Keywords: concrete structures; carbonation; structural cracking; diffusion modelling; corrosion; fluid transport; cracks; crack formation; carbon dioxide; CO2.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTRUCTE.2015.068000

International Journal of Structural Engineering, 2015 Vol.6 No.1, pp.73 - 87

Accepted: 06 Oct 2014
Published online: 12 Mar 2015 *

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