Modelling corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete

Aggressive environmental conditions, such as exposure to the sea climate or use of de-icing salts, have considerable influence on durability of reinforced concrete structures due to the reinforcement corrosion induced damage. In the present paper, the recently developed coupled 3D chemo-hygro-thermo-mechanical (CHTM) model for concrete is discussed. The model takes into account the interaction between non-mechanical processes and mechanical properties of concrete (damage). The mechanical part of the model is based on the microplane model. It is validated through a 3D transient FE analysis of a pull-out of corroded steel reinforcement from a concrete beam-end specimen, which was exposed to aggressive environmental conditions. For the corrosion phase, the influence of the anode and cathode position on the electric potential, current density, corrosion rate and corrosion induced damage is investigated. Moreover, the effect of corrosion on the pull-out capacity of reinforcement and the influence of transport of corrosion products through cracks are studied.