Modeling of the corrosion-induced crack in concrete contained transverse crack subject to chloride ion penetration

• Published in: Construction & building materials Vol. 258; p. 119645
• Main Authors: Yu, Shuo, Jin, Hao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 20.10.2020
• Subjects: Chloride ion penetration; Corrosion-induced crack; Extended finite element method; Three-dimensional diffusion-mechanical model; Transverse crack; Transverse crack; Extended finite element method; Corrosion-induced crack; Chloride ion penetration; Three-dimensional diffusion-mechanical model
• ISSN: 0950-0618; 1879-0526
• DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.119645

•A 3D diffusion-mechanical model contained transverse crack is developed.•The corrosion-induced crack path is simulated by extended finite element method.•The 3D rust layer form is expressed by the 2D Gaussian distribution function.•The corrosion-induced crack test is designed and compared with calculation. This study aimed to investigate the effect of transverse cracks on corrosion-induced cracking in reinforced concrete (RC) structures. A three-dimensional diffusion-mechanical model of RC with transverse cracks was developed, the effects of the transverse crack deflection angle and width on the diffusion process were considered, and the extended finite element method (XFEM) was used to simulate corrosion-induced crack paths. An accelerated corrosion test was designed, and the experimental results were compared with the numerical calculation results to verify the accuracy of the crack patterns. Furthermore, the effects of the transverse crack deflection angle, distance to transverse crack, and steel bar diameter on the corrosion-induced crack patterns were investigated. The results showed that the deflection angle of the transverse crack not only influenced the width and length of the corrosion-induced cracks but also determined the location of the corrosion-induced crack. The rebar diameter had a minor effect on the longitudinal length of the crack but was sensitive to the variation in the circumferential angle of the cracks. In addition, increasing the distance to the transverse crack simultaneously decreased the longitudinal length and extended the initial time of the crack.