Corrosion induced cracking modelled by a coupled transport-structural approach

Transport of corrosion products into pores and cracks in concrete must be considered when predicting corrosion induced cracking in reinforced concrete structures, since this transport significantly delays the onset of cracking and spalling by reducing the amount of radial displacement imposed on the concrete at the steel/concrete interface. We aim to model this process by means of a coupled transport-structural approach, whereby the transport of corrosion products is determined by a pressure gradient generated by the confined volumetric expansion due to the transformation of steel into corrosion products. This pressure driven transport was studied by using both an axisymmetric thick-walled cylinder model and a network approach. The network approach was then applied to corrosion induced cracking experiments reported in the literature.