Coupled diffusion of chloride and other ions in saturated concrete

Abstract

Corrosion of reinforcing steel due to chloride ions is one of the severe deterioration problems in long-term performance of reinforced concrete structures. The deterioration process is frequently found in marine concrete structures, highway pavements, and bridges exposed to deicing salts. The diffusion of chloride ions is associated and strongly affected by other ions in the pore solution in concrete. In this paper, chloride penetration into concrete structures was mathematically characterized by the Nernst-Planck equation which considered not only diffusion mechanism of the chloride ions but also ionic interaction among other ions coming from externally applied deicers and within the Portland cement paste. Electroneutrality was used to determine the electrostatic potential induced by the ionic interaction. The material models of chloride binding capacity and chloride diffusion coefficient were incorporated in the governing equations. The governing equations were solved by using finite element method. A numerical example was used to illustrate the coupling effect of multi-ionic interactions and the effect of influential parameters. The numerical results obtained from the present model agreed very well with available test data.

Keywords

diffusion / chloride / concrete / Nernst-Planck equation / durability

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Acknowledgements

The financial support from the Royal Thai Government and under National Science Foundation (Grant No. CMMI-0727749) to the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of New Hampshire are gratefully acknowledged.

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg