A Non-Local Damage Mechanics Approach For Corrosion-Induced Cracking In Reinforced Concrete Structures

Reinforcement corrosion is one of the major factors that cause the performance deterioration and durability issues of reinforced concrete structures. Therefore, the study on the corrosion-induced cracking and influential factors of reinforced concrete structures is of important theoretical significance and application value for the durability assessment and design of structures.Based on the non-local theory, a non-local damage mechanics approache is presented for the tension analysis of concrete bars and applied to corrosion-induced cracking of reinforced concrete structures. A non-local damage model is established for corrosion-induced cracking of reinforced concrete structures. Through comparing with experimental results collected from the literature, the validity of the model is verified. The time to corrosion-induced cracking and the crack width with time of reinforced concrete structures are predicted. Based on the numerical simulation results, the effects of the cover depth, ratio between the tensile strength and elastic modulus of concrete, and corrosion current density on the time to corrosion-induced cracking and crack width are analyzed in a quantitative manner and the relative importance between these influencing factors is quantified.