1998 Volume 47 Issue 11 Pages 696-705
Concrete structures have in general shown excellent performance in various environments. Recently, however, several cases have come to light where structures have shown signs of premature deterioration on account of severe environmental conditions, improper choice of condstruction materials, and lack of proper workmanship and quality control. At the same time, the movement in the world economy towards better utilization of resources is putting sustained pressure on concrete engineers to develop tools for construction of economical and more durable structures.
This papaer presents a summary of the main causes for deterioration in concrete structures and provides a brief review of the mechanism of deterioration on account of chloride induced reinforcement corrosion, as a typical example. It may be noted that is one of the most important causes of rapid deterioration in our country. The paper also introduces the concepts on durability design, maintenance planning and rehabilitation methods in concrete structures.
