Abstract
Concentration of chloride ion in reinforced concrete involving internal cracks is quantitatively analyzed by using a numerical method which is capable of simulating 3D crack propagations and the mass transfer. The FEM with a damage model based on fracture mechanics for concrete in terms of fracture energy is applied to simulate 3D crack propagations. The transfer of chloride ions is described by the unsteady diffusion equation. The diffusion coefficients in cracked concrete are expressed as a function of the damage variable obtained from the crack propagation analysis. The formulation of crack propagation analysis with the damage model and unsteady diffusion analysis in consideration of damage in concrete are presented in Section 2. Section 3 shows a verification analysis of internal cracking in concrete to demonstrate that the crack width can be evaluated independently of mesh-size. Finally, the comparisons between numerical and experimental results show that the present analysis is capable of evaluating the chloride ion concentration in concrete involving internal cracks with satisfactory accuracy.
