B. H. Oh

Influence of Carbonation for Chloride Diffusion in Concrete

Recently, the corrosion of reinforced concrete structures has received great attention related with the deterioration of sea-side structures, such as new airport, bridges, and nuclear power plants. In this regards, many studies have been done on the chloride attack in concrete structures. However, those studies were confined mostly to the single deterioration due to chloride only, although actual environment is rather of combined type. The purpose of the present study is, therefore, to explore the influences of carbonation to chloride attack in concrete structures. The test results indicate that the chloride penetration is more pronounced than the case of single chloride attack when the carbonation process is combined with the chloride attack. It is supposed that the chloride ion concentration of carbonation region is higher than the sound region because of the separation of fixed salts. Though the use of fly ash pronounces the chloride ion concentration in surface, amounts of chloride ion penetration into deep region decreases with the use of fly ash. The present study allows more realistic assessment of durability for such concrete structures which are subjected to combined attacks of both chlorides and carbonation but the future studies for combined environment will assure the precise assessment.

Finite Element Analysis of Transfer Length in Pretensioned Prestressed Concrete Members

The transfer of prestress force in pretensioned prestressed concrete (PSC) members is of great concern because it affects directly the distribution of stress around the transfer zone. The design provision of current design code on the transfer length considers only the prestress intensity and the diameter of prestressing steels. However, other factors such as concrete compressive strength and concrete cover may affect greatly the transfer length. The purpose of the present paper is to explore the various factors that affect the transfer length in pretensioned PSC members. The bond stress-slip relation between prestressing steel and concrete was modeled first from experimental data and then this model was incorporated into the interface element. The interface element was used to perform the finite element analysis for pretensioned PSC members. The results indicate that the compressive strength and concrete cover are also very important parameters which affect the transfer length greatly. This means that the current design code, which considers only the effective prestress and diameter of prestressing steel, must be improved to take into account the other important variables of compressive strength and concrete cover. The present study allows more realistic analysis and design of pretensioned PSC members.

An Experimental Study on the Seismic Behavior of Solid RC Piers Using High Strength Concrete and High Strength Rebars

To cope with increasing requirements of cost reduction, labor saving, and rapid construction, the purpose of this study is to investigate the structural behavior of hollow RC piers using the high strength concrete and the high strength rebars. The high strength concrete offers many advantages such as enhanced mechanical performance and durability, in addition to member size reduction. The high strength rebars are used here to reduce the amount of rebars, which facilitates the placement of concrete and labor works. Three Hollow RC piers were tested under a constant axial load and a cyclically reversed horizontal load. The test variables include concrete compressive strength, steel strength, and steel ratio. The test results indicate that RC piers using the high strength concrete and high strength rebars exhibit ductile behavior and appropriate seismic performance, in compliance with the design code. the present study allows more realistic application of high strength rebars and concrete to RC piers, which will provide enhanced durability as well as more economy.

Influence of Porosity on the CO 2 Diffusion Characteristic in Concrete

The diffusivity of carbon dioxide in concrete is very important in that it directly affects the degree of carbonation in concrete structures. The purpose of the present study is to explore the diffusivity of carbon dioxide and to derive a realistic equation to estimate the diffusion coefficient of carbon dioxide in concrete. For this purpose, several series of concrete specimens have been tested. Major test variables were the water-cement ratios. The total porosities and the diffusion coefficients of carbon dioxide were measured for the specimens. The present study indicates that the measured porosities agree well with the calculated ones. The effects of porosity and relative humidity on the diffusion coefficient of carbon dioxide were examined. A prediction equation to estimate the diffusion coefficient of carbon dioxide was derived and proposed in this study. The proposed equation shows reasonably good correlation with test data on the diffusion coefficient of concrete

Influence of Relative humidity on the CO 2 Diffusion Coefficient in Concrete

The carbonation of concrete is one of the major factors that cause durability problems in concrete structures. The rate of carbonation depends largely upon the diffusivity of carbon dioxide in concrete. The purpose of this study is to identify the diffusion coefficients of carbon dioxide for various concrete mixtures. To this end, several series of tests have been planned and conducted. The test results indicate that the diffusion of carbon dioxide reached the steady-state within about five hours after exposure. The diffusion coefficient increases with the increase of water-cement ratio and decreases with the increase of relative humidity at the same water-cement ratio. The content of aggregates also influences the diffusivity of carbon dioxide in concrete. It was found that the diffusion coefficient of cement paste is larger than that of concrete or mortar. The experimental study of carbon dioxide diffusivity in this study will allow more realistic assessment of carbonation depth in concrete structures.

Identification of Compliance Function for Early-Age Concrete Based on Measured Strain & Thermal Stress Histories

Recently, the serviceability and durability of concrete structures under thermal load have received great attention. The thermal stress and clacking behavior of concrete at early ages are one of the important factors that affect such serviceability and durability of concrete structures. Nevertheless, most studies on the behavior of early-age concrete have been confined to the temperature and strain development itself in the laboratory. The desirable efforts to explore the material properties of concrete at early-ages have not been made extensively so far. The purpose of the present study is, therefore, to identify some important material properties that affect the stress behavior of concrete at early-ages. To this end, full-scale concrete base-restrained wall members have been fabricated, and many sensors including thermocouples, strain meters and stress meters were installed inside of the wall members. These sensors were to measure the development of temperatures, strains and stresses at several location in concrete walls during the hardening and curing phase of early-age concrete. By using these measured values of strain and stress, the compliance function at early-age was identified. The basic form of compliance function derived in this study follows the double-power law. However, the results of present study indicate that the values of existing compliance functions are much lower than actual values, especially at very early-ages. It can be seen that the prediction of stresses of early-age concrete based on the proposed compliance function agrees very well with test data. The present study allows more realistic evaluation of varying stresses in early-age concrete under thermal load.

Experimental Study on Chloride Penetration into Concrete under Combined Exposure Conditions of Chlorides and High Concentrated Sulfates

Recently, the durability of concrete structures has received great attention as the number of sea-side structures, such as new airport, bridges, and nuclear power plants, increases continuously. In this regards, many studies have been done on the chloride attack in concrete structures. However, those studies were confined mostly to the single deterioration due to chloride only, although actual environment is rather of combined type. The purpose of the present study is, therefore, to explore the effects of combined deterioration due to chlorides and sulfates in concrete structures. To this end, comprehensive experimental program has been set up to observe the chloride penetration behavior for various test series. The test results indicate that the chloride penetration is more pronounced for the case of combined attack than the case of single chloride attack. The surface chloride content is found to increase with time and the diffusion coefficient for chloride is found to decrease with time. The prediction equations for surface chloride content and diffusion coefficient were proposed according to test results. The equations for chloride penetration considering the time-dependent diffusion coefficients and surface chlorides were also suggested. The present study allows more realistic assessment of durability for such concrete structures which are subjected to combined attacks of chlorides and high concentration sulfates but the future studies for combined environment will assure the precise assessment.