Assessment Of Coastal Reinforced Concrete Structures Under Coupling Effect Of Multiple Factors

Reinforced concrete structures are widely used in industrial and civil buildings.According to the characteristics of the reinforced concrete structure, it has a limitedservice life. It is very important how to increase the service life and durability ofconcrete structures especially in the coastal area of high chloride contents. The time tosurface cracking, the maximum steel expansive force, and the surface crack width arethe main factors that affect the durability of concrete structures. It is very critical tostudy the three main factors for the durability assessment and design of reinforcedconcrete structures. The three factors can be used as the measure for the service life ofreinforced concrete structures. Therefore, this study conducted in this thesis is not onlyof theoretical significance but also of important practical value.Based on the cocentric cylinder model for concrete cover cracking, the solution forthe concrete cracking is discussed in this thesis. The time to surface cracking and themaximum steel expansive force are obtained. By comparing the analytical solution withthe experimental results collected from the literature, the validity of the proposed modelis verified. A probability method is developed for the assessment of the time to surfacecracking and the maximum steel expansive force of concrete cover under the couplingeffect of multiple factors. Considering the variability of structure characteristicalparameters, the effects of the various parameters on the time to surface cracking and themaximum steel expansive force is quantitatively evaluated by computer numericalsimulation. By numerical analysis, the relative importance of various factors isidentified. Based on the numerical results, some useful conclusions are drawn, whichprovides a theoretical foundation for the durability design and assessment of reinforcedconcrete structures.