Numerical simulation of chloride ion migration of cement concrete under dry-wet cycles

A model is established to predict the chloride ion transportation in cement concrete under dry-wet cycles. A formula for calculating the effective diffusion of chloride, which is used to characterize the effect of temperature, the age of concrete, humanity and wind speed on the chloride ion transportation in cement concrete, is proposed. The Fick's law is used to describe the diffusion of chloride. A solution of the diffusion equation is proposed to determine the chloride distribution within an alternate wetting-drying environment area as a function of time and space. The chloride distribution responses are obtained by the finite difference method. Compared with a variety of available test data, there is a reasonable agreement between the model simulations with the experimental data. © 2015 W. S. Maney & Son Ltd.