Chloride penetration in freeze-thaw induced cracking concrete: A numerical study

Reinforced concrete (RC) structures, serving in marine and cold environments, are attacked by freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs) and chloride penetration, both of which can cause serious deterioration of RC structures. Existing studies lack of models considering the development of pore structure, as well as crack propagation caused by freeze and thaw. In this study, a multi-phase numerical model is proposed for studying chloride transport in concrete under FTCs. Unlike the existing models, the diffusion coefficient in the presented work is associated with the evolution of pore structure, and the induced crack is considered to be time-dependent and propagates with cycles of freeze-thaw action. The validity of the presented model is verified against a set of third-party experiments. Some important factors, such as FTCs, crack width, porosity, connectivity and most probable pore diameter factor are elaborated to illustrate how these factors affect chloride transport. The findings can bring insights to the durability design of RC structures serving in cold or marine regions.