Reliability of Reinforced Concrete Structures Subjected to Corrosion-Fatigue and Climate Change

Abstract

Durability of reinforced concrete (RC) structures is affected by certain environmental conditions and operational actions which can reduce their lifetime significantly. Among these actions, this paper proposes a stochastic model that accounts for the combined effects of chloride-induced corrosion, climate change and cyclic loading. Separately, corrosion leads to cross-section reduction, climate change produces changes in temperature and humidity and fatigue induces nucleation and propagation of cracks in the rebars. When considered together, pitting corrosion nucleates cracks while environmental factors affect the kinematics of chloride ingress and corrosion propagation. The proposed approach is illustrated with the reliability analysis of a bridge girder subjected to cyclic loading under various environmental conditions. The overall results indicate that climate change effect induces lifetime reductions ranging between 1.4 and 2.3% if fatigue load is neglected. Under cyclic loading, total lifetime reduction increases up to 7%.