Estimation of corrosion occurrence in RC structure using reliability based PSO optimization

Abstract

In this study, meta-heuristic approach of two types of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method is used to calculate corrosion occurrence probability, due to chloride ions penetration and carbonation. The models’ effciency is verified by comparing with available examples in technical literature and results of Monte Carlo analysis. According to the analyzes performed, using different probabilistic distributions regardless of probabilistic moments based on real distribution, lead to diverse results. In addition, influence of each effective parameter on corrosion occurrence varies by changing other parameters and by time The effect of concrete cover (d) reduces at corrosion initiation and the corrosion threshold (Cth) slightly increases over time Almost, the concrete cover is the most important factor, and the corrosion threshold is also the least important factor. The influence of chloride concentration amount at surface (Cs) increases over time, in a way that, it becomes the most important parameter in low-quality concretes after several years. Thus, the precise amount of Cs is of great importance in exact estimation of corrosion and durability design.