Influence of cracks on the deterioration mechanisms and durability of reinforced concrete structures

Abstract

The most important factor that affects concrete deterioration is the appearance of cracks on reinforced concrete (RC) structures, so the influence of loading cracks should not be neglected when the service life is analyzed. For the purposes of this research, reference concrete and concretes with 50% fly ash (FA) and with 100% recycled aggregate (RCA) were prepared. The existing carbonation prediction models were analyzed and modification was proposed in the case of FA and RCA concretes. After establishing the relationship between carbonation resistance and compressive strength, the service life analysis was performed by defining the required concrete cover depth for different concrete types. Samples with 5 different crack widths (0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 and 0.30mm) and samples without cracks were prepared and subjected to accelerated carbonation. For all concrete types steel stress limitation was pro-posed, which allows the entire service life of RC elements to meet the prescribed requirements.