Numerical Modelling of the Load Carrying Capacity Degradation in Concrete Beams due to Reinforcement Corrosion

P.J. SÁNCHEZ; A.E HUESPE; J. OLIVER; S. TORO

Venice (Italy)

Congreso; 8th. World Congress on Computational Mechanics (WCCM8); 2008

IACM

In this contribution, we present a FE model suitable to simulate the evolution of the mechanical degradationmechanism in RC members due to reinforcement corrosion, such as: expansion of the corrodedbars, crack pattern distribution, loss of steel-concrete bond adherence, net area reduction of the steelber cross section and the effects of the above mentioned mechanisms on the structural load carryingcapacity. The proposed numerical model has been applied to beams, through two succesive and coupledmesoscopic mechanical analyzes, as follows:(i) Analysis of the structural member cross section:, we simulate the reinforced ber expansiondue to the volume increase of the steel bars as a consequence of corrosion. Damage distribution andcracking patterns in the concrete is evaluated, which denes the concrete net section loss in the structuralmember.(ii) Mesoscopic analysis of the structural member: considering the results of the previous analysis, itis evaluated the mechanical response of the structural member subjected to an external loading system.This evaluation determines the global response and the macroscopic mechanisms of failure.Each component of the RC structure is modeled by means of a suitable FE formulation. For the concrete,a cohesive (damage) model based on the Continuum Strong Discontinuity Approach (CSDA [1]) isused. Steel reinforcement are simulated by means of a standard elasto-plastic model. The interface issimulated using contact-friction elements with the friction degradation as a function of the degree ofcorrosion attack.