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A Simple Durability Design Method for Carbonation-Induced Corrosion

Article · August 2013

DOI: 10.1515/rbm-2013-6605

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R. Neves Fernando A. Branco

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 A SIMPLE DURABILITY DESIGN METHOD FOR
CARBONATION-INDUCED CORROSION

Rui Nevesa, Fernando Brancob and Jorge de Britob

a ESTBarreiro/IPS; b Instituto Superior Técnico

ABSTRACT
The present study aims to provide a simple, semi-probabilistic approach to
service life design of reinforced concrete structures, with regard to corro-
sion of the reinforcement induced by concrete carbonation.
An analytical model is presented based on input parameters, such as the
accelerated carbonation resistance at the initiation period and the environ-
mental class. A maximum accepted level of deterioration as well as reliabil-
ity indexes were defined. The corresponding partial safety factors were de-
rived from a full probabilistic approach. The performance of the proposed
method is compared with that of a reference method (E 465).

KEYWORDS: concrete; carbonation; corrosion; service life; performance-based design.

1 INTRODUCTION

The service life design of reinforced concrete structures is an important sub-

ject that led to extensive research activities worldwide. As a result of that
research, performance-based design methods are currently available [1-3].
These methods are based on prediction models and reliability concepts. In
order to provide a widespread use of the performance-based design, its
methods must be as simple (user-friendly) and accurate as possible.
The service life of a structural component is the period of time after con-
struction during which all the properties exceed the minimum acceptable
values when routinely maintained [4]. Tuutti [5] presented a model where the
service life for concrete structures with regard to reinforcement corrosion is
broken down into an initial, and a propagation stage. This division is justi-
fied as the primary ruling factors are different in the two sub-processes.
For the specific deterioration mechanism of carbonation-induced corrosion,
the initial stage is the period from the beginning of a structure’s life until the
carbonation depth equals the reinforcement cover. At this point it is consid-
ered that corrosion becomes possible. The propagation stage corresponds
to the period beginning at the end of the initial stage, until the reinforcement
reaches a level of unacceptable corrosion deterioration.
Defining a level of unacceptable corrosion deterioration, i. e., the Limit State, is
not a simple matter. In service life design, especially for prestressed structures
or those affected by chloride ion penetration, the criterion is often that corre-
sponding to corrosion onset [6,7], which can be designated as the Depassivation

1
Limit State. It is possible that identical elements, when exposed to different
environments, have the same lifetime, but with different contributions from the
initial and propagation stages. Therefore, if only the initial stage is used to de-
fine the Limit State, which may be sufficient for carbonation induced corrosion
in dry exposure conditions, it will not be appropriate for more aggressive envi-
ronments. Thus, for a certain required service life, disregarding the propaga-
tion stage implies that a longer initial stage is required. The most direct way to
achieve such an extension is increasing the rebar cover thickness and improv-
ing the resistance of concrete to carbonation. Any of these actions implies in-
creased costs, either directly by increasing the cost of concrete, or indirectly,
by reducing the reinforcement efficiency on the flexural strength.

2 CARBONATION RATE MODEL

Adequate modelling of carbonation is a delicate issue, since several factors

must be taken into account and, on the other hand, users expect research
to deliver simple and user-friendly models. In general, depth of carbonation
is often predicted using Eq. (1).

x=K t
(1)

Where: x - carbonation depth (mm); K - carbonation coefficient

(mm/year1/2); t - exposure time to CO2 (year).
In Eq. (1), K is a parameter that takes into account all factors affecting car-
bonation. Separating those factors into environmental and concrete intrinsic
factors, K may be defined as:

ki
K= (2)
ke

Where: ki - parameter for concrete intrinsic factors; ke - parameter for envi-

ronmental factors.
When environmental conditions, including CO2 concentration, are constant,
the coefficient K is a relative indicator of concrete carbonation resistance
and the most straightforward and reliable parameter to characterize the
influence of concrete intrinsic factors on carbonation. To evaluate carbona-
tion resistance in practice, accelerated tests have to be used, exposing
concrete to mediums with relatively high CO2 concentration.

2
With regards to environmental conditions, the European standard EN 206-1
[8]
defines four classes for carbonation-induced corrosion: XC1, XC2, XC3
and XC4. The XC1 environmental class stands for permanently dry (e.g.,
buildings’ interior) or permanently wet (e.g., totally immersed) concrete. The
XC2 environmental class stands for concrete with long periods in contact
with water (e.g., rainwater drainage systems). Environments with moderate
humidity (e.g., concrete in open air structures sheltered from rain) correspond
to class XC3 and with dry-wet cycles (e.g., concrete in open air structures not
sheltered from rain) correspond to class XC4. Considering the environmental
influence on both the initiation and the propagation periods of carbonation-
induced corrosion, environmental classes XC3 and XC4 are the most severe.
Neves et al. [9] investigated the relationship between carbonation resistance
in accelerated and natural conditions, using cores drilled from 96 spots in
real structures, including different structural elements, whose age ranged
from 4 to 32 years. Based on their conclusions and using Eq. (1), which has
shown the ability to simulate carbonation depth evolution with time in natu-
ral conditions [10-12], the following model is proposed:

ka
x= t (3)
ke

Where: x - carbonation depth (mm); ka - resistance to accelerated carbona-

tion (mm/year1/2); ke - environmental parameter = 9.9 for class XC3; or 15.0
for class XC4; t - exposure time to CO2 (year).

Resistance to carbonation in accelerated conditions (ka) can be quantified

by means of K in Eq. (1) [10,13,14], considering a preconditioning of 3 weeks
at 20 ºC and 65% RH, testing ages from 5 weeks and accelerated carbona-
tion conditions of 20 ºC, 65% RH and 5% CO2 concentration. When using
CO2 concentrations different, but still near, from 5%, the ka factor may be
corrected by the square root of the ratio between 5% and the actual accel-
erated testing concentration [9].

DESIGN CRITERIA
The maximum accepted level of deterioration is corrosion onset, corre-
sponding to a Serviceability Limit State (SLS) that could be defined as the
Depassivation Limit State (DLS). Corrosion models are not as developed
and reliable as initiation stage models; hence it is considered preferable to
limit the deterioration level to the end of the initiation stage. However, as
previously stated, disregarding propagation stage in certain conditions of
carbonation induced corrosion may lead to a significantly increase of the
initial costs. Nevertheless, in these conditions, the propagation stage can
be considered as an additional safety margin, which can be balanced allow-
ing a larger failure probability [15].

3
In structural design a semi-probabilistic approach, considering a safety fac-
tor (γ) is commonly used. The semi-probabilistic approach provides a rela-
tively simple and sufficiently accurate reliability analysis. Unlike the full-
probabilistic approach, the intended values are directly achieved, i.e., with-
out iterations. Within the aim of a carbonation induced corrosion reliability
analysis, the safety factor related to reinforcement cover is often replaced
by a safety margin. Thus, reinforcement cover design value is given by:

cd = cnom − ∆c
(4)
Where: cd - reinforcement cover design value; cnom - nominal (specified) rein-
forcement cover; Δc - reinforcement cover safety margin, usually 10 mm [1].
To quantify the safety factors related to carbonation depth, lifetime simula-
tions, using the Monte Carlo method, were performed. In the process, the
reinforcement cover was considered a deterministic variable (cd) and pa-
rameters ka and ke, from carbonation model (Eq. (3)) were assumed to be
stochastic variables.
For environmental class XC4, ke was considered as a normal distributed varia-
ble with a mean value of 15 and a standard deviation of 0.88 [9]. The re-
sistance to accelerated carbonation (ka) was also considered as a normal dis-
tributed variable, with a coefficient of variation of 13% [10]. The analysis of simu-
lations results led to a safety factor γS = 1.25 for a reliability index β = 1.50.
For environmental class XC3, due to the purpose of expressing the margin
of safety (propagation stage) in terms of the reliability index, a different
analysis was performed. The propagation stage was considered as the pe-
riod between depassivation and crack formation due to corrosion. The low-
est estimation of 45 years for this period [2] was used. The design service
life for the DLS was assessed performing simulations, applying the Monte
Carlo method, where ke was considered a normal distributed variable with a
mean value of 9.9 and a standard deviation of 0.61 [9]. The resistance to
accelerated carbonation (ka) was again considered as a normal distributed
variable, with a coefficient of variation of 13%. Adding the propagation peri-
od to the design service life for DLS, considering at the worst a specified
service life of 200 years and a failure criteria of concrete cracking due to
corrosion, a safety factor γS = 1.00 is computed. In terms of the DLS, this
value for the safety factor means a failure probability of 0.50. This failure
probability corresponds to a reliability index β = 0, which falls within the
range of reliability indexes for XC3 class quoted by Lay and Schiessl [15].

3 PROPOSED METHOD

Following the discussion and analyses in the previous sections a simple

method for service life design regarding carbonation induced corrosion is
proposed.

4
In a first step, a nominal reinforcement cover must be defined. Afterwards
the resistance to accelerated carbonation, to be assessed in test conditions
as referred in section 2, must be foreseen using the following equation:

cd k e
ka = (5)
γ S t SL

Where: ka - resistance to accelerated carbonation (mm/year1/2); cd - rein-

forcement cover design value (mm), according to Eq. (4); ke - environmental
parameter = 9.9 for class XC3; and 15.0 for class XC4; γS - safety factor=
1.0 for class XC3; and 1.25 for class XC4; tSL - specified service life (year).

4 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

The proposed method is compared with a reference method, corresponding

to the Portuguese standard E 465 [2]. The comparison is made in terms of
required accelerated carbonation resistance using four scenarios, which
vary in: reinforcement cover, service life and environmental class (Table 1).

Table 1 Scenarios for the comparative analysis.

Scenario Cover (cd) Service life (tSL) Environmental

(mm) (years) class
A 25 50 XC3
B 25 100 XC3
C 30 50 XC4
D 30 100 XC4

The Portuguese standard uses a semi-probabilistic approach where a SLS of

cracking due to corrosion is assumed; hence two models, one for the initia-
tion stage and another for the propagation stage, are necessary. Although it
establishes three different reliability indexes, according to reliability classes
(RC), within the aim of the present comparisons only β = 1.50 is considered.
The standard quantifies the carbonation resistance by a parameter identified
as RC65. For the purpose of comparing the requirements from both methods,
RC65 values were converted to ka. The required accelerated carbonation re-
sistances for the considered scenarios, resulting from the reference and the
proposed (previous section) methods, are presented in Table 2.

Table 2 Required accelerated carbonation resistances (ka in mm/year0.5).

Method
Scenario
Reference Proposed
A 57 35

5
 B 41 24
C 50/45 50
D 35/33 36

For scenarios C and D the reference method delivers two values, since for
environmental class XC4, the Portuguese standard makes a distinction, in
the propagation stage, between fast and slow dry-wet cycles. The first val-
ue concerns fast dry-wet cycles while the second concerns slow dry-wet
cycles. For these scenarios, similar accelerated carbonation resistances
are required from both methods. For scenarios A and B, the requirements
from the new method seem more restrictive. However, the requirement
from the reference method for scenario B is based on an assumption of a
90 years propagation period, which may not be appropriate. Actually, using
the propagation model established in the Portuguese standard, for the con-
ditions of scenario B, propagation periods ranging from 38 to 62 years are
obtained. If a propagation period of 45 years, identical to the one assumed
for scenario A, is considered, a required ka of 18 mm/year0.5 is obtained.
The difference between the required values for scenario A is justified by the
criterion of disregarding propagation period in the new method, which has a
larger impact on shorter lifetimes. For scenario B, the corrected ka from the
reference method, is more restrictive than the ka from the new method. The
safety factor, considered in the Portuguese standard, was quantified by means
of a mathematical formulation in which some parameters were estimated,
while for the new method it was quantified by means of Monte Carlo simula-
tions. The Portuguese standard safety factor is found to be overrated, there-
fore tending to lead to more restrictive values of ka. Nevertheless, this trend is
balanced for environmental class XC4, because for this class the new method
does not take into account the propagation period and considers the same
reliability index contrary to what happened for environmental class XC3.

5 CONCLUSIONS

A simple performance-based design method for the durability of concrete

structures regarding carbonation-induced corrosion was developed. The
issue of acceptable degradation level was discussed, and a depassivation
limit state, which requires only one prediction model, was adopted. A model
based on Fick’s first law to predict carbonation depth, calibrated with long
term natural exposure conditions carbonation assessments, was used and
a.semi-probabilistic approach using a safety factor associated to a reliability
index was adopted. The impact of not considering an acceptable level of
deterioration where corrosion is allowed was analysed. For situations where
the relative weight of the propagation stage was high (environmental class
XC3), the period was considered as an additional safety margin, reflected
on the allowance of a lower reliability index.

6
A practical method was proposed, whose main features are:
- Use of only one analytical model;
- Analytical model calibrated with long term results;
- Analytical model requiring just two parameters;
- Use of a single safety factor.
Comparative analysis with an existing reference system has proven the
suitability of the proposed method for establishing carbonation performance
requirements.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge Brisa - Auto-estradas de Portugal S. A. the possibil-
ity of using structures from its concessions for the development of this work.

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