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Influence of Combined Mechanical and Environmental Loads on Service Life

of Reinforced Concrete Strucutres

Conference Paper · January 2012

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Restoration of Buildings and Monuments
Bauinstandsetzen und Baudenkmalpflege
Vol. 17, No. 2, 103–110 (2011)

Influence of Mechanical Load on Service Life of Reinforced Concrete

Structures under Dominant Influence of Carbonation

X. Wan1, 2, F. H. Wittmann2, 3 and T. Zhao2

1
School of Civil Engineering, Xi’an Univ. of Arch. & Tech., Xi’an 710055, China
2
Centre for Durability, Maintenance and Repair, Qingdao Technological University, Qingdao 266033, China
3
Aedificat Institute Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

Corresponding author: WAN Xiao-mei, E-mail: wanxiaomeiqj@126.com

Abstract

Carbonation is often the dominant influence on service life of reinforced concrete structures. In some concepts
for service life design the carbonation resistance is measured in the laboratory on samples without applied load.
If an applied load has an influence on the rate of carbonation, however, this method cannot be considered to be
reliable. The real service life may be significantly shorter than the calculated design service life.
In this contribution the influence of compression and of tension on the rate of carbonation has been determined
experimentally on beams under sustained four point bending. These beams were exposed to an atmosphere
with an elevated CO2 content for 30 days. Carbonate profiles have been determined by grinding successively
thin layers starting from the surface of the carbonated samples. Even a moderate applied tensile stress
increases the rate of carbonation significantly. Compressive stress has little influence until a critical value.
Above this value an applied compressive stress also increases the rate of carbonation. The obtained results
will serve as a basis for the calculation of an applied stress on service life of reinforced concrete constructions.
Keywords: carbonation, durability design, service life, mechanical load

103
 X. Wan, F.H. Wittmann and T. Zhao
1 Introduction
Structural design of reinforced concrete structures
is based on a safe and matured method to ascertain
structural integrity under diverse mechanical loads,
which reasonably may be expected in practice by
now. In structural design combined loads can also
be taken into consideration. Further refinement is
still possible and minor modifications are being
introduced as relevant knowledge and more expe-
rience are gained. Durability design in comparison
is still at its infancy. Decisive steps in the good
direction, however, have been undertaken recently
all over the world [1-4]. This demonstrates that
there is an urgent need for durability design or
service life design as a necessary complement for
traditional structural design. Life cycle cost of
buildings and structures become more and more
important but they can be estimated in a realistic
way only if there is a reliable method for service
life prediction.
Based on a probabilistic approach service life
design under the dominant influence of carbonation
has been studied by Schiessl and Gehlen [5]. Ser-
vice life of a new parking deck has been deter-
mined. The reliability index of a 33 year old televi-
sion tower has determined as well. With the
obtained results the service life prediction could be
upgraded [6]. Similar calculations have been car-
ried out to predict service life of reinforced concrete
structures under the dominant influence of chloride
penetration. The influence of a simultaneously act-
ing mechanical load on service life, however, has
been widely neglected so far. X. Feng et al. have
shown that chloride migration may be influenced
by a sustained load [7]. Chloride penetration meas-
ured on reinforced beams under four point bending
has been found to be accelerated in the tensile zone
and retarded in the compression zone [8]. Recently
Jiang et al. [9] have shown that capillary absorption
of salt solutions of concrete increases with increas-
ing applied tensile stress. It could also be shown
that the diffusion coefficient of chloride ions in
concrete under sustained tensile load is signifi-
cantly increased if compared with values measured
in unloaded companion specimens.
As mentioned above, carbonation of concrete after
33 years of service has been measured on the
Munich television tower [6]. As has been expected,
carbonation depth was lowest in the areas facing
the main wind and rain direction because of the
high probability to be hit by driving rain. Then
pores are temporarily blocked for further ingress of
CO2 into the material as they are water filled. But
104
carbonation depth was observed to be slightly
increased in the zones perpendicular to the main
wind direction. That is most probably due to the
damage induced by fatigue of the material due to
cyclic loading for many years. As conventional
concrete in structural elements undergoes drying
for decades after removal of the formwork the con-
crete cover is under high sustained tensile load for
a substantial part of the entire service life. Enough
experimental evidence can be found in the literature
that service life will be overestimated if the influ-
ence of mechanical load on permeability and diffu-
sivity is not taken into consideration.
In this contribution experimental results will be pre-
sented, which indicate that the rate of carbonation
depends on the applied load. The influence of an
applied load on service life under carbonation as the
dominant deteriorating mechanism will be outlined.
2 Service Life Prediction
2.1 Probability of Failure
When the carbonation depth has reached the thick-
ness of the concrete cover, corrosion of steel rein-
forcement may be initiated. In a real structural ele-
ment both cover thickness and carbonation depth
are statistically distributed values. Then the proba-
bility of failure pf depends on time and can be
expressed in the following way:
pf (t)= p{R(t) -S(t)} < pt (1)
where P(t) stands for the target failure probability,
R(t) stands for the resistance, in this case for the sta-
tistical distribution of the cover thickness and S(t)
stands for the environmental load, in this case for
the time-dependent statistical distribution of the
carbonation depth. In cases where abrasion is a real
problem, R(t) may also depend on time. Then the
reliability Z(t) with respect to durability is obtained
by the difference
Z(t) = R(t)-S(t) (2)
The task of durability design is to make sure that the
reliability Z and the probability of failure pf
remains smaller than predetermined values during
the entire service life.
If R(t) and S(t) are normally distributed, we can
characterize the statistical values by the mean val-
ues µR and µS and their standard deviation σR and
σS. Under these simplifying assumptions only the
difference Z will again be normally distributed and
it can be characterized by the following mean value
µZ and standard deviation σZ:
 Influence of Mechanical Load on Service Life of Reinforced Concrete Structures under Dominant Influence of Carbonation
µZ = µR - µS
σZ = (σR2+σS2)1/2
As can be seen from Fig. 1, the reliability index β
according to probabilistic reliability analysis will
be the mean value of Z divided by the standard
deviation of Z:
β = µZ / σZ
Knowing the reliability index, the probability of
failure can be obtained by the following equation
(6):
pf = p(Z<0) = Φ(-β)
with Φ being the standard normal distribution.
In the case of carbonation R represents the statisti-
cally distributed cover thickness and S(t) stands for
the statistically distributed carbonation depth. In
many cases R can be considered to be independent
on time, while S(t) increases steadily depending on
the material properties and the environmental con-
ditions.
2.2 Influence of an Applied Load on
Time-dependent Carbonation Depth
The time-dependent carbonation depth x(t) can be
described in the following way:
K in equation (7) takes the environmental humidity,
the average temperature, the curing period before
exposure to carbonation, the carbonation resistance
and the CO2 concentration into account [6]. This
P(R, S)
Figure 1: Distribution functions of resistance R and load S and the corresponding probabilistic reliability pf (according
to [6])
(3) equation, however, is limited to the case of carbon-
ation of non load bearing concrete elements. In the
(4) usual case of load bearing structural elements, a
correction factor k has to be added:
(8)
(5) In equation (8) σ stands for the applied stress and
σ0 for the ultimate stress. Then the carbonation
depth as function of a structural element, which is
exposed to an average stress σ, can be predicted by
the following equation:
(6)
x(t ) = K kσ t (9)
In this contribution kσ shall be determined on spec-
imens under tensile and under compressive stress.
3 Experimental
For the tests of this project concrete prisms with
the following dimensions have been produced: 100
x 100 x 400 mm. A composite mineral binder con-
taining ordinary Portland cement OPC 52.5, Class
II fly ash and S95 slag has been used. River sand
with a maximum size of 5 mm and crushed aggre-
gates with a maximum size of 20 mm, both from
(7) the area around Qingdao, have been added and
mixed with tap water. In order to achieve the nec-
essary workability, a super plasticizer (SP) (poly-
carboxylic acid) has been added. Details of the
composition are given in Table 1.
R, S
105
 X. Wan, F.H. Wittmann and T. Zhao

Table 1: Composition of two types of concrete A and B; the mass is indicated in kg/m3
Type W/B Cement Fly ash Slag Water Sand Gravel SP
A 0.45 200 75 81 160 718 1077 2.8
B 0.32 250 75 145 150 730 1095 5.2

Figure 2: Test rig for application of four point bending load

After compaction specimens were allowed to harden 4 Results

for 24 hours under wet burlap before the forms were
removed. The young concrete prisms were then
stored in a wet curing room at a temperature T = 20
± 2 °C and a relative humidity above 95 %.
At an age of 56 days the concrete prisms were
loaded under four point bending as shown in Fig. 2.
Under sustained load they were placed in a box for
accelerated carbonation. The climate in this box
was controlled to be constant at T = 20 ± 2 °C, RH
= 70 ± 5 % and volume concentration of CO2
CV(CO2) = 20 ± 3 %.
During carbonation a stress level of 30 %, 50 %,
60 % or 80 % was maintained constant. Carbonation
profiles have been determined after accelerated car-
bonation for 30 days. For comparison carbonation of
samples without load has been determined as well.
Thin layers have been milled successively starting at
the original surface and the carbonate content of the
powder obtained was determined with a calibrated
pressure cell by adding hydrochloric acid.
Typical chloride profiles as obtained from concrete
type A, which carbonated in the box for acceler-
ated carbonation for 30 days under a stress level of
30 % and 60 % respectively, are shown in Fig. 3.
Carbonation profiles as obtained on companion
specimens, after accelerated carbonation without
being loaded are shown for comparison. Data
shown in Figures 3 and 4 have been fitted with the
following empirical equation:
(10)
In this equation A1 stands for the carbonate content
in the fully carbonated state, and A2 for the initial
carbonate content of the not carbonated material,
dx is the half width of the reaction zone of carbon-
ation, and x0 the centre point of the carbonation
zone. We consider x0 to be a representative value
for the carbonation depth.

106
 Influence of Mechanical Load on Service Life of Reinforced Concrete Structures under Dominant Influence of Carbonation

14
14
A-0
12
12 A-0 A-60-Y
A-30-Y A-60-L
A-30-L 10
10
CaCO3 Content, %

CaCO3 Content, %
8
8

6
6

4 4

2 2

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20

Depth from surface, mm Depth from surface, mm

Figure 3: Carbonate profiles as determined on prisms made of concrete type A, which carbonated under constant
stress level of 30 % (A-30) and 60 % (A-60) for 30 days. Carbonate profiles as observed on specimens,
which carbonated without load (A-0) are also shown for comparison. Y indicates carbonation of the zone
under compression and L carbonation of the zone under tension

From Fig. 3 it can be seen that carbonation in the If no load is applied kσ, as defined by equ. (8), is
compression zone while under 30 % of the ultimate equal to 1 and then the reference carbonation depth
load is slowed down. In contrast carbonation in the at any given time t is described by equ. (9). All
tensile zone is accelerated. If 60 % of the ultimate experimental results as obtained under different
load are applied, carbonation in both zones under load levels in the tension and compression zones on
compression and under tension is accelerated. prisms made with concrete type A and concrete
type B are compiled in Fig. 5. Obviously kσ=
In Fig. 4 typical results as obtained on concrete type
fc(σ/σ0) under compression differs from kσ=
B are shown. Again next to results obtained on speci-
ft(σ/σ0) under tension. A compressive load up to
mens, which were allowed to carbonate without
50 % of the ultimate load has little influence on the
being loaded (B-0), carbonate profiles of specimens,
rate of carbonation, but at a related load of 80 % the
which were loaded up to 30 % (B-30) and 60 %
rate of carbonation is more than doubled. Under an
(B-60) of the ultimate load are shown. Y is the sym-
applied tensile load the rate of carbonation
bol which denotes values obtained from the compres-
increases steadily and at an applied tensile load of
sion zone and L denotes values of the tensile zone.
60 % of the ultimate load the rate of carbonation is
From the carbonation profiles as shown in Figs. 3 already more than doubled.
and 4 the carbonation depth x0 has been determined
The experimentally determined values shown in
by fitting the parameters of equ. (10). Results are
Fig. 5 have been fitted with two polynomial func-
compiled in Table 2.
tions, one for compression and one for tension. The
The rate of carbonation is always highest in the ten- function obtained for applied compression with fit-
sile zone. In the compressive zone the increase of ted parameters is:
rate of carbonation depends on the level of applied
load. Comparing the carbonate profiles of concrete
type A and type B as shown in Figures 3 and 4, it is (11)
obvious that in concrete type A significantly more
carbonate is being formed. This is partly due the
fact that more is consumed during the hydration in The corresponding function for applied tension is:
concrete type B by the added slag and partly due to
a lower water-binder ratio, which necessarily leads
to a lower degree of hydration and hence to a lower (12)
production of Ca(OH)2 .

107
 X. Wan, F.H. Wittmann and T. Zhao

14 14

12 B-0 12 B-0
B-30-Y B-60-Y
B-30-L B-60-L

CaCO3 Content, %
10 10
CaCO3 Content, %

8 8

6 6

4 4

2 2

0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20

Depth from the surface, mm Depth from the surface, mm

Figure 4: Carbonate profiles as determined on prisms made of concrete type B, which carbonated under constant
stress level of 30 % (B-30) and 60 % (B-60) for 30 days. Carbonate profiles as observed on specimens,
which carbonated without load (B-0) are shown for comparison. Y indicates carbonation of the zone under
compression and L carbonation of the zone under tension

Table 2: Carbonation depth x0 after 30 days of accelerated carbonation as obtained by fitting the parameters of equ.
(10) with the measured carbonation profiles
carbonation depth x0, mm
Specimen Stress level
Compressive zone Tensile zone
0 2.18
30% 1.99 2.73
A 50% 2.19 3.00
60% 2.84 3.31
80% 3.29 3.58
0 1.98
30% 1.78 2.26
B
60% 2.26 2.90
80% 2.87 3.21

2.8 −−−− curve of ƒ(σ⁄σ 0) ( compressive)

experimental data (compressive)
− − − curve of ƒ(σ/σ 0) ( tensile)
2.4
experimental data (tensile)

2.0
kσ
1.6

1.2

0.8

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

σ⁄σ 0
Figure 5: Experimentally determined values of kσ and two fitted polynomial functions for compression and tension as
obtained on samples made with concrete type A and B

108
 Influence of Mechanical Load on Service Life of Reinforced Concrete Structures under Dominant Influence of Carbonation
A moderate applied compressive stress has little
influence on the rate of carbonation it even reduces
the rate of carbonation slightly. This may be
explained by a densification of the cement-based
matrix. Micro cracks may also be closed under
compression. If the compressive load under bend-
ing is increased beyond 60 %, the material under-
goes damage and as a consequence the rate of car-
bonation increases. Under this load damage in the
interface can be observed.
An applied tensile load always increases the rate of
carbonation. The rate of carbonation of the tensile
zone of a beam under bending is significantly
higher than the rate of carbonation of load free
structural elements. The influence of the two cor-
rection factors kσ,c and kσ,t on service life of rein-
forced concrete structures shall be outlined in a
forthcoming paper.
5 Conclusions
It is well known that the rate of carbonation of con-
crete depends on the carbonation resistance and the
environmental conditions such as temperature,
humidity and concentration of CO2. So far the
influence of an applied load has been widely
neglected, however. It is shown that under imposed
tensile stress the rate of carbonation increases sig-
nificantly. Under imposed high compressive stress
the rate of carbonation also increases. The influ-
ence of an applied stress on service life shall be
discussed in a forthcoming paper.
Acknowledgement
Financial supports from National Basic Research
Program of China (973 Program)
(2009CB623203) and National Natural Science
Foundation of China as a Key Project (50739001)
is gratefully acknowledged.
References
1. ICCMC, Asian Model Code (2001)
2. ISO, TC98, General Principles on the
Design of Structures for Durability, ISO/WD
13823 (2005)
3. DuraCrete Final Technical Report, Probabil-
istic Performance Based Durability Design
of Concrete Structures, Document
BE96-1347/R17
4. C. Gehlen, Probabilistische Lebensdauerbe-
messung von Stahlbetonbauwerken: Zuver-
lässigkeitsbetrachtungen zur wirksamen
Vermeidung von Bewehrungskorrosion,
Deutscher Ausschuss für Stahlbeton, Heft
510, Beuth Verlag (2000)
5. P. Schiessl and C. Gehlen, New approach of
service life design for concrete structures, in
Proc. Int. Workshop on Durability of Rein-
forced Concrete Structures under Combined
Mechanical and Climatic Loads, T. Zhao,
F. H. Wittmann and T. Ueda, editors, Aedifi-
catio Publishers (2005) 3-14
6. P. Schiessl and C. Gehlen, New approach of
service life design for concrete structures,
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12(2006) 285-298
7. F. Xing, F. Leng and N. Feng, Chloride diffu-
sivity of plain concrete subjected to sus-
tained flexural loading, in Proc. Int.
Workshop on Durability of Reinforced Con-
crete Structures under Combined Mechanical
and Climatic Loads, T. Zhao, F. H. Wittmann
and T. Ueda, editors, Aedificatio Publishers
(2005) 133-137
8. F. Xing, F. Leng, N. Feng, D. Ma and
X. Guo, The influence of long-term load on
the chloride permeability in reinforced con-
crete, in Proc. Int. Workshop on Durability
of Reinforced Concrete Structures under
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tors, Aedificatio Publishers (2005) 139-147
9. F. Jiang, F. H. Wittmann and T. Zhao, Influ-
ence of mechanically induced damage on
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109
 X. Wan, F.H. Wittmann and T. Zhao

Wan Xiaomei, Assistant Professor at School of Civil Engineering, Qingdao Technological

University, China. Her doctoral studies concern the deterioration mechanism of reinforced
concrete structures under combined mechanical and environmental action and related ser-
vice life prediction. At present her main work involves durability research of concrete struc-
tures and teaching the course of civil engineering materials.
E-mail: wanxiaomei1211@hotmail.com

Prof. Dr. F. H. Wittmann, first studied physics at the universities of Karlsruhe and
Munich, Germany, and in 1969 habilitated in civil engineering at University of Technology
in Munich. Since 1976 he has been holding the position of professor for building materials,
first at Delft, The Netherlands, subsequently at EPF Lausanne, Switzerland, and at Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland. At present he is director of
Aedificat Institute Freiburg and Professor at Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao,
China. His main interests and experiences are in the fields of durability of cement-based
materials and application of fracture mechanics. E-mail: wittmann@aedificat.de

Prof. Dr. Zhao Tie-jun first studied civil engineering at North East University in Shenyang
(P. R. China) and graduated in 1984 with a bachelor degree, then shifted to Building Materials
at the same University and got the master degree in 1987. He obtained his doctor degree in
Building Materials from Tsinghua University in 1997. He is currently a professor in the Cen-
tre for Durability, Maintenance and Repair at Qingdao Institute of Architecture and Engineer-
ing and assistant vice-president of the Institute. E-mail: ztjgp@263.net

Received March 20, 2011

110

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