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Modeling damage in concrete caused by corrosion of reinforcement: Coupled

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Article  in  International Journal of Fracture · November 2012

DOI: 10.1007/s10704-012-9774-3

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Int J Fract
DOI 10.1007/s10704-012-9774-3
ORIGINAL PAPER
Modeling damage in concrete caused by corrosion
of reinforcement: coupled 3D FE model
Joško Ožbolt · Filip Oršanić · Gojko Balabanić ·
Marija Kušter
Received: 28 December 2011 / Accepted: 3 October 2012
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2012
Abstract Reinforced concrete structures, which are
exposed to aggressive environmental conditions, such
as structures close to the sea or highway bridges and
garages exposed to de-icing salts, often exhibit damage
due to corrosion. Damage is usually manifested in the
form of cracking and spalling of concrete cover caused
by expansion of corrosion products around reinforce-
ment. The reparation of corroded structure is related
with relatively high direct and indirect costs. There-
fore, it is of great importance to have a model, which
is able to realistically predict influence of corrosion on
the safety and durability of reinforced concrete struc-
tures. In the present contribution a 3D chemo-hygro-
thermo-mechanical model for concrete is presented.
In the model the interaction between non-mechanical
J. Ožbolt (B) · F. Oršanić
Institute of Construction Materials, University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 4, 70560 Stuttgart, Germany
e-mail: ozbolt@iwb.uni-stuttgart.de
F. Oršanić
e-mail: filip.orsanic@iwb.uni-stuttgart.de
G. Balabanić
Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Rijeka,
V. Dukića b.b., 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
e-mail: gojko@gradri.hr
M. Kušter
Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Zagreb,
Kačićeva 26, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
e-mail: marijak@grad.hr
influences (distribution of temperature, humidity, oxy-
gen, chloride and rust) and mechanical properties of
concrete (damage), is accounted for. The mechanical
part of the model is based on the microplane model.
It has recently been shown that the model is able to
realistically describe the processes before and after
depassivation of reinforcement and that it correctly
accounts for the interaction between mechanical (dam-
age) and non-mechanical processes in concrete. In the
present paper application of the model is illustrated
on two numerical examples. The first demonstrates the
influence of expansion of corrosion products on dam-
age of the beam specimen in cases with and without
accounting for the transport of rust through cracks.
It is shown that the transport of corrosion products
through cracks can significantly influence the corrosion
induced damage. In the second example the numeri-
cally predicted crack patterns due to corrosion of rein-
forcement in a beam are compared with experimental
results. The influence of the anode–cathode regions on
the corrosion induced damage is investigated. The com-
parison between numerical results and experimental
evidence shows that the model is able to realistically
predict experimentally observed crack pattern and that
the position of anode and cathode strongly influences
the crack pattern and corrosion rate.
Keywords Reinforced concrete · Corrosion ·
Damage · Chemo-hygro-thermo-mechanical model ·
Finite elements · Microplane model
123

1 Introduction
It is well known that the chloride-induced corrosion of
steel bars in reinforced concrete is one of the major
causes for deterioration of reinforced concrete (RC)
structures (Tuutti 1993), therefore, it has significant
influence on durability of RC structures. Especially
structures close to the sea, which are exposed to aggres-
sive environmental conditions, or highway bridges and
garages exposed to de-icing salts, very often suffer
under severe damage due to corrosion (Tuutti 1993;
Cairns 1998). The damage is usually manifested in
the form of cracking and spalling of concrete cover,
which is caused by the expansion of the corrosion prod-
uct around the reinforcement bar. This causes strong
decrease of resistance and ductility of RC structures.
They have to be repaired, which is always related with
relatively high direct and indirect costs. Therefore, to
predict durability of RC structure it is important to have
a numerical tool, which is able to realistically simulate
corrosion processes and the consequences for the struc-
tural safety.
In aggressive environmental conditions not suffi-
ciently thick concrete cover or its damage usually leads
to corrosion of reinforcement steel. Damage of the con-
crete cover can be caused by mechanical action (too high
tensile stresses), or be a consequence of non-mechani-
cal effects (temperature, shrinkage, etc.) or be induced
by corrosion of reinforcement. As a consequence of
corrosion of reinforcement the bar cross-section area
is reduced and therefore the bearing capacity as well.
Moreover, due to the pitting effect (Apostolopoulos and
Papadakis 2008;Cairns et al. 2005), ductility of rein-
forcement and its bond properties can be significantly
reduced (Cairns 1998; Fischer 2012).
The corrosion current density in the corrosion unit is
needed to estimate reduction of the cross-section area
of reinforcement and to predict the increase of the vol-
ume of the corrosion products. Furthermore, corrosion
products can be transported through concrete pores and
cracks. If more corrosion products are transported into
the concrete pores and through cracks, less will be pres-
sure due to their expansion. Principally, the following
physical, electrochemical and mechanical processes
need to be computed for the calculation of corrosion
current density: (1) transport of capillary water, oxy-
gen and chloride through the concrete cover; (2) immo-
bilization of chloride in the concrete; (3) transport of
OH− ions through electrolyte in concrete pores (4)
123
J. Ožbolt et al.
cathodic and anodic polarization, (5) transport of cor-
rosion products in concrete and cracks and (6) damage
of concrete due to mechanical and non-mechanical
actions (Bažant 1979). The importance of a three-
dimensional (3D) numerical model, which can real-
istically simulate corrosion and its interaction with
mechanical properties of concrete, is obvious. In the
model the results of corrosion, such as the expansion
of the corrosion product or the reduction of the cross-
section of reinforcement, have an effect on the mechan-
ical response of concrete structures. On the other hand,
the mechanical properties, such as strength or fracture
energy, also influence the corrosion process (Tuutti
1993).
For un-cracked concrete the theory for modelling of
processes before and after depassivation of reinforce-
ment is well established. Presently there are a number
of models available for simulation of these processes
and they are well documented in the literature (Bažant
1979; Page et al. 1981; Tuutti 1993; Andrade et al.
1997; Balabanić et al. 1996a,b; Zhang and Gjörv 1996;
Thomas and Bamforth 1999; Martín-Pérez 1999; Glass
and Buenfeld 2000). In realistic computational model
chemo-hygro-thermo processes must be coupled with
mechanical processes, and the other way around. It is
well known that the response of structures made of
quasi-brittle materials, such as concrete, subjected to
mechanical or non-mechanical loading is character-
ized by the localization of damage (cracking). In the
last two decades significant progress in the modelling
of such materials has been reached, however, because
of complexity of the problem computational model-
ling of damage processes in concrete is still a challeng-
ing task. This is especially true for the modelling of
the influence of damage on transport processes in con-
crete. In the literature there are a very limited number of
coupled 3D chemo-hygro-thermo mechanical models
capable of realistic simulation of processes relevant for
corrosion reinforcement in cracked concrete (Marsav-
ina et al. 2008; Tetsuya et al. 2009; Ožbolt et al. 2010,
2011). There is currently no model available, which
is able to simulate the transport of corrosion prod-
ucts through cracked concrete and its consequences for
corrosion induced damage. The main difficulty in the
formulation of such models is to quantify relevant
parameters, which control processes before and after
depassivation of reinforcement.
The present work gives an overview of the recently
developed 3D chemo-hygro-thermo-mechanical model
Modeling damage in concrete caused by corrosion of reinforcement
for concrete that is able to simulate complex non-
mechanical and mechanical processes before and after
depassivation of steel reinforcement (Ožbolt et al.
2010, 2011). The model was implemented into a 3D
FE code and it was shown that it is able to realistically
predict depassivation time of reinforcement as well
as corrosion rate after depassivation of reinforcement.
Furthermore, discussed is also modelling of corrosion
induced damage and transport of corrosion products
through concrete pores and cracks, which is a further
development of the model. The first part of the article
gives brief review over the theoretical background and
implementation into the 3D FE code. In the second part
the application of the model is illustrated on numerical
examples in which transient 3D finite element analysis
of RC specimens is carried out. The examples demon-
strate the influence of the corrosion of reinforcement
on damage of concrete. The results are compared with
the available experimental results from the literature.
2 Chemo-hygro-thermo-mechanical model
for concrete
Steel in concrete is protected from corrosion by sur-
face film of ferric oxide. The corrosion will start when
the film is broken or depassivated. Depassivation can
be caused by reaching a threshold concentration of
chloride ions in concrete near steel surface (Tuutti
1993; Glass and Buenfeld 1995; Sandberg et al. 1995).
According to current knowledge (Glasstone 1964;
Bažant 1979; Page and Treadway 1982) corrosion of
steel in concrete is an electrochemical process, which
is controlled by electrical conductivity of concrete and
steel surfaces, presence of electrolyte in the concrete
and the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the pore
water near the reinforcement.
The calculation of corrosion current density and its
consequence for concrete structures requires modelling
of the above mentioned physical and electrochemical
processes. In the here presented 3D chemo-hygro-
thermo-mechanical model these processes are coupled
with the mechanical properties of concrete (damage).
2.1 Non-mechanical processes before depassivation
of reinforcement
Transport of capillary water is described in terms of
volume fraction of pore water in concrete by Richard’s
equation (Bear and Bachmat 1991), based on the
assumption that transport processes take place in aged
concrete:
∂θw
= ∇ · [Dw (θw )∇θw ] (1)
∂t
where θw is volume fraction of pore water (m3 of
water/m3 of concrete) and Dw (θw ) is capillary water
diffusion coefficient (m2 /s) described as a strongly
non-linear function of moisture content (Leech et al.
2003). Transport of chloride ions through a non-satu-
rated concrete occurs as a result of convection, diffu-
sion and physically and chemically binding by cement
hydration product (Bear and Bachmat 1991):
∂Cc
θw = ∇ · [θw Dc (θw , T )∇Cc ]
∂t
∂Ccb
+Dw (θw )∇θw ∇Cc − (2a)
∂t
∂Ccb
= kr (αCc − Ccb ) (2b)
∂t
where Cc is concentration of free chloride dissolved
in pore water (kg− CL /m pore solution), Dc (θw , T )
3
is the effective chloride diffusion coefficient (m2 /s)
expressed as a function of water content θw and concrete
temperature T, Ccb is concentration of bound chloride
(kg−CL /m of concrete), kr is binding rate coefficient,
3
α = 0.7 is constant (Saetta et al. 1993).
Assuming that oxygen does not participate in any
chemical reaction before depassivation of steel, trans-
port of oxygen through concrete is considered as a con-
vective diffusion problem (Bear and Bachmat 1991):
∂Co
θw = ∇ · [θw Do (θw )∇Co ] + Dw (θw )∇θw ∇Co
∂t
(3)
where Co is oxygen concentration in pore solution
(kg of oxygen/m3 of pore solution) and Do (θw ) is the
effective oxygen diffusion coefficient (Ožbolt et al.
2010), dependent on concrete porosity pcon and water
saturation of concrete Sw .
Based on the constitutive law for heat flow and con-
servation of energy, the equation which describes tem-
perature distribution in continuum reads:
∂T
λΔT + W (T ) − cρ =0 (4)
∂t
where λ is thermal conductivity (W/(m K)), c is heat
capacity per unit mass of concrete (J/(K kg)), ρ is mass
density of concrete (kg/m3 ) and W is internal source of
123
 J. Ožbolt et al.

heating (W/m3 ). More detail related to the strong and
weak formulations of the processes up to the depass-
ivation of reinforcement can be found in Ožbolt et al.
(2010).
2.2 Non-mechanical processes after depassivation
of reinforcement
The active corrosion of steel will start when steel
reinforcement is depassivated. The non-mechanical
processes relevant for the propagation stage of steel
corrosion in concrete are: (1) Mass sinks of oxygen at
steel surface due to cathodic and anodic reaction, (2)
The flow of electric current through pore solution and
(3) The cathodic and anodic potential.
The oxygen consumption at the cathodic and anodic
surfaces as a result of the following reactions:
(a) reaction of dissolved oxygen in the pore water with
the electrons on the cathode
where Cob is oxygen concentration at surface of con-
crete element exposed to seawater (kg/m3 ), Φ is elec-
tric potential in pore solution near reinforcement sur-
face (V), i 0c and i 0a are the exchange current density of
the cathodic and anodic reaction (A/m2 ), Φ0c and Φ0a
are the cathodic and anodic equilibrium potential (V),
βc and βa are the Tafel slope for cathodic and anodic
reaction (V/dec), respectively.
The electric current through the electrolyte is a result
of motion of charged particles and, if the electrical neu-
trality of the system and the uniform ions concentration
are assumed, can be written as:
i = −σ (Sw , pcon )∇Φ (10)
where σ is electrical conductivity of concrete.
The equation of electrical charge conservation, if the
electrical neutrality is accounted for and the electrical
conductivity of concrete is assumed as uniformly dis-
tributed, reads:
∇2Φ = 0 (11)

Rate of rust production Jr (kg/m2 s) and mass of

2H2 O + O2 + 4e− → 4OH− (5)
hydrated red rust per related surface (Ar ) of rebar m r
(b) transport of hydroxyl ions to the anode, where cor- (kg), respectively, are calculated as:
rosion products forms
Jr = 5.536 × 10−7 i a
m r = Jr Δt Ar (12)
Fe2+ + 2OH− → Fe(OH)2 (6)
where Δt is time interval in which the corrosion is tak-
4Fe(OH)2 + O2 + 2H2 O → 4Fe(OH)3 (7) ing place and Ar is the corresponding surface of the
steel reinforcement. The coefficient of proportionality
can be calculated as:
 between the anodic current density i a and rate of rust
∂Co  production Jr is calculated using the stoichiometry of
Do (Sw , pcon )
∂n cathode chemical reactions (6, 7) and Faraday’s law.
= −kc i c kc = 8.29 × 10−8 kg/C (8a) In general, corrosion products have 2–7 times larger

∂Co  specific volume than corroded steel. Consequently,
Do (Sw , pcon )
∂n anode radial expansion forces around the reinforcement bar
surface are generated, which can cause cracking of con-
= −ka i a ka = 4.14 × 10−8 kg/C (8b) crete.
where n is outward normal to the steel bar surface and i c From experiments (Wong et al. 2010) it is known
and i a are cathodic and anodic current density (A/m2 ), that in the case of chloride type of corrosion the part
respectively. The constants kc and ka are calculated of corrosion products penetrate into the pore of con-
using the stoichiometry of chemical reactions (5–7) and crete around the reinforcement bar and relatively large
Faraday’s law. amount of rust can be transported through radial cracks
According to Butler–Volmer kinetics, in the present that are generated because of expansion of corrosion
model kinetics of reaction at the cathodic and anodic products. This transport is very much dependent on
surface can be estimated from: water saturation. As a consequence of the transport of
Co 2.3(Φ0c −Φ)/βc rust there are two effects: (1) Rust and radial pressure
i c = i 0c e i a = i 0a e2.3(Φ−Φ0a )/βa (9) over the anodic reinforcement surface are not uniformly
Cob

123
Modeling damage in concrete caused by corrosion of reinforcement
distributed and (2) The mechanical effect of the corro-
sion products (damage of concrete) becomes less pro-
nounced.
Mathematically speaking distribution of corrosion
product (red rust) R (kg/m3 of pore solution) into the
pores of concrete and in the cracks is modelled as con-
vective diffusion problem:
∂R
θw = ∇ · [θw Dr ∇ R] + Dw (θw )∇θw ∇ R (13)
∂t
in which Dr is diffusion coefficient (m2 /s) of corrosion
product. Note that Eq. (13) does not describe transport
of red rust, however, it describes distribution of red rust
which is produced in concrete (pores and cracks) as a
consequence of the reaction of soluble species (that
can dissolve in the concrete pore solution and subse-
quently migrate or diffuse through pores and cracks
of concrete) with oxygen in pore water (Wong et al.
2010). The penetration of soluble species into the pore
close to reinforcement is modelled as a diffusion prob-
lem only. This is controlled by the first part of the right
hand side of Eq. (13) assuming that diffusion coeffi-
cient Dr is independent of the water content. Further-
more, it is assumed that the penetration stops when a
layer of concrete pores filled by rust reaches the thick-
ness of 0.01 mm. Subsequent transport of soluble spe-
cies is possible only through the cracks that can be
generated after the pores of concrete close to rein-
forcement are filled with corrosion products. Trans-
port through cracks is modelled as convective diffusion
problem.
It is important to note that at this stage of the model
development the transport of rust is modelled only in
a qualitative sense. The reason is the fact that there
are no experimental results which can support the pro-
posed model from the quantitative side. Therefore, in
future the model prediction related to the transport of
rust should be calibrated based on the systematic exper-
imental investigations under realistic corrosion condi-
tions. The problem is that such experiments are time
consuming. Alternatively, evaluation of corresponding
data from the literature needs to be carried out.
2.3 Chemo-hygro-thermo-mechanical coupling
The mechanical part of the model is based on the micro-
plane model for concrete with relaxed kinematic con-
straint (Ožbolt et al. 2001). In the finite element analysis
cracks are treated in a smeared way, i.e. smeared crack
approach is employed. To assure the objectivity of the
results with respect to the size of the finite elements,
the crack band method is used (Bažant and Oh 1983).
The governing equation for the mechanical behav-
iour of a continuous body in the case of static loading
condition reads:
∇ [Dm (u, θw , T ) ∇u] + ρb = 0 (14)
where Dm is material stiffness tensor, ρb is specific
volume load and u is displacement field. In the mechan-
ical part of the model the total strain tensor is decom-
posed into mechanical strain, thermal strain, hygro
strain (swelling–shrinking) and strain due to expansion
of corrosion product.
The inelastic strains due to the expansion of cor-
rosion products are in the present formulation mod-
elled by 1D corrosion contact finite elements. They are
oriented in the radial direction and simulate the con-
tact between reinforcement surface and surrounding
concrete. The elements can take up only shear forces
in direction of reinforcement axes and compressive
forces perpendicular to the surface of reinforcement.
The inelastic radial expansion due to corrosion Δlr is
calculated as:
 
mr 1 0.523
Δlr = − (15)
Ar ρr ρs
where ρr = 1.96 × 103 (kg/m3 ) and ρs = 7.89 × 103
(kg/m3 ) are densities of rust and steel, respectively,
0.523 is the ratio between the mass of steel (m s ) and
the corresponding mass of rust (m r ) over the related
surface (Ar ) of reinforcement and Ar is the surface
of corroded steel reinforcement bar that is represented
with the corrosion contact element.
3 Numerical implementation
To solve the above discussed system of partial differ-
ential equations using finite elements, the strong form
have to be rewritten into a weak form. The weak form of
the system of partial differential equations, which gov-
ern transport of capillary water and oxygen through
concrete, chloride ingress into the concrete, binding
of chloride by hardened cement paste, heat transport
in concrete, distribution of electric potential, transport
of corrosion products and equilibrium is carried out
by employing the Galerkin weighted residual method
(Belytschko et al. 2001). The model is implemented
123

into a 3D finite element code. The non-mechanical part
of the problem is solved by using direct integration
method of implicit type (Belytschko et al. 2001). To
solve the mechanical part, Newton-Rapshon iterative
scheme is used. To avoid mesh size dependency as a
regularization method simple crack band approach is
employed (Bažant and Oh 1983). Coupling between
mechanical and non-mechanical part of the model is
performed by continuous update of governing model
parameters during the incremental transient finite ele-
ment analysis. For more detail see Ožbolt et al. (2010,
2011).
4 Numerical examples
It has been recently shown that the proposed model
is able to realistically simulate the processes before
and after depassivation of reinforcement (Ožbolt et al.
2010, 2011), e.g. distribution of water, chlorides and
oxygen in damaged and undamaged concrete, influence
of damage on depassivation time, electric potential and
current density. Moreover, it has been demonstrated
that it can realistically predict corrosion induced dam-
age of reinforced concrete beams and degradation of
pull-out resistance of corroded reinforcement (Fischer
2012; Ožbolt et al. 2012). In the following the appli-
cation of the model is illustrated on two numerical
examples. The first demonstrates the influence of the
transport of corrosion products through cracks on cor-
rosion induced damage of concrete cover of a rein-
forced concrete beam. Except in some simple cases,
where the position of anode and cathode after depassi-
vation is known, in general case the position and size of
anodic and cathodic regions on the reinforcement sur-
face must be assumed. Therefore, in the second exam-
ple the influence of the anode–cathode position on the
corrosion induced damage and on the corrosion rate is
studied.
In the first example the influence of the corrosion of
reinforcement (bar diameter φ = 10 mm) on damage of
concrete cover is studied on a portion of the reinforced
concrete beam (see Fig. 1). The beam is assumed to be
unloaded. The processes before depassivation of rein-
forcement are not calculated. It is assumed that at the
start of the analysis the reinforcement is already depass-
ivated. Calculated is the following: distribution of oxy-
gen, electric potential, current density, corrosion rate,
expansion of corrosion products and damage due to the
123
J. Ožbolt et al.
expansion and transport of corrosion products. For the
modelling of the transport of corrosion products only
their transport through cracks is considered. The reason
is the fact that the amount of corrosion products that
penetrate into the concrete pores around reinforcement
anodic surface is relatively small. The analysis is per-
formed for un-cracked good quality concrete (water–
cement ratio, w/c = 0.4) assuming water saturations of
55 %. The saturation in the entire specimen is assumed
to be constant.
The mechanical properties of concrete are: modu-
lus of elasticity E c = 25,000 MPa, Poisson’s ratio
νc = 0.18, tensile strength f t = 2.0 MPa, uniax-
ial compressive strength f c = 25.0 MPa and fracture
energy G F = 80 J/m2 . Steel is taken as linear elas-
tic with elasticity modulus of E s = 200,000 MPa and
Poisson’s ratio νs = 0.33. The parameters used for the
calculation of electric potential and distribution of oxy-
gen are summarized in Tables 1 and 2. In addition, for
the transport of corrosion products through cracks, dif-
fusivity coefficient is set to Dr = 2.2×10−16 m2 /s and
the volume expansion factor of rust is assumed to be
αr = ρs /ρr = 4.0. The stiffness of rust layer is
assumed to be 100 MPa. These model parameters are
based on the calibration and verification of the numer-
ical model (Ožbolt et al. 2012) using experimental
results recently obtained by Fischer (2012). The posi-
tion of cathode and anode on the surface of the rein-
forcement is taken as shown in Fig. 1. The anode is
assumed to be active at the mid of the reinforcement
bar along the length of 2.5 bar diameter. The rest of the
entire surface of reinforcement is taken as cathode.
The FE discretization is performed employing eight
node solid elements. As already discussed, in the tran-
sient FE analysis in each time step corrosion rate is cal-
culated using Eq. (12). Furthermore, the distribution of
corrosion products from the reinforcement surface into
cracks is computed using Eq. (13). To solve Eq. (13) in
the FE computation (direct integration of implicit type)
one has to deal with a variable boundary value prob-
lem over the anodic surface of reinforcement. From
the reinforcement side the amount of corrosion prod-
uct increases due to the electrochemical process but at
the same time from concrete side it decreases since the
corrosion products can be transported into cracks.
To investigate the effect of expansion of corrosion
product on concrete damage and to demonstrate the
effect of their transport through cracks, two cases are
analysed. In the first case it is assumed that there is
Modeling damage in concrete caused by corrosion of reinforcement

Fig. 1 Geometry (all in

mm), boundary conditions
and finite element
discretization (bar diameter
φ = 10 mm)

Table 1 Parameters used in

Parameter Value
the numerical simulations
Thermal conductivity, λ (W/mK) 2.1
Heat capacity per unit mass of concrete, c (J/kgK) 900
Mass density of concrete, ρ (kg/m3 ) 2,300
Chloride binding rate coefficient (s−1 ) 1.0E−05
Faradays constant, F (C/mol) 96,486.7
Anodic exchange current density, i 0a (A/m2 ) 1.875 × 10−4
Cathodic exchange current density, i 0c (A/m2 ) 6.25 × 10−6
Anodic equilibrium potential, Φ0a (V vs. SCE) −0.780
Cathodic equilibrium potential, Φ0c (V vs. SCE) 0.160
Tafel slope for anodic reaction, βa (V/dec) 0.06
Tafel slope for cathodic reaction, βc (V/dec) 0.160

Table 2 The dependence of the oxygen diffusivity and electrical conductivity on water saturation for good quality concrete (water–
cement ratio, w/c = 0.4) (Gjørv et al. 1977; Tuutti 1982)
Saturation (%) 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

Oxygen diffusivity, Do (10−8 m2 /s) 2.15 1.55 1.30 1.20 1.00 0.75 0.45 0.30 0.20 0.13
Electrical conductivity, σ (10−3 −1 m−1 ) 0.07 0.20 0.25 0.53 0.75 1.0 2.0 6.0 10.0 11.2

no transport of corrosion products and in the second
the transport is accounted for. The thickness of rust
layer at which the first crack is observed at the sur-
face of concrete (crack width of 0.05 mm) is approx-
imately 0.10 mm. This is observed 220 days after
depassivation of reinforcement (start of the analysis).
The crack width of 0.20 mm at the surface of the beam
is observed 610 days after depassivation of steel. It is
important to note that the stiffness of the rust layer sig-
nificantly influences time of the appearance of the first
visible crack. Stiffer rust layer causes earlier appear-
ance of the corrosion induced crack. As mentioned
before, in the present calculation stiffness of the rust
layer is assumed to be 100 MPa. Damage (cracks) due
to the corrosion of steel reinforcement (maximum prin-
cipal strains) 750 days after depassivation of steel, with
and without of transport of rust, is shown in Fig. 2A, B.
Figure 2C shows distribution of corrosion products in
cracks. It can be seen that in the case when the transport
of corrosion products through cracks is accounted for
(Fig. 2B) damage is lower than if this is not the case
(Fig. 2A).
The distribution of radial pressure at the surface
of reinforcement at anode–cathode transition zone
(maximal corrosion rate), 360 days after depassiva-
tion of reinforcement, is shown in Fig. 3 for cases
with and without accounting for the transport of corro-
sion products. In both cases the pressure is not radial

123

Fig. 2 Damage (cracks) due to the corrosion of steel reinforce-
ment, 750 days (∼2 years) after depassivation of steel without (A)
and with (B) transport of corrosion products through cracks; (C)
Fig. 3 Distribution of radial pressure at the surface of reinforce-
ment 360 days after depassivation of steel
symmetrically distributed over the surface of reinforce-
ment. Moreover, radial pressure in the case with trans-
port of corrosion products is lower than in the case
with no transport. Obviously, as recently shown for
similar geometry (Fischer 2012; Ožbolt et al. 2012),
if the transport of rust through concrete cracks is
accounted for, corrosion induced damage of concrete
is reduced. However, note that the presented analysis
is only qualitative since with respect to the transport
of rust for the investigated geometry no experimental
results are available. Therefore, additional experimen-
tal and numerical work is needed to further verify and
calibrate the presented model.
In the second example corrosion induced damage of
reinforced concrete beam is simulated assuming three
different anode–cathode positions. The beam with
123
J. Ožbolt et al.
distribution of corrosion products in cracks 750 days (∼2 years)
after depassivation of steel
three reinforcement bars (bar diameter φ = 16 mm)
is exposed to corrosion of reinforcement (see Fig. 4).
In the analysis only the beam segment of 130 mm is
considered. The mechanical properties of concrete are:
modulus of elasticity E c = 26,200 MPa, Poisson’s
ratio νc = 0.18, tensile strength f t = 1.92 MPa, uni-
axial compressive strength f c = 31.0 MPa and fracture
energy G F = 40 J/m2 . Steel is assumed to be linear
elastic with elasticity modulus of E s = 200,000 MPa
and Poisson’s ratio νs = 0.33. The same as in the previ-
ous example, only processes after depassivation of rein-
forcement are computed. The analysis is performed for
un-cracked good quality concrete (w/c = 0.4) assum-
ing constant water saturations of 50 %. In the analysis
are employed the same model parameters as in the pre-
vious example and they corresponds to severe splash
condition. The same as in the experiment (Dong et al.
2011), the transport of rust through cracks is in the
analysis accounted for. However, it should be noted
that in the experiment the beam was exposed to accel-
erated corrosion so that it is not possible to compare the
corrosion related phenomena (corrosion rate, cracking,
transport of rust, etc.) with respect to time.
One of the still not solved problems when model-
ling corrosion of reinforcement is the fact that currently
there is no algorithm, which can predict the most crit-
ical combination between anode and cathode surfaces
of reinforcement, i.e. that one which results to the high-
est corrosion. Therefore, to calculate corrosion rate it is
in general case necessary to assume position of anode
and cathode on the reinforcement surface. In order to
Modeling damage in concrete caused by corrosion of reinforcement
(A)
(B) (C)
Fig. 4 (A) Geometry (all in mm) of the beam and section of the
beam modelled in the analysis; (B) beam cross section with 3
steel reinforcement bars, diameter φ = 16 mm; (C) finite ele-
Fig. 5 Anodic and cathodic A B
part of the cross-section of
the reinforcement
investigate the influence of such assumption on the cor-
rosion rate and corrosion induced damage, three dif-
ferent anode–cathode positions are considered: A, B
and C (see Fig. 5). Case A represents the smallest and
case C the largest portion of the reinforcement surface
assumed to be anode. In the longitudinal direction dis-
tribution of anodic surfaces is taken the same for all
three cases (see Fig. 4D).
Figure 6 shows predicted crack patterns for all three
cases after 1.5, 2, 3 and 6 years. The crack is plotted in
terms of maximal principal strains. The red (dark) zone
corresponds to the crack opening of 0.10 mm. The first
visible crack at the bottom beam surface (crack width
cw = 0.05 mm) is observed after 1.18 years for the
(D)
ment discretization; (D) assumed distribution of the anodic and
cathodic part over the surface of reinforcement
C
case C. As expected, after 6 years of corrosion max-
imum crack width (cw = 0.58 mm) is observed for
the case C. Comparing predicted crack patterns it can
be seen that with increase of anodic surface the cracks
that are close to the vertical beam surface tend to be
more inclined. Comparing the predicted crack patterns
with the crack pattern observed in the experiment (see
Fig. 7) it seems that case B fits the best experimental
crack pattern. This leads to the conclusion that in the
experiment the anode–cathode position approximately
corresponds to the case B. From the evaluation of exper-
imental results can also be seen that the most corroded
part of the cross-section of the reinforcement bar was
close to the bottom concrete surface of the beam.
123
 J. Ožbolt et al.

Fig. 6 Predicted corrosion t A B C

induced crack patterns of
the cross-section after 1.5,
2, 3 and 6 years after
depassivation for all three
cases of anode–cathode 1.5y
positions (A, B, C)

2y

3y

6y

Fig. 7 Experimentally
observed (left, Dong et al.
2011) and numerically
predicted crack patterns of
the cross-section, case B
(right, in the analysis
t = 6 years)

The numerical results (case B) show that the criti- corrosion process. This prediction is in good agree-
cal crack opening of 0.15 mm corresponds to the total ment with the statistical evaluation of measurements
rust production of 0.0091 kg/m of reinforcement bars. on structural elements under severe natural conditions
The critical crack forms 2.69 years after start of the (Thoft-Christensen 2000).

123
Modeling damage in concrete caused by corrosion of reinforcement
5 Conclusions
Coupled 3D chemo-hygro-thermo-mechanical model
for transient analysis of corrosion processes before and
after depassivation of steel reinforcement in concrete
is developed and implemented into 3D FE code. Due
to the complexity of the problem there are a num-
ber of simplifications that are adopted in the model.
However, in spite of these simplifications the model
is still complex since a coupling between mechanical
and non-mechanical processes (distribution of temper-
ature, humidity, oxygen, chlorides, electric potential,
current density, rust, corrosion rate and damage) have
to be accounted for. Through several numerical studies
it was recently demonstrated that the model is able to
realistically predict corrosion of reinforcement and its
consequence for durability of reinforced concrete struc-
tures (Ožbolt et al. 2010, 2011; Fischer 2012; Ožbolt
et al. 2012). In the present paper the application of
the model is demonstrated on two examples. The first
shows that the distribution of radial pressure due to cor-
rosion of reinforcement is not radial-symmetrically dis-
tributed over the surface of reinforcement. Moreover,
the radial pressure and damage of concrete in the case
with accounting for the transport of corrosion products
through cracks is lower than in the case when this effect
is not considered. The second example shows that the
model is able to correctly predict crack pattern in the
reinforced concrete beam exposed to severe conditions.
Furthermore, it is shown how the choice of the anode–
cathode position, which has to be assumed, influences
the prediction of the crack pattern and corrosion of rein-
forcement. This important and complex aspect of the
modelling of the corrosion of reinforcement is still not
solved. Therefore, further development and calibration
of the model is in progress.
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