Damage model for simulating chloride concentration in reinforced concrete with internal cracks

We present a method to simulate, in three dimensions, the concentration of chloride ions that penetrate into concrete with internal cracks. The method comprises the crack-propagation analysis of concrete and the diffusion analysis of chloride ions. A finite-element model with a damage model that is based on fracture mechanics for concrete was applied in the crack-propagation analysis, and we were able to reproduce the three-dimensional geometry of the internal cracks. Chloride-ion transfer through internal cracks was simulated by diffusion analysis with the simultaneous consideration of damage, and a diffusion coefficient that was expressed as a function of the damage variable obtained from crack-propagation analysis. We present a formulation of crack-propagation analysis by using the damage model and unsteady-diffusion analysis in consideration of damage. We also present a verification analysis of internal cracking in concrete to demonstrate that the crack width and the chloride concentration can be evaluated without mesh dependency. This is followed by a validation analysis. A comparison between the numerical and experimental results shows that the proposed method enables the high-accuracy simulation of chloride penetration into concrete with internal cracks.