- Author
- Daigle, L. | Lounis, Z. | Cusson, D.
- Title
- Numerical Prediction of Early-Age Cracking and Corrosion in High Performance Concrete Bridges: Case Study.
- Coporate
- National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
- Report
- NRCC-47044
- Book or Conf
- Transportation Innoviation: Accelerating the Pace. TAC Annual Conference 2004. Proceedings. September 19-22, 2004, Quebec City, Canada, 1-20 p., 2004
- Keywords
- bridges (structures) | cracking (fracturing) | corrosion | chloride | effectiveness | structures | barriers | concretes | inhibitors | construction | steels
- Identifiers
- High Performance Concrete (HPC); reinforcement corrosion; early-age cracking; in-service performance; service life; modeling of chloride ingress in concrete; modeling uncertainties in the chloride ingress model; modeling of corrosion initiation of steel reinforcement; rehabilitation work; evaluation of corrosion inhibitors based on corrosion rates; severity of corrosive environments for bridge decks; diffusion coefficients of HPC with and without the addition of silica fume; mixture design of barrier wall concrete
- Abstract
- This paper presents an evaluation of the effectiveness and the benefits of using high-performance concrete (HPC) containing corrosion inhibitors in the construction and repair of concrete bridges. Numerical models for predicting the early-age and in-service performance of HPC bridge structures are presented. The main parameters of these models, originally conceived for normal concrete, are revised and adapted for use with HPC containing corrosion inhibiting systems. The proposed models focus on the problems of early-age cracking, chloride ingress into concrete and corrosion of the conventional reinforcing steel. A case study of reinforced concrete (RC) barriers walls is used to illustrate the predictive capabilities of the models and the benefits of using HPC in extending the service life of bridge structures. Cost-effective mitigation measures for the prevention and control of cracking of HPC bridge structures are also suggested.