Virtual Experiments to Investigate Steel Corrosion in Concrete

Virtual experiments are one of the integral parts of the advanced civil engineering practice since they eliminate time-consuming and expensive laboratory studies, and they are useful for educational and training purposes. In the present work, a number of virtual experiments for investigating the corrosion of reinforcement in concrete are designed, and the effect of different parameters on the corrosion process is examined. The design of the experiments is based on non-linear solution of Laplace's equation with polarized surface boundary conditions by the finite element method, for which an under-relaxation technique is implemented. Using the results of the virtual experiments, a closed-form solution for the considered domain is obtained. By using this solution, the effect of a number of factors that affect the corrosion process can be investigated; an example of this investigation is presented. These experiments can also be effectively used for service life design and structural health and integration monitoring purposes; these two approaches are discussed in detail.