Parallel Computational Modeling and Experimental Studies on Durability of Cementitious Materials and Structures

Na, Okpin

Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

Parallel Computational Modeling and Experimental Studies on Durability of Cementitious Materials and Structures Public Deposited

Analytics

Citations

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/6h440s637

Abstract

In order to predict long-term performance of reinforced concrete structures, a clear understanding of deterioration mechanism in portland cement concrete is a crucial issue. There are several deterioration mechanisms, and chloride-induced corrosion of reinforcement is an important one. The transport rates of chloride and other ions from deicing salts determine the time at which the corrosion of reinforcement starts, which is an important parameter for evaluating the durability of the structure. The main objective of this thesis is to develop a generalized framework based on parallel computing technique to analyze the durability performance of reinforced concrete structures with an emphasis on the coupled transport processes of chloride and other species from deicing salts in non-saturated concrete under ambient temperature. The generalized framework for the coupled transport processes is based on a modified Nernst-Planck equation, which includes the coupling effects of both moisture transfer and thermal conduction in concrete. For the parallel implementation, an overlapping addictive Schwarz method as preconditioner is used. In order to predict numerically the transport processes in a large-scale structure with a realistic boundary condition, various chloride concentrations and environmental humidity models. The prediction by the theoretical models and parallel algorithm agree quite well with available experimental data. In addition to the theoretical and numerical studies, experimental studies are conducted to investigate and improve various properties of sustainable cementitious materials made of rubber particles from waste tires, including compressive strength, bond strength, chloride permeability resistance, drying shrinkage, and freeze-thaw resistance.

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