Assessing Cumulative Damage in Concrete and Quantifying Its Influence on Life Cycle Performance Modeling.

摘要

It is becoming increasingly popular to utilize numerical simulation models to predict the long-term performance of concrete structures. The majority of these models have been developed using laboratory test data that consider concrete in an uncracked state. While uncracked concrete exists as the best case scenario, frequent cracking occurs in real structures that could have a profound impact on life cycle performance. Cracks from several sources may accumulate and interact accelerating the deterioration of concrete. For example, microcracks due to mechanical loading may permit the ingress of excessive water, thereby increasing the susceptibility to freeze/thaw damage and an increase in freeze/thaw damage may reduce the load carrying capacity of concrete. To accurately simulate the performance of actual concrete facilities, the role of cracking and its cumulative effect on the changes of material properties should be accounted for in these models.