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Critical chloride content and its influence on service life

predictions
G. Markeset
*
In service life predictions of concrete structures in marine environment, the
critical chloride content is a crucial parameter. However, there is a lack of
reliable data for this parameter. This paper presents a statistical model for the
critical chloride content derived frommeasurements based on corrosion sensors
installed in a 37 years old jetty. For each corrosion sensor location, the chloride
content at different sensor rings is found fromthe chloride profile obtained from
detailed profile grinding of the concrete core drilled out before installation of
each sensor. The critical chloride content for each sensor location is then
obtained by comparing the chloride profile with the sensor reading at the depth
of depassivation. Further, the influence of the critical chloride content on the
calculated service life is studied. From the probabilistic service life calculations,
it is found that the service life increases from50 to 100 years if the characteristic
value of the critical chloride content increases from 0.34 to 0.67% (by weight of
cement).
1 Introduction
In service life calculations of new concrete structures exposed to
chloride induced corrosion, the chloride ingress is commonly
modelled by Ficks 2nd law of diffusion, where the end of service
life is defined as time to corrosion initiation. Onset of corrosion
occurs when the chloride concentration at the reinforcement
surface reaches a critical level. However, the exact value for the
chloride threshold required to initiate corrosion is unclear. Data
from field and laboratory studies, e.g. ref [13], indicate that the
chloride threshold level may vary by more than one order of
magnitude.
In addition to material and environmental factors, including
the complexity and stochastic nature of the initiation of pitting
corrosion, the variety may also be attributed to different
measuring techniques and definitions of the critical chloride
content itself. For instance, some relate depassivation of the
reinforcement to a certain shift in the corrosion potential, some
use visual inspection of the reinforcement (after chiselling away
the concrete cover) by classifying different corrosion levels, and
others relate depassivation with a certain level of the corrosion
current.
In fib Model Code for Service Life Design, [4] the critical
chloride content has been defined as: The total chloride content
which leads to the depassivation of the reinforcement surface and
initiation of iron dissolution, irrespective of whether it leads to visible
corrosion damage on the concrete surface.
2 Determination of critical chloride content in
an existing quay structure
Installing corrosion sensors in existing structures exposed to
chloride environments is one practical method of determining
the critical chloride content (or chloride threshold value) in an
actual structure. Such measurements have been performed on a
37 years old jetty, located in the northern part of Norway, based on
14 corrosion sensors installed above the tidal zone [5]. The jetty
was made of a coarse-grained Portland cement. Based on
petrographical analyses of the concrete at different locations, the
water/cement-ratio was found to vary between 0.40 and 0.50.
The corrosion sensor constitutes six separate thin steel rings
spaced at 10 mm, which are mounted in a stainless steel cylinder
in such a way that they are electrically isolated fromeach other but
wired up to a socket at the end surface [6]. The sensor is placed in
a hole drilled into the concrete at the place selected for
monitoring. The cylinder guiding the steel rings can be
compressed longitudinally, thus squeezing the steel rings tightly
against the concrete surface.
The uncarbonated and chloride free concrete will passivate
the steel rings as it also does with the steel reinforcement cast into
the concrete. When chlorides in sufficient quantity penetrate the
level of one of the rings, depassivation will occur and corrosion
may take place on this ring. Close to the sensor, a small platinised
titanium pin is pressed into a small drilled hole in the concrete,
just above the measuring instrument. When linked electrically to
Materials and Corrosion 2009, 60, No. 8 DOI: 10.1002/maco.200905288 593
G. Markeset
SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, P.O Box 124 Blindern, NO- 0314
Oslo (Norway)
E-mail: gro.markeset@sintef.no
www.matcorr.com 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
the steel rings, the noble metal will provide a strong driving force
for establishing corrosion current when depassivation has
occurred. However, if the concrete passivates the steel, no
current will flow. By linking the different rings of the sensor with
the coated titanium pin through a micro-amp-meter, the
corrosion current can be measured and the depth of the
depassivation front can be determined within the 10 mm spacing
of the rings, see Fig. 1.
For each corrosion sensor location, the chloride content at
the level of each sensor ring is found from the chloride profile
obtained from detailed profile grinding of the concrete core
drilled out before installation of each sensor. The critical chloride
content for each sensor location is then obtained by comparing
the chloride profile with the sensor reading at the depth of
depassivation.
3 Statistical modelling of the critical chloride
content
Due to the uncertainties in the measurements and variations
among the corrosion sensors, the critical chloride content is
considered in terms of probability or risk of corrosion. Results of
the measurements are presented in Fig. 2 on this basis. Further, a
lognormal distribution is found to give the best fit to the
measurements, resulting in a mean value for critical chloride
content of 0.77% by weight of cement and a coefficient of
variation of 32%. The statistical model is compared with the beta-
distribution given in fib Model Code for Service Life Design [4]
having a lower boundary of 0.2% chloride by weight of cement
and a mean value of 0.6%.
The distribution function in ref. [4] is in accordance with the
results from the evaluation of critical chloride content found in
literature, [7] which are mainly based on data from ref. [1] and [2].
In ref. [1], the mean value of critical chloride content was
determined to be 0.48% Cl

(by weight of cement), based on


laboratory tests on specimens with concrete cover of 7.5 mm. For
more practically relevant concrete covers and lower ambient
temperature, the mean value of C
cr
is in [4, 7] set to be 0.60% Cl

(by weight of cement).


The mean value of the critical chloride content (0.77% Cl

by
weight of cement or 0.12% Cl

by weight of concrete mass)


obtained from the corrosion sensor measurements corresponds
with that observed from several Norwegian bridges, when related
to the corrosion level termed corrosion, i.e. observations of
evenly distributed surface corrosion, see Fig. 3 [8]. The corrosion
levels in Fig. 3 are determined based on visual inspections of
reinforcing bars after chiselling away the concrete cover.
4 Probabilistic service life predictions of a
quay structure
Probabilistic service life calculations of a quay structure made of
OPC concrete with water-binder-ratio of about 0.45 are
performed. In the new design, the end of service life is defined
as the time to onset of corrosion. The limit state function is
594 Markeset Materials and Corrosion 2009, 60, No. 8
Figure 1. Basic principle to determine the time-to-corrosion [6]
Figure 2. Field measurements from a Norwegian jetty and statistical
model for these data compared with statistical model according to fib
Model Code for Service Life Design [4]
2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.matcorr.com
defined as the difference between the critical chloride concent
(chloride threshold level) and the calculated chloride concent at
the reinforcement
g X C
cr
Cx; t (1)
where X is a vector of the statistical parameters such as diffusion
coefficient, surface chloride concentration, concrete cover etc.
The acceptance criterion for corrosion initiation is taken as 10%
probability of corrosion.
The chloride ingress is calculated based on Ficks 2nd law of
diffusion (Equation 2), including the time dependency of the
diffusion coefficient.
The solution of this differential equation may be given as
Cx; t C
0
C
s
C
0
erfc
x
2

Dt t
p
!
(2)
where, C(x, t): chloride concentration at depth x at time t; C
s
:
chloride concentration on the exposed surface; C
o
: initial chloride
concentration in the concrete; t: exposure time; x: depth; erfc: the
error function complement; D(t): diffusion coefficient.
A commonly used expression for the time dependent
diffusion coefficient is
Dt D
0
t
0
t

a
(3)
D
0
is a measured reference chloride diffusion coefficient at
the age t
0
. The aging factor a models how fast the diffusion
coefficient is improved over time. The decrease of the diffusion
coefficient with age is due to a combined effect of hydration of the
cement and all other mechanisms that take place in the transition
zone between concrete and seawater.
In the service life calculations, the input parameters in
Equations 2 and 3 are considered as stochastic variables
characterised by mean value, standard deviation and type of
probability density function. The stochastic nature of the surface
chloride concentration is illustrated in Fig. 4 based on
measurements on Norwegian quay structures along the
Norwegian coastline [9]. The new model for the critical chloride
content is applied together with two characteristic values in order
to study the sensitivity of C
cr
on the achieved service life.
The applied input variables in the service life calculations,
relevant for the concrete elements located close to the seawater,
are given below
Chloride concentration on concrete surface, C
s
LN(2.67,
60%) [% of cement mass]
Cover thickness, x LN(x, 10) [mm]
Chloride diffusion coefficient, D
0
LN(7.0 10
12
, 30%)
[m
2
/s]
Ageing factor, aN(0.4, 15%)
Critical chloride concent, C
cr
LN (0.77, 32%) and
characteristic values: C
cr
0.34 and 0.67 [% of cement mass]
The initial chloride concentration in the concrete, C
0
, is
taken as zero.
The results of the service life calculations are presented in
Figs. 5 and 6. Based on an acceptance criterion of 10% probability
of corrosion, the calculations show that a characteristic value of
Materials and Corrosion 2009, 60, No. 8 Critical chloride content 595
Figure 4. Surface chloride concentration determined from chloride
profiles measured on different Norwegian quays and jetties [9]
Figure 3. Corrosion level and corresponding chloride content from
more than 300 registrations on several costal bridges in Norway [8]
Figure 5. Effect of C
cr
on required concrete cover for design service life
of 50 years (C
cr
given in % Cl

of weight of cement)
www.matcorr.com 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
C
cr
0.67% by weight of cement gives approximately the same
results as using the lognormal distribution obtained by the
corrosions sensors.
To illustrate the sensitivity of C
cr,
a rather conservative value
of 0.34% Cl

is included in the study. For an acceptance criterion


of 10%, the cover thickness needed to obtain a design service life
of 50 years becomes 73 mm for C
cr
0.67 and 92 mm for
C
cr
0.34, see Fig. 5. For a 100 year design service life, the
corresponding cover thickness becomes 90 and 114 mm,
respectively, see Fig. 6.
5 Conclusion
Based on corrosion sensors installed in an existing marine
structure, a statistical model for the critical chloride contents is
suggested as a lognormal distribution with a mean value of
0.77% Cl

of cement mass. This corresponds to a characteristic


value of C
cr
of 0.67 using an acceptance criterion of 10%
probability of corrosion. The mean value of the critical chloride
content based on the corrosion sensor measurements is in line
with what is observed for several Norwegian bridges related to
the corrosion level termed observations of evenly distributed
surface corrosion. The mean value is slightly higher than
suggested in fib Model Code for Service Life Design.
From the probabilistic service life calculations, it is found
that the service life increases from 50 to 100 years if the
characteristic value of C
cr
increases from0.34 to 0.67% (by weight
of cement). Depending on the definition of the limit state onset
of corrosion, both threshold values are realistic the lowest value
may correspond to a definition chloride content required for
depassivation of the reinforcement surface, whereas the highest
value may correspond to a definition chloride content associated
with some surface corrosion of the reinforcement.
The calculated service life is very sensitive to the input
parameter critical chloride content. This parameter is vaguely
defined and difficult to measure. Further research is needed to
find measuring techniques and methods that give reliable and
realistic values (or distributions) applicable for real concrete
structures exposed to marine environment.
Acknowledgements: This paper has been supported by COIN -
Concrete Innovation Centre, one of presently 14 Centres for
Research based Innovation (CRI) in Norway, which is an initiative
by the Research Council of Norway.
6 References
[1] W. Breit, Mater. Corros. 1998, 49, 539.
[2] G. K. Glass, N. R. Buenfeld, Corr. Sci. 1997, 39, 1001.
[3] C. Alonso, C. Andrade, M. Castellote, P. Castro, Cem. &Concr.
Res. 2000, 30, 1047.
[4] b bulletin 34, Model Code for Service Life Design 2006.
[5] G. Markeset, presented at COIN Workshop on Critical Chloride
Content, Trondheim, Norway, 56 May 2008.
[6] P. Schiessl, M. Raupach, Concr. Int. 1992, 14, 52.
[7] C. Gehlen, DAfStb Heft 2000, 510.
[8] Service life of concrete structures, Report No 19, Service life
design of concrete structures, 1502, ISBN 82-91228-25-6, Nor-
wegian Public Roads Administration, 2008.
[9] G. Markeset, presented at Nordic Mini Seminar Prediction
Models for Chloride Ingress and Corrosion Initiation in Concrete
Structures, Chalmers Institute of Technology, Gothenburg,
Sweden, Publication P-01:6, 1104-893X 2000.
(Received: February 23, 2009)
(Accepted: March 06, 2009)
W5288
596 Markeset Materials and Corrosion 2009, 60, No. 8
Figure 6. Effect of C
cr
on required concrete cover for design service life
of 100 years (C
cr
given in % Cl

of weight of cement)
2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.matcorr.com

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