Fall

16

Comparison of numerical models for

chloride diffusion in concrete
Amit Jain
Advisor: Dr Bora Gencturk

University of Houston
Table of Contents
1. SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY .............................................................................................................. 1

2. DIFFUSION OF CHLORIDE IN SATURATED AND UNSATURATED CONCRETE ............. 1

3. REFERENCE ........................................................................................................................................ 2

1. Significance of study

Chloride diffusion in concrete is studied for concrete with different compositions

and in different environmental and curing conditions. Several numerical models are
studied in detail and combined with other numerical models to predict the chloride
diffusion in saturated and unsaturated concrete.. An experimental study is used to
compare and validate different numerical models.

2. Diffusion of chloride in saturated and unsaturated

concrete

Chloride ion from environment penetrates into concrete, and this penetration is
represented in terms of chloride flux. Thus, the chloride flux in concrete is
expressed using Ficks first law as follows:

= . ( ) (1)

where,

= Ion flux through unit area in a unit of time (kg/(m2.sec))

= Weighted average of free chloride concentration (kg/m3)

= Intrinsic diffusion coefficient (m2/sec)

1
 Table 1: Activation energy for diffusion process for different cement paste1

w/c U, Activation energy (kJ/mol)

0.4 41.8 4.0
0.5 44.6 4.3
0.6 32.0 2.4

Test results for w/c = 0.4

0.6
Chloride concentration (%)

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Depth (mm)

Figure 1: Salt ponding test result for w/c = 0.42

3. Reference

1. Saetta a, Scotta R, Vitaliani R. Analysis of chloride diffusion into partially

saturated concrete. ACI Mater J. 1993;90(5):441-451.

2. Andrade C, Whiting D. A comparison of chloride ion diffusion coefficients

derived from concentration gradients and non-steady state accelerated ionic
migration. Mater Struct. 1996;29(8):476-484. doi:10.1007/BF02486282.