3D mesoscale investigation of non-uniform steel corrosion in reinforced concrete under chloride environments

Chloride-induced corrosion of steel in reinforced concrete (RC) exhibits complicated mechanisms such as chlo-ride diffusion, oxygen diffusion, electrochemical polarization, dissolution and deposition of steel. This work investigates the 3D non-uniform corrosion behavior of steel in RC by integrating all the possible mechanisms and mesoscale heterogeneities, for the first time. The anodic Tafel slope is used to describe the depassivation of steel induced by chloride, while the dynamic process of oxygen supply and consumption is considered as well as the inhibition of the cathodic reaction caused by oxygen concentration. The coupling of mass transfer and electro-chemical corrosion in RC is developed and validated. Mesoscale RC models with realistic aggregate, mortar, steel and interface are generated through a physically-based approach similar to casting procedures. The simulation results show that the 3D mesoscale RC model can simultaneously capture the non-uniform corrosion patterns of steel along the circumferential and longitudinal directions, offering significant application value in accurately predicting steel corrosion morphology. The random distribution of aggregates affects the local non-uniform corrosion of steel, but has little influence on the overall cumulative corrosion level. The local non-uniform corrosion of steel gradually weakens with the increase in chloride erosion time. The non-uniform corrosion of side steel is enhanced with the increase of the steel diameter and the decrease of the protective layer thickness. Bi-directional erosion mainly enhances the uniform corrosion of corner steel.