The cover thickness design of concrete structures subjected to chloride ingress from RBDO solution technique

Diffusion is the principal transport mechanism of chloride ions into concrete pores. The chlorides trigger the reinforcements’ depassivation when its concentration at the concrete/reinforcement interface reaches the threshold level. Thus, the depassivation defines the initiation stage end and the propagation stage start. The structural safety reduces widely during the propagation stage because of the various deleterious mechanisms triggered by reinforcement’s corrosion. Therefore, the engineers should accurately predict and prevent the propagation stage start. The literature describes several models for evaluating the end of the initiation stage. However, few of them applies the Boundary Element Method (BEM) for this purpose, despite its known accuracy. Besides, enormous randomness affect the phenomenon. Thus, it is adequately handled solely in the probabilistic context. Optimisation techniques may be coupled in the problem modelling to propose adequate cover thickness values accounting for probabilities of failure. This study presents a Reliability-Based Design Optimisation (RBDO) approach for designing accurately the cover thickness of concrete structures subjected to chloride ingress. The BEM handles the diffusion modelling whereas the Monte Carlo simulation assesses the probabilities of failure. The RBDO is formulated in the context of Weighted Average Simulation Method (WASM), which requires only one assessment of the reliability analysis. It leads to a reliable and computationally efficient solution technique. The problem formulation and the implemented solution scheme are described herein. Moreover, one application is presented, in which the design results are interpreted properly.

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