Field Monitoring and Parameter Identification of Moisture Distribution for Mega Steel Reinforced Concrete Columns

Mega steel reinforced concrete columns with complex embedded steels become widely applied in the structural system of contemporary super-tall buildings. The moisture distribution of concrete has significant influence on the deformation performance of mega steel reinforced concrete columns. However, the effects of the differential moisture distribution on the deformation performance of mega steel reinforced concrete columns are actually not considered in current design practice of mega SRC columns. The moisture distribution of concrete has been analyzed using numerical simulation in the author’s previous studies. In order to verify the numerical analysis results, a moisture distribution monitoring program of Shanghai Tower columns was applied to obtain the actual moisture distribution of mega SRC columns. The monitoring data and simulation data have been compared in this paper and the moisture diffusion coefficients were further calibrated by parameter identification procedure. The comparing results indicate that, the moisture simulation data obtained using the identified moisture diffusion coefficient are much closer to the recorded date and can be applied for further study on the moisture distribution.