Influence of temperature and relative humidity variations on non-uniform corrosion of reinforced concrete

Response of reinforced concrete structures under chloride induced non-uniform corrosion considering the effect of varying temperature and relative humidity (T-RH) in the environment was studied. Chloride concentration around the reinforcing bars was determined under varying T-RH conditions. The obtained chloride concentrations were then used to model the formation of macro-cell and micro-cell around the reinforcing bars under the same varying environment. The study was applied to two cases; Case 1- to understand the effect of considering T-RH variations on corrosion initiation and corrosion propagation, Case 2: to study in detail the effect of considering real climatic variations on corrosion initiation and corrosion propagation phases. Considering T-RH variations in the environment have a considerable effect on initiation of corrosion, corrosion rate and steel section loss. This effect can further be extended to service life models incorporating concrete damage under different varying environment. Also, use of different temporal schemes i.e., average daily, weekly and monthly values for real exposure data, affects prediction of reinforcement corrosion initiation and propagation.