Design & analysis of corrosion free service life of concrete structures using Monte Carlo method

Design of corrosion free service life of concrete structures using Monte Carlo technique is presented. Most current service life models of reinforced concrete structures subject to chloride attack provide only a single deterministic time to onset of corrosion. Probabilistic modeling of corrosion is difficult to understand, tediously slow to compute and of limited value due to strong dependency on the assumed input parameters. Using Monte Carlo technique, the sensitivity on time to onset of corrosion to changes in the main parameters of corrosion model can be illustrated. Both mean and standard deviation of the time to onset of corrosion can significantly be increased if chloride diffusion coefficient of concrete could be reduced. This paper shows the variability and sensitivity on estimation of the time to onset of corrosion using Monte Carlo technique. In addition, monographs that show the required depth of cover for concrete structure to ensure 100 years of corrosion free service life are provided for preliminary design.