INVESTIGATING THE CORROSION INITIATION PROCESS IN REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES UNDER THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Abstract

Introduction: Climate change (temperature rise and sea level rise) has a considerable influence on the behavior of concrete structures over time. All concrete degradation processes are connected to climate variables and the effects of climate change. The RCP8.5 (Representative Concentration Pathway) scenario, which is part of the report on climate change and level rise scenarios for Vietnam, predicts that the beginning of the 21st century will see an average annual increase in temperature between 0.8 and 1.1°C. In the mid-21st century, the temperature will likely increase by 1.8–2.3°C, with the temperature in the north likely increasing by 2.0–2.3°C and in the south by 1.8–1.9°C. In marine environments, the degradation of concrete structures can occur rapidly due to chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion. Furthermore, sea level rise is going to reduce the distance from the coastline to the structures and lead to increased surface chloride concentration. Methods: The evaluation of chloride penetration was based on the ASTM C1202 test (ASTM, 2012). The cylinder specimens (d = 100 mm, h = 200 mm) used for a rapid chloride penetration test (RCPT) were immersed in water for 28 days in a water-curing tank. Results: This study proposes a predictive model for analyzing the impact of climate change on the service life of concrete structures on Vietnam’s North Central Coast. The corrosion initiation time decreases by 16.5% when the effects of both temperature rise and sea level rise are taken into consideration. When only temperature rise is taken into consideration, the rate of reduction is approximately 9.0%. These results reaffirm that climate change has a significant effect on the corrosion initiation time of concrete structures located in a marine environment.