Application of cellular automata to simulate the penetration processes of sulfate ion in concrete

Based on the characteristics of concrete sulfate attack, a two-dimension cellular automata model is developed based on the fundamental theory of cellular automata to simulate the penetration process of sulfate ion in concrete under sulfate attack. The evolution rules of the cellular automata model are validated by comparison with the calculation results from the Fick's second law. Meanwhile, it discusses the essential distinction between the cellular automata model and the Fick's second law in calculation method and characteristics of the sulfate ion corrosion in concrete. By further analysis of the characteristics of sulfate ion's diffusion in different corrosion time in concrete, the calculated results derived from the cellular automata model, in which the changes of sulfate ion's jump probabilities are taken into account, show better correlation with the experimental data than that from the Fick's second law, thereby a new approach is provided for analysis of concrete durability.