Service Life of Concrete Pedestal without Air Entrainment

Abstract Service life of nine wind power unit pedestals, which concrete grades between C45 and C55, were studied with four different service life models. The exact service life could be calculated only with two of them with the initial data. The service life models that were used in calculations: • Factor method • Deterioration and service life prediction of concrete subjected to freeze-thaw cycles in Na2SO4 Solution-method Service life models that were considered only at theoretical level: • FIB Bulletin 34 – Model Code for Service Life Design, and • An equation for determining freeze-thaw fatigue damage in concrete and a model for predicting the service life. The latter two methods are more theoretical, and they require laboratory tests to obtain more information before the calculations can be properly executed. This article concludes that damage to concrete due to freeze-thaw cracking is still poorly known and a sufficiently accurate service life model has not yet been developed for its computational modeling. Therefore, there is a need to develop a service life model suitable for Finnish climate and concrete grades, which could be used for estimating the damage rate of an existing concrete structure.