Chloride penetration in nonsaturated concrete

The two governing equations that describe the diffusion of chloride ions into nonsaturated concrete are established. Material models for the four material parameters involved in the governing equations are developed, including chloride binding capacity, chloride diffusion coefficient, moisture capacity, and moisture diffusion coefficient. The planned attempt is to establish material models based on analytical results first, and if this is not possible, to develop empirical models based on dominant physical or chemical mechanism(s) at different scale levels and calibrate the individual model by related test data. The alternating-direction implicit (ADI) finite-difference method was employed for solving coupled two-dimensional moisture diffusion and chloride penetration equations. The numerical solutions are compared with the experimental results obtained by the 90-day ponding test (AASHTO T259-80). The numerical prediction agrees very well with the test data. Free chloride concentration profiles at different depths and different ages of concrete slab are presented. Two limiting cases for different initial relative humidity levels are analyzed in detail to study the dependence of the chloride diffusion on the moisture diffusion in nonsaturated concrete.