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Overview of Concrete-Compass Software for Concrete Corrosion Modeling and Life Prediction

Concrete corrosion refers to corrosion of the reinforcing steels in concrete structures such as buildings, car parks, road beds, bridge decks and bridge substructures, concrete marine structures, and many industrial facilities. Concrete corrosion is a  world-wide problem that leads to cracking, staining, spalling, and ultimately structural weakness. Concrete-Compass is the only device and OS independent software tool on the market for concrete corrosion modeling and life prediction of reinforced concrete structures. Designers, architects, engineers, consultants, operation personnel, maintenance and inspection engineers can quickly determine the concrete corrosion rate, the crack width at different depth of concrete cover from the concrete surface to the reinforcing steel, and the remaining life of the RC structure, anytime, anywhere, on any device running any OS without the need to install or download anything. Concrete-Compass also predicts the effectiveness of cathodic protection and the minimum cathodic protection polarization required to reduce the corrosion rate to a level that can meet the design life of the RC structure. Concrete-Compass software models the effects of the following critical factors on concrete corrosion:

• Age of structure

• Code allowable maximum crack width

• Concrete compressive strength

• Concrete tensile splitting strength

• Rebar diameter

• Concrete cover thickness

• Water cement ratio

• Temperature of concrete

• Polarization by cathodic protection

• Service environment

• Half-cell potential

• Concrete resistivity

• Total chloride (acid-soluble chloride) in concrete

• Free chloride (water-soluble chloride) in concrete

• Chloride to hydroxide ratio (Cl/OH)

The outputs of Concrete-Compass include the following:

• The predicted corrosion current density

• The predicted corrosion rate

• The cumulative rebar diameter loss

• The remaining rebar diameter

• The carbonation depth

• The remaining life (time to reach the code allowable maximum crack width)

• The minimum CP polarization required to meet the design life

• The crack width at concrete surface, at reinforcement, and at mid-point of cover thickness

• The residual bond strength (MPa) affected by reinforcement corrosion

• The corrosion reduction factor by cathodic protection, a measure of the effectiveness of cathodic protection

• The effect of rebar position (top layer vs. bottom layer)

• The effect of corrosion type (pitting vs. uniform corrosion)

Figures below show the screen shots of Concrete-Compass.

Figure 1 Concrete-Compass Predicts the rate of Concrete corrosion and the remaining life of RC structures.

Under the specified conditions shown in Figure 1 above, Concrete-Compass predicts that the design life of 50 years with a crack width limit of 0.300 mm is not met. The crack opening at the concrete surface is 0.928 mm, the residual bond strength with (stirrups) is 17.517, and the carbonation depth is 19.189 mm. The minimum CP polarization required to reduce the corrosion rate to a level that can meet the design life (crack width limit of 0.300 mm) is 64.86 mV. In Figure 2, with cathodic protection polarization of 64.86 mV, Concrete-Compass predicts the remaining life is 40 years, thus meeting the design life of 50 years (age 10 + 40). Figure 3 shows that at age 50, the predicted crack width is 0.304 mm, meeting the design limit of 0.3 mm.

The predictive engine used in Concrete-Compass for corrosion modeling and life prediction of reinforced concrete structures complies with applicable international standards and relevant industry best practices.

Using Concrete-Compass is as easy as 1-2-3.

(1) Enter the design data.

(2) Select the service environment.

(3) Review the prediction results.

The following figures show the screen shots of Concrete-Compass.

Figure 2 Concrete-Compass predicts concrete corrosion, crack width, bond strength, and cathodic protection requirement.

Figure 3 Concrete-Compass predicts concrete corrosion and effectiveness of cathodic protection.

When corrosion current density is measured, Concrete-Compass models the effects of corrosion current density and the service environment on the crack width and the remaining life of the RC structures. If the corrosion current density of reinforcing steel is not measured but concrete resistivity data is available, Concrete-Compass models the effects of concrete resistivity and the service environment on the risks of concrete corrosion and predicts the crack width and the remaining life of the RC structures (Figure 4). Figure 5 shows that Concrete-Compass models the effects of chloride content in concrete, measured as the total chloride (acid-soluble chloride) or free chloride (water-soluble chloride). If no measurement data are available, Concrete-Compass models the effect of the service environment in accordance with BS EN 206 and predicts the crack width and remaining life of the RC structures (Figure 6).

Figure 4 Concrete-Compass predicts concrete corrosion, crack width and remaining life from concrete resistivity data.

Concrete-Compass, giving you the right directions in Concrete Corrosion Prediction and Modeling

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