Oxygen Diffusion Property of Fatigue Damaged Concrete under Drying-wetting Cycle

Abstract

Oxygen diffusion has an important influence on the corrosion process of reinforced concrete structures. In the marine environment, concrete is subject to both fatigue loads and periodic drying-wetting conditions. In this study, the oxygen diffusion performance of damaged concrete due to fatigue is studied under drying-wetting cycle condition, which is of great significance to the development of concrete durability theory. The pore structures of concrete specimens with different damage degrees after drying-wetting cycle were measured by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The effects of drying-wetting cycle and damage degree on pore structure were studied, and the oxygen diffusivity of damaged concrete before and after drying-wetting cycle was compared and analyzed. The results show that the pore size distribution curves of concrete specimens move to the smaller pores and the peaks decrease after 28 days of drying-wetting cycle. The proportion of gel pores (< 10 nm) increases and the proportion of medium and large capillary pores (10 - 1000 nm) decreases. After the drying-wetting cycle, the porosity of the damaged concrete specimens all decreased to certain degrees. It shows that the microstructure of the specimen is improved and the internal structure of concrete becomes more complex in the early stage of drying-wetting accelerated erosion. After the drying-wetting cycle, the oxygen diffusivity of all concrete specimens decreased, and the oxygen diffusivity of undamaged concrete decreased the most, about 10 times, but with the increase of damage degree, the reduction effect generally decreased.

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