Corrosion of reinforcement bars in concrete plays a significant role in determining a struc- ture’s durability and serviceability lifetime. Corrosive species diffuse through the pore space of ce- mentitious material and chemically react to form corrosion products. These precipitates grow…
Corrosion of reinforcement bars in concrete plays a significant role in determining a struc- ture’s durability and serviceability lifetime. Corrosive species diffuse through the pore space of ce- mentitious material and chemically react to form corrosion products. These precipitates grow within the confined pores and exert pressure on the solid phase, which leads to fracture initiation and, ul- timately, to a structure’s deterioration. The deposition of corrosion products and internal cracking changes the pore structure over time, consequently influencing various mechanisms (ion diffusion, precipitate growth, stress development) that lead to corrosion-driven concrete fracture. In this con- tribution, we summarize how various processes change the pore structure of a cementitious material. Weemploy numerical simulations to analyze how different corrosion-driven processes, such as the deposition of corrosion products and the initiation and propagation of cracks, occur within a com- plex microstructure. We discuss how various corrosion-driven mechanisms lead to crack initiation and propagation at the microscale, changing microstructural details over time. Finally, we discuss how incorporating information about micro-structural details and their evolution may lead to better predictive models for corrosion-driven fracture.