Corner effect on chloride ion diffusion in rectangular concrete media

Chloride ion diffusion at the corner of rectangular concrete structures is presented. At the corner of a rectangular concrete, chloride ion diffusion occurs in a two-dimensional process. Chloride ions accumulate from two orthogonal directions, so that the corrosion-free life of concrete structures is significantly reduced. A numerical procedure based on the finite element method is used to solve the two-dimensional diffusion process. The orthotropic property of the diffusion coefficient of concrete is considered, and the chloride ion profile obtained from numerical analysis is used to produce the transformed diffusion coefficient. Comparisons of experimental data are also carried out to show the reliability of the proposed numerical analysis. From two-dimensional chloride diffusion, the corrosion-free life of concrete structures is estimated using the probability of corrosion initiation. In addition, monographs that produce the transformed diffusion coefficient and the corrosion-free life of concrete structures are made for maintenance purposes.