Time-dependent reliability analysis of reinforced concrete beams considering marine environmental actions

• Published in: Engineering structures 2023-08, Vol.288, p.116252, Article 116252
• Main Authors: Guo, Hong-Yuan, Jiang, Chao, Gu, Xiang-Lin, Dong, You, Zhang, Wei-Ping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Environmental action; Probability density function-informed method; RC beam; Reinforcement corrosion; Time-dependent reliability
• ISSN: 0141-0296; 1873-7323
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engstruct.2023.116252

•A general reliability analysis framework is built for RC beams in marine environment.•Probability density function-informed method is employed for reliability analysis.•Climate change and two-dimensional media transport are considered in this study.•Coupling effects between stirrup and longitudinal bars are investigated.•A numerical mechanical behavior model is proposed and verified by experiments. Under marine atmospheric environments, reinforced concrete (RC) structures may suffer from structural deterioration induced by environmental actions, affecting structural performance and safety. Thus, it is essential to evaluate and predict the deterioration process of an RC structure subject to environmental actions. This paper proposes a novel and generic computational framework to assess the time-dependent reliability of an RC beam under environmental actions. This framework includes a comprehensive life-cycle performance assessment model that considers climate change, two-dimensional chloride transport, the coupling effects and corrosion non-uniformity of reinforcement, and the nonlinear behavior of RC beams, which is validated by experimental studies. Additionally, performance functions for an RC beam are established for different failure modes, and their time-dependent probabilistic information and reliability index are captured using the probability density function-informed method (PDFM). To demonstrate the computational processes of the developed framework under practical marine atmospheric conditions, illustrative cases are presented. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are validated by traditional Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). Results indicate that the proposed method is feasible and efficient, aiding the life-cycle design and maintenance of RC structures.