| Enrico Zacchei, Md. Munir Hayet Khan Advanced Modelling of Chloride Penetration in Concrete Considering Time- and Space-Dependent Diffusivity |
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| Abstract. For reinforced concrete structures, corrosion of reinforcing steel bars induced by chloride ions represents a recurring durability risk. Chloride ion diffusion is commonly described by Fick’s laws, which are strictly applicable only when the diffusivity is assumed to be constant in both time and space. Under this assumption, the diffusion process and the associated exposure scenario can be greatly simplified. In this paper, a more comprehensive, non-constant, multifactorial diffusivity model is proposed, accounting for, among others, the effects of temperature, deformation, and damage. Given that the diffu-sivity varies in time and space, random numerical solutions are required. For this purpose, the Runge-Kutta method is implemented for both 1D and 2D models, and the results are plotted using Hermite polynomials. The boundary conditions relevant to this application are calibrated to solve the governing partial differential equations under randomly fluctuating diffusivity. The re-sults demonstrate that traditional approaches significantly underestimate chloride concentrations at certain depths, particularly for long-term exposure scenarios. |
| Keywords: Diffusion model; corrosion; advanced analyses; structural engineering |
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| DOI: https://doi.org/10.54381/itta2026.4.08 |