DURABILITY PERFORMANCE PREDICTION USING ANALYTICAL MODELING

Abstract

Temperature and humidity (hygro-thermal) cycles degrade composite strengthening materials by changing the properties of based material due to plasticization and hydrolysis. Although there is no comprehensive mechanistic modeling of the hygro-thermal effect on durability/life-prediction including temperature, relative humidity, aging of exposure, and cycle periods, fairly precise predictions can be made through the sensible use of an equation based on micro mechanics and semi-empirical approaches that are based on extensive prior experimental testing results. This paper includes equations related to the prediction of hygro-thermal effects, and then describes the predicting results on long-term strength of concrete that exposed to various environmental conditions. William-Landel-Ferry (WLF) equation was employed here to develop the shift factor for regular concrete, which is exposed to different environmental conditions. The shift factors were determined empirically on basis of previous experimental test results.