Evaluation of the corrosion effects on the performance of composite bridge based on cellular automata and finite element method
Mohammed Al-samawi, Jinsong Zhu
Abstract
This paper investigates the assessment of corrosion effects on the performance of the composite bridge caused by chloride ions during the service life depending on Cellular Automata (CA) and Finite Element Method (FEM). It also provided a detailed guide to evaluate the performance of existing bridges. Firstly, the diffusion of chloride ions process in the bridge deck is simulated based on the 2D-CA and the initial corrosion time of reinforcement bars and cracking time in the bridge deck is predicted under the effect of multiple factors such as time, water–cement ratio (w/c), temperature and stress state. Secondly, chloride ions’ corrosion effect on the steel girder of the bridge is simulated using 3D-CA. The CA algorithms are developed in MATLAB to achieve this purpose. Thirdly, the degraded steel-concrete composite bridge according to CA-based simulations is analysed based on (FEM). Finally, a numerical simulation of the composite bridge performance for different service process under chloride ion corrosion is achieved under different service periods.