Prediction of Depth of Carbonation Using Electro–Mechanical Impedance: Fid-Bau Portal

Prediction of Depth of Carbonation Using Electro–Mechanical Impedance

Sonker, Maheshwari / Shanker, Rama

The concrete structures are exposed to resist the chemical attach, environmental impact and different types of abrasions. These attacks are resisted only if concrete had adequate durability. One important cause for reduction of durability is carbonation in the concrete. Hence, carbonation of concrete is a serious issue. Calcium carbonate is produced when carbon dioxide, water, and calcium hydroxide react, These reactions are continue with the time hence, depth of the carbonation increases with time. It is the difficult to predict the exact depth of carbonation in concrete. In this paper, the depth of carbonation in the reinforced concrete structure was predicted using the electro-mechanical impedance technique. The impedance of a structural system is constant. It is changed if stiffness of the structural system changes. As a result, the system's impedance changed as carbonation depth increased. COMSOL Multiphysics 5.5 was used to simulate a beam with dimensions of 2000 × 250 × 200 mm. Carbonation depth in the concrete was modelled using basic carbonated material properties, ranging from 1, 2 and 5 mm depths. The impedance signature of the uncarbonated modelled beam was extracted. The model was incorporated varying carbonation depths and impedance signatures were determined for each depth. Noticeable changes occurred in the impedance signature for each level of carbonation. Calculating the root mean square deviation (RMSD) for each depth revealed significant changes, even with a short 1 mm depth. This suggests that electromechanical impedance can accurately predict carbonation depth in concrete, highlighting its potential as reliable technique.