CONDITION ASSESSMENT AND

RETROFITTING OF
STRUCTURES (CE-647)
Lecture-2

Deterioration
of Concrete

Introduction
Effect

Leakage

Cause

Defect

Settlement

Design
Materials
Construction

Deflection
Overloading

Wear
Damage
Spalling

Chemical Spill

Disintegration
Freeze-Thaw

Delamination
Scaling

Deterioration

All concrete in service will be

subjected to chemical and
physical changes.

Earthquake
Fire

Cracking

It has been observed that RCC

has not proved to be durable
due to large number of factors.

Erosion
Corrosion of
Metals
Alkali-Aggregate
Reaction
Sulfate Attack

In almost all the field problems

penetration of water and/or
aggressive chemicals during
service life of structures, is the
primary cause of deterioration.

Fig. (a) Porous but impermeable concrete, (b) Porous but permeable concrete
A well constituted, properly compacted, and cured concrete used in RCC continues
to be substantially water tight and durable as long as capillary pores and micro-cracks
in the interior do not become interconnected pathways leading to surface of concrete.

Deterioration of Concrete
The general approach for durability is to demand impermeability
of concrete as the first line of defence against any of the
deterioration process.
It is difficult to generalize the causes of deterioration due to
interacting nature of various degradation mechanisms. However,
they can be grouped into chemical and physical attacks.
The microstructure of concrete material is continuously changing
in response to penetration of water, carbon dioxide, oxygen and
aggressive ions at a rate, which is influenced by local conditions
of temperature, humidity and pressure.

Concrete Deterioration

Concrete Deterioration

Holistic Models of Deterioration of RCC

Model-I
In this holistic model of deterioration of concrete, the deterioration
process is considered in two stages:
During the first stage, due to loading and environmental weathering
effects the voids and micro-cracks in the interfacial zones become
interlinked. When the interlinked network of micro-cracks gets
connected to any cracks present on the surface, this provides primary
mechanism of fluid transport into the concrete.
The above leads to the beginning of second stage of deterioration
during which water and chemicals are able to penetrate easily into
concrete. This causes various physical-chemical interactions as a result
of which, the material eventually undergoes considerable damage.

Holistic Model I of concrete Deterioration from Environmental Effects

Holistic Model-II

According to this model, there are three stages, namely (i) Gradual loss of
water tightness, (ii) Initiation of damage and (iii) Propagation of damage.

Holistic Model-III

This model considers the co-existence of following three main elements: (i)
Interconnected porosity, (ii) Exposure to aggressive agents and (iii) Intermittent
presence of water.
In the absence of any of three elements, damage to RCC will not occur.

Permeability of Concrete

Permeability of Concrete is related to:

Capillary
Porosity
High W/C
ratio
Inadequate
curing

Air Voids

Micro-Cracks

Improper
Compaction

Loading
effects
Weathering
Secondary
effects

Permeability of cement paste is a

function of water-cement ratio.

Capillary Porosity
Portland cement requires about 0.23 W/c ratio for hydration. However,
for achieving desired workability, excess water is required. This extra
water after completion of hydration leaves pores, called capillaries in
hardened concrete.

Changes in Capillary
Porosity with varying
Degree of hydration.

Capillary Porosity

Changes in capillary
Porosity with varying
w/c ratio.

As the w/c ratio increases beyond the minimum required, there is more
capillary porosity.

Capillary Porosity

Curing time required for various w/c ratios

Typical reduction in permeability of cement

paste with progress of hydration

In a well constituted, adequately compacted and cured concrete with low water-cement
Ratio, volume of capillary pores gets reduced and become discontinuous due to
Expansive hydrated gel, which significantly reduces the permeability.