- Yiming Yang, Huang Tang, Xinzhong Wang. 2022. Failure Probability Analysis of Corroded RC Structures Considering the Effect of Spatial Variability. Abstract: Reasonable assessment of structural failure probability is essential to ensure the safety performance of corroded reinforced concrete (RC) structures. In this paper, a novel cross-sectional area loss model of corroded steel bars is proposed and the scale of fluctuation of some key parameters are estimated by the semivariogram function method. Then, a stochastic resistance deterioration model considering the effect of corrosion unbalanced and spatial variability and a time-dependent reliability assessment method of corroded concrete structures are proposed. In addition, a simple case analysis of corroded concrete structure is used to illustrate the application of the proposed method. The case analysis results show that the cumulative failure probability will be overestimated by using the popular pit area model, while it will be underestimated without considering the spatial variability of calculation parameters. Random field parameter analysis shows that appropriate choice of the element size is very important for the safety evaluation of RC structures. Additionally, compared with the marine atmospheric environment, the cumulative failure probability of case structure in the tidal and splash environment is increased by 20.15% and 70.40% respectively due to the gradual increase of corrosion current density. This indicates that the splash environment has the greatest impact on the structural failure probability among the three service environments.
