Temporal analysis of the performance of a RC storage tank considering the corrosion

Abstract

The reinforced concrete (RC) water storage tanks are hydraulic structures that occupy a special place among civil engineering structures. Under the effect of hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads, their walls undergo horizontal tensile stresses which are absorbed by horizontal reinforcements. Moreover, these structures are subjected to high aggressive atmospheric conditions that expose their walls to a risk of harmful corrosion. This dangerous phenomenon leads to the reduction of their steel reinforcement sections and consequently to the loss of their resistance and function. In this paper, we are interested in the performance analysis of RC storage tanks, taking into account the phenomenon of corrosion of strained reinforcements, considering the environments of different aggressiveness rates. Westergaard method is applied to evaluate the hydrodynamic pressure on the wall. A corrosion model is performed in order to determine the evolution in time of the reinforcement section for different environments considered. Several parameters influencing the corrosion are considered, such as the concrete cover of steel reinforcement and the concentration of chlorides ions.