CZECH TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY IN PRAGUE

DOCTORAL THESIS STATEMENT

 CZECH TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY IN PRAGUE
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Department of Concrete and Masonry Structures

Ing. Jakub Gringer

COUPLED DETERIORATION PROCESSES IN CONCRETE

-
Exposure to acidic environment, cyclic loading and impact loading

Ph.D Programme: Civil Engineering

Branch of study: Building and Structural Engineering

Doctoral thesis statement for obtaining the degree of Doctor,

abbreviated to Ph.D.

Prague, August, 2016

Disertan prce byla vypracovna v form doktorskho studia na Katede betonovch
a zdnch konstrukc Fakulty stavebn VUT v Praze

Uchaze: Ing. Jakub Gringer

Katedra betonovch a zdnch konstrukc
Fakulta stavebn VUT v Praze
Thkurova 7/2077
166 29, Praha 6

kolitel: doc. Ing. Marek Foglar, Ph.D.

Katedra betonovch a zdnch konstrukc
Fakulta stavebn VUT v Praze
Thkurova 7/2077
166 29, Praha 6

Oponenti:

Teze byly rozeslny dne: .............................................................

Obhajoba disertace se kon dne v hod. ped komis pro obhajobu disertan prce
ve studijnm oboru Konstrukce a dopravn stavby
v zasedac mstnosti . Fakulty stavebn v Praze

S disertac je mono se seznmit na dkant Fakulty stavebn VUT V Praze na oddlen pro vdeckou
a vzkumnou innost, Thkurova 7, 166 29 Praha 6, mstnost C106

prof. Ing. Vladimr Kstek, DrSc.

pedseda komise pro obhajobu disertan prce
ve studijnm oboru
Konstrukce a dopravn stavby
Fakulta stavebn VUT v Praze
Thkurova 7, 166 29 Praha 6
Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... 1
1 Introduction and goals of thesis.............................................................................. 2
2 A State of the art ...................................................................................................... 3

2.1 Chemical deterioration of concrete .................................................................. 3

2.2 Influence of cyclic loading on deflection development ................................... 4
2.3 Impact loading .................................................................................................. 5

3 Coupled deterioration processes ............................................................................ 6

3.1 Mathematical description of concrete acidic deterioration .............................. 6

3.2 Deterioration of the concrete specimens .......................................................... 7
3.3 Extension of the strain development under cyclic loading............................... 8
3.4 Impact loading .................................................................................................. 9
3.5 Experimental program .................................................................................... 10

4 Results ..................................................................................................................... 13

4.1 Chemical deterioration ................................................................................... 13

4.2 SEM and EDS specimen analysis .................................................................. 16
4.3 Cyclic loading ................................................................................................ 18
4.4 Impact loading ................................................................................................ 20

5 Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 23
6 References ............................................................................................................... 24
7 Publications ............................................................................................................ 26

7.1 WoS and SCOPUS indexed publications ....................................................... 26

7.2 Other conference and journal publications ..................................................... 26
7.3 Utility models ................................................................................................. 27

Abstract .................................................................................................................. 28

Keywords ................................................................................................................. 28

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 Jakub Gringer

1 INTRODUCTION AND GOALS OF THESIS

Concrete deterioration due to an aggressive environment has become a widely discussed issue,
mainly in the last 25 years. Exposition to an aggressive environment reduces the durability of
materials, which is an essential design requirement for a sustainable development.
Another problem of the deterioration due to the aggressive environment is that it does not act
separately but interacts with other deteriorative processes and loadings. Many common
structures located in the aggressive environment (de-icing salts for road maintenance, chemical
plants) e.g. brides, crane tracks and parking lots are often exposed to the cyclic loading or in
extreme cases to the impact loading.
It is commonly known fact that the cyclic loading has an influence on the increasing deflection
development during the structural lifetime. This phenomenon was widely investigated as
a separate issue but the researches were not particularly focused on the effect of the chemical
deterioration on this increasing development of the deflections.
This applies also for the impact loading which was widely researched for concrete structures
with the possibility of vehicle crashes or terrorist attacks. These structures are also affected by
the influence of the aggressive environment.
With regard to lack of the information about the coupled deterioration effects on the structures
of transport infrastructure and many other kinds of structures where the combined deteriorative
effect applies it may be very useful to provide a tool which can accurately describe the problem
of chemical deterioration and also will be usable in other types of structural analysis.

Main goals of this thesis are following:

To propose an analytical model dealing with the acidic chemical deterioration of
concrete structures which will be applicable to other types of the structural analysis.
To extend previously developed fatigue damage function (previous work of doc. Foglar)
for the calculation of the deflection increase due to cyclic loading with deteriorative
effects of the aggressive environment.
To incorporate the analytical model of chemical deterioration into the estimation of the
concrete elements impact resistance together with the recommendation for the
numerical modelling of these coupled deterioration problems.

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Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

2 A STATE OF THE ART

2.1 Chemical deterioration of concrete
Aggressive environments do not occur only in chemical plants, and ways of classifying them
have been widely discussed [1]. For concrete structures, any environment can be considered as
aggressive if its pH is lower than 12.5, when the destabilization of Portlandite begins to occur.
Pavlk [2] focused on the depth of the corroded layer of cement pastes exposed to different
acids. The influence of calcium salts of reacting acids solubility was proven on the experimental
data. The results also shown that there is strong influence of the acids dissociations constants.
ivica and Bajza [3] made a detailed review of the acid attack on cement based materials. In
the first part, the principal of acid attack is described for different types of acids.. In the second
part, different factors influencing the deterioration rate are presented.
The chemical deterioration of concrete can be divided into two groups: deterioration due to
human activity (acid rains etc.) [4], and due to natural causes (acid soils etc.) [3, 5].
Fan et al. [4] tested 354 prism specimens made from ready-mixed commercial concrete. Four
groups were made (reference group in water (pH = 7.0) and three different pH groups (pH 1.5,
2.5 and 3.5). The specimens shown a steady rate of mass loss when exposed to acid solutions.
The visual observation shown that the surface colour gradually changed from grey to brown.
Bertron et al. [5] focused on the influence of manure on the concrete. The main objective was
to validate the use of solution at a pH of 4 for accelerated tests. The differences in results for
test with manure pH = 6 and pH = 4 were negligible, therefore the pH = 4 was recommended
for accelerated tests.
Another major part of cement material research is aimed at providing increased resistance
against the influence of aggressive environments. Girardi et al. [6] shown that the composition
of the concrete material matrix can have a significant effect on resistance to an acidic
environment, e.g. partial substitution of Portlandite with more stable calcium-aluminate
hydrates can reduce the transport properties of the mixture.
Despite the extensive research the only analytical model for the mechanical properties
deterioration was found. Huang et al. [7] proposed a general analytical solution for mechanical
properties on the basis of experimental data. However, the concentrations of the acids used for
the proposed analytical equations were extremely high, pH (-0.15; -0.75). Although the
agreement with the results was good, the experimental data contained only one measurement
after 24 hours of exposure. Thus it can be concluded that the analytical formulas were not
sufficiently verified.

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 Jakub Gringer

The different systems for the evaluation of the deterioration phenomena was proposed, the
system using reaction kinetics seems suitable. Beddoe and Dorner [8] presented a scheme for
the numerical evaluation of the deterioration based on the chemical reaction kinetics but no
further extension of their work was found.
The principle of chemical kinetics is applied in the analytical model proposed in this thesis.

2.2 Influence of cyclic loading on deflection development

The influence of fatigue, respectively cyclic loading, on changes in the material and their
descriptions have been studied by many authors [913]. From this selected range, it is possible
to distinguish between three different approaches to solving the aforementioned problem.
First approach is based on usage of experimentally obtained stress-strain diagrams of concrete
subjected to cyclic loading [9]. These approaches are easy to use in common practice or for
simple implementation into the FEM solvers. Their disadvantage is the inability to capture the
complex behaviour of concrete under cyclic loading.
Sinha et al. [9] divided the stress-strain diagram into three different curves; unloading curve,
reloading curve and envelope curve. From the experimental results all these curves were fitted
to provide a complex material model of concrete exposed to cyclic loading.
More sophisticated approaches are based on continuum damage mechanics. From this group,
one type are the models based on usage of bounding surfaces [10]. The second type of
mentioned approaches is damage and damage-plasticity models [11].
Yang et al. [10] developed complex mathematical model including bounding surface for plain
concrete. Its main advantage is that the concrete compressive strength fc is the only necessary
input material constant. The material model can predict the concrete behaviour under uniaxial,
biaxial and triaxial compression.
Grassl and Rempling [11] proposed a three-dimensional damage-plasticity interface model. As
an input eight model parameters are needed (modulus of elasticity, Poissons ratio, compressive
strength, shear strength, tensile strength and uniaxial tension / compression fracture energies).
Author of the thesis believes that the pure shear strength and fracture energies may be difficult
to obtain experimentally.
At last but not least, it is appropriate to mention the analytical models based on experiments.
Holmen [12] developed a function for strain development dependent on the duration of cyclic
loading and maximal stress. The results showed that the maximum longitudinal strain
development consists of two components; time-dependent and stress-dependent. This approach

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Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

was further extended by Foglar [13]. The extension of [12] proposed in [13] is further extended
in the thesis for the assessment of the cyclic loading influence on deflection development.

2.3 Impact loading

Impact as a type of extreme loading is widely studied since the early 1980s. The main reason
for the investigations is concrete sensitiveness to the strain rates. For these testing a drop-weight
mechanism is usually used [1419]. The research is mainly focused on the improvement of the
fracture energy of concrete by addition of the fibres into the concrete mixture [1416].
The experimental program of Mindess, Bentur et al. [14, 15] was focused on the testing of beam
specimens with different setup. The concrete specimens were made as normal strength concrete
(fc = 40 MPa) and high strength concrete (fc = 80 MPa). The specimens were reinforced with
conventional steel bars together with 0.5% of fibrillated polypropylene fibres. In [15] the
specimens had notch to evaluate fracture energy and critical stress intensity factor.
The results from [14] showed that the polypropylene fibres had only small effect during the
static loading, but a much bigger influence on the ductility in impact. This was even more
significant for the high strength concrete, therefore the addition of the fibres can be
recommended to compensate its more brittle behaviour during the impact.
The results from [15] showed that the dynamic value of fracture toughness (critical stress
intensity factor) is much larger than the static value. The high strength concrete required less
fracture energy during the impact loading than the normal strength concrete which reflects its
more brittle behaviour. The fracture toughness as well as the fracture energy was increased with
use of the polypropylene fibres.
Another extension of the research in [14, 15] was made by Wang et al. [16]. Different types of
fibre reinforced concrete with different percentage of fibres were tested in three-point bending.
The increase in fracture energy of the specimens was about 22% for 0.5% of polypropylene
fibres and about 41% for 0.5% steel fibres. It appeared from the results that there is a critical
volume of fibres at which the fracture energy of the concrete jumped to a much higher level.
The influence of the strain rate value on the development of mechanical damage in concrete
was described in [17]. Sukontasukkul et al. tested concrete cylinders to evaluate the influence
of strain rate on the development of mechanical damage in concrete during the impact loading.
Two different methods based on the damage mechanics were used for the evaluation (strain rate
variation and deterioration of modulus of elasticity).
The high topicality of the impact loading can be supported by effort to develop standardized
tests [18] or with a development of FEM models for concrete under impact loading [19].

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 Jakub Gringer

3 COUPLED DETERIORATION PROCESSES

3.1 Mathematical description of concrete acidic deterioration
For most cases of material deterioration, it can be assumed that the main factors influencing the
degree of deterioration are the duration of the process and its aggressiveness (rate). For
chemical deterioration, the rate is based on the chemical reaction rate, which can be expressed
by chemical kinetics. The rate equation can be written in the form stated in equation (3.1.1).

dni
= kc (T ) cA cB (3.1.1)
iVd

The order of the reaction n = + and the rate constant kc have to be determined
experimentally. The rate of chemical deterioration of concrete depends mainly on the matrix of
the material and the aggressiveness of the environment. The aggressiveness of an acidic
environment in relation to concrete structures is primarily defined by the pH value, which is
a function of the concentration of H+ ions.
For the experimental program, hydrochloric acid (HCl) was used as a deteriorative substance.
In this case, it can be assumed (in a simplified way) that the deteriorative reaction that takes
place when an aggressive environment comes into contact with concrete will correspond with
the neutralization according to equation (3.1.2).

2 HCl + Ca ( OH )2 CaCl2 + 2 H 2O (3.1.2)

A reaction of the acid with compounds of iron, aluminium and silicon takes place to a negligible
extent, as described in [2].
Using the equation of neutralization (3.1.2), the general form of the rate equation (3.1.1) is
transformed into the specific rate equation describing the above-mentioned neutralization
equation (3.1.3). This yields an equation with three unknowns that cannot be easily solved.

dcCa
kc cCa
= cH (3.1.3)
d

If the pH (H+ ion concentration) is kept constant (a buffer solution), the rate of the reaction in
(3.1.2) can be described by a first order rate equation (3.1.4). This solution uses a pseudo-rate
constant, which also includes the effect of the concentration of the H+ ions ( kc = kcH ). With

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Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

this simplification, the second order reaction is converted to a pseudo-first order reaction that
can be solved effectively by conventional methods.

dcCa
A products kccCa
=
(3.1.4)
d

Equation (3.1.4) provides the rate of loss of concentration of the calcium ions. Integrating this
differential equation gives the concentration value at a specific time dependent on the pseudo-
rate constant, the initial calcium ion concentration and time. The integrated form follows:

=cCa cCa ,0 exp ( kc ) (3.1.5)

The initial value of the concentration of the calcium ions cCa,0 is different for each mix design.
For common types of concrete, the initial value ranges from 3.5 to 5.0 mol/dm3 of concrete.
Generally, the rate constant is constant for a particular chemical reaction. Due to the diffusion
phenomenon in the concrete deterioration the rate constant should be a function of time. The
rate constant must be determined experimentally using chemical or physical measurements.

3.2 Deterioration of the concrete specimens

With the rate constant and the solved rate equation the actual rate of dissolution of the calcium
ions in time can be calculated. To evaluate the deterioration degree, it is necessary to link the
obtained chemical equations with methods for quantifying the material properties.
For this purpose two methods to determine the deterioration degree of concrete exposed to
aggressive environment were proposed: 1) determination of the reduced compressive strength
and 2) evaluation of the time variable cross-sectional area of sound specimen core (analogy
with fire damage assessment in [20]).
For the first method, compressive strength was chosen as an essential mechanical property.
With regard to the composition of the cementitious binder, it can be assumed that the total
amount of calcium oxide in the cement has the greatest influence on the final compressive
strength. On the basis of the equation (3.1.5) the change in calcium ions concentration can be
calculated. Subsequently the reduced compressive strength can be determined.
The Fret function [21] for calculating the compressive strength on the basis of the mix design
was chosen for this purpose. The function is used in the form according to equation (3.1.6).

2
vc
f ck ( ) = k f ( ) f cm (3.1.6)
vc + vw + va

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 Jakub Gringer

The Fret coefficient must be determined experimentally for each mixture. To include the
concrete deterioration rate into the Fret equation, the equation (3.1.5) can be used. The change
in the concentration of Ca2+ ions will be reflected in the volume of cement, equation (3.1.7).

mc cCa M ( CaO )
vc
= = (3.1.7)
c X CaO CaO

Substituting (3.1.5) into (3.1.7) yields the relationship for the compressive strength as a function
of time and the pH value of the aggressive environment (3.1.8).

vc exp ( kc ( pH ) )
2

f ck ( , pH ) = k f ( ) f cm (3.1.8)
vc exp ( kc ( pH ) ) + vw + va

The second method is based on the research described in [22] where it is stated that the transport
of H+ ions may be considered as steady-state diffusion.
When the pH distribution through the corroded layer according to Pavlk [22] proves to be valid,
there is a possible presumption that for the deterioration degree evaluation, the time variable
surface exposed to aggressive environment can be used. For the known mix design, it is possible
to identify the thickness of the layer with almost none Ca2+ ions. This layer may be eliminated
from further cross-sectional assessment. Proposed principle can be seen in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 Principle of the reduced cross-sectional area method

3.3 Extension of the strain development under cyclic loading

It is well-known fact that the concrete structures deflections increases under the cyclic loading,
the phenomenon is called cyclic creep [23]. Based on the research from [12] Foglar, in his
dissertation thesis [13], proposed an analytical model dealing with the deflection increase based
on the maximum stress level Smax, the fatigue damage function. The fatigue damage function is
designed as a reduction factor of the initial secant modulus of elasticity.
To consider the variously stressed fibres in the structural element subjected to bending the
fatigue damage function was extended by the partial integration over the compressive zone

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Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

height. The method is based on the average stress in each layer. This approach should reflect
the differences between the behaviour of cylinders exposed to the compressive cyclic loading,
on which the fatigue damage function was fitted, and specimens subjected to cyclic bending.
The accuracy of the method is dependent on the fineness of the compressive zone division.
With more layers used for calculation the average stress in each layer will better reflect the real
stress distribution over the height of compressive zone.
In order to calculate the deflections, the ideal moment of inertia is needed. An evaluation of this
cross-sectional characteristic is carried out in 4 steps:
1) From the fatigue analysis, the maximum stress levels Smax is obtained for each
partial height (layer) within each specimen.
2) The fatigue damage function is evaluated depending on the maximum stress
levels Smax.
3) The decreased modulus of elasticity is calculated with the fatigue damage
function for each layer.
4) The ideal moment of inertia is calculated on the basis of the decreased modulus
of elasticity of each layer.
Both methods for the concrete deterioration assessment were integrated (separately) to the
deflection increase calculation to verify their suitability for use in this type of the structural
analysis.

3.4 Impact loading

The impact loading is not a deteriorative effect, but extreme type of loading which usually leads
to the element failure, therefore it was evaluated separately, but for the reduced material
characteristics due to the aggressive environment and cyclic loading.
Concrete is a strain rate sensitive material which results in an increase of the instantaneous
mechanical properties with higher strain rate, thus with higher loading speed. This phenomenon
is called dynamic increase factor (DIF). The DIF value is dependent on the strain rate thus the
DIF curves can be developed on the basis of the experiments. The DIF curves were published
e.g. in [24, 25], standardized in Model Code 2010 [26]. The DIF values were evaluated
(according to [26]) for the impact loading based on the strain rates which were calculated from
the change of the specimens deflections in time; see equation (3.2.1). The evaluated strain rates
with corresponding values of DIF are listed in Tab. 1.

w ( t ) 1 r ( t ) (3.2.1)

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 Jakub Gringer

Tab. 1 DIF values for the impact and cyclic loading according to Model Code 2010 [26]

Loading Strain rate fc,imp,k / fcm fct,imp,k / fctm Ec,imp / Eci

type
[s-1] [-] [-] [-]
Impact 2.89e+00 1.174 1.307 1.348
Cyclic 1.17e-02 1.087 1.184 1.168

Due to the limited possibilities of the real-time measurements of the impact experiments the
FEM model in LS-DYNA software was designed. Based on the results of the experiment
a model adjustment was made especially in material properties. The FEM model should be
a carbon copy of the proposed experiment. The geometry of the model consist of 5 different
part: concrete of the beam, beam reinforcement, two supports and a burden. Render of the model
with the mesh depicted can be seen in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 LS-DYNA model render

For the concrete material model MAT159-CSCM, elasto-plastic damage model with rate
effects, was used. Its comprehensive description is provided in [27]. The material characteristics
were calculated for the concrete grade C25/30 which was used for the experimental program.
Consequently the material model fracture energy can be modified for all the tested specimens
to obtain agreement between results of the model and measured data from the experiments.
The material model includes three different fracture energies (in uniaxial stress Gfc, in uniaxial
tension Gft and in pure shear stress Gfs). For the model evaluation an updated formula for Gfc
from the Model Code 2010 [26] was used.
Influence of each fracture energy was tested on the models. The influence of the concrete
deterioration due to aggressive environment and cyclic loading on its fracture energy was
evaluated on the basis of the model fitting and the energy balance system control.

3.5 Experimental program

The experimental program was designed for possible evaluation of all three types of
deterioration. Fourteen sets of samples were made within the experimental program; 6 reference

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Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

sets were stored in a dry environment (5 exposed to cyclic loading, 1 as reference sound
specimen), and 8 sets were stored in an aggressive environment. Each set consists of one cube
with sides of 150 mm, three beams (100x100x400 mm) and one large reinforced concrete beam
(300x150x1300 mm). The age of the specimens at testing together with the length of exposure
to the aggressive environment are stated in Tab. 2. The reference set is marked R, the sets
exposed to cyclic loading are marked C, and the sets stored in the aggressive environment
are marked A. All sets were made of concrete class grade C25/30.

Tab. 2 Summary of the sets used in the experimental program

Set R1 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8
Age [day] 436 28 63 182 364 728 35 42 77 105 133 224 406 777
Acid [day] - - - - - - 7 14 34 62 90 181 363 734

As was mentioned above, two types of sets were made; a) sets stored in a dry interior
environment, in accordance with EN 206 [28], defined as the XC1 exposure class, and b) sets
stored in the chemically aggressive environment. The aggressive environment was designed as
a diluted solution of 35% hydrochloric acid (HCl) with pH = 2. This corresponds with an H+
ion concentration of cH = 0.01 mol/dm3. To maintain a stable pH value, the aggressive agent
(HCl) was regularly replenished according to the pH measurements and ionic strength
calculation. All these calculations neglect the influence of possible dissolution of other
chemical elements, e.g. ferrites (Fe3+), aluminates (Al3+), or silicates (Si4+).
To verify the correctness of not including these elements, samples of the aggressive
environment solution were chemically analysed. Excerpt from a comparison of the ionic
strength based calculation and the laboratory obtained values is shown in Tab. 3.

Tab. 3 A summary of calculated and laboratory obtained concentrations of Ca2+, Al3+, Fe3+, Si4+ ions

Set Added HCl Calculated Ca2+ Laboratory Ca2+ Laboratory Al3+ /

concentration concentration Fe3+ / Si4+ conc.
[cm3] [mg/dm3] [mg/dm3] [mg/dm3]
A3 1085 1588 1540 5.5 / 0.52 / 20.9
A5 3110 4375 4380 -
A6 4645 8685 8970 -
A7 6760 14177 13500 -

The arrangement of the cyclic loading is the four-point bending with span length 1000 mm and
overhangs of the length of 150 mm. Parameters of the fatigue testing: loading frequency - 5 Hz,
maximum / minimum cyclic force 100 / 5 kN and eccentricity 0.3 m. Due to high time

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 Jakub Gringer

demands of the experiments the expected maximum number of applied cycles for each
specimen is around 400 thousand cycles.
Two types of deflection measurements were performed during the fatigue testing. Static
deflection measurements - takes place after every hour of cyclic loading (circa 18000 load
cycles). Dynamic deflection measurement - was carried out during the fatigue testing
immediately after the static deflection measurements.
Consequently after the exposure to the cyclic loading or to the combination of aggressive
environment and cyclic loading the reinforced concrete beams were tested with extreme
loading - impact loading.
For the impact loading, a braced steel frame (Fig. 3) carrying drop weight was built.

Fig. 3 Steel frame and the scheme of experiment

To ensure similar layout as in case of the cyclic loading two reinforcing bars were attached to
the steel girders. This ensured the span length of 1000 mm and simple supported beam
behaviour. The burden used for the testing weights 75 kg.
The impact testing was supplemented with the Photon Doppler Velocimetry (PDV) which
measured the instantaneous velocity of the bottom surface of the tested specimen. These
measurements enable to evaluate instantaneous deflection and acceleration of the beam with
high precision. The impact zone (contact zone between burden and concrete specimen) was
recorded with the high-speed camera with 2500 fps (frames per second).

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Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

4 RESULTS
4.1 Chemical deterioration
The change in time of the pH was regularly measured to determine the kinetics of the chemical
reaction. The time dependence of the change in pH value is shown in Fig. 4. With the procedure
described here, the diffusion problem of the corroded layer with regard to its incremental
increase in thickness and the solubility of the emerging acid salts [2, 3, 22, 29] is already
included in the measured values.

Fig. 4 Measured and approximated pH development in time

For the purposes of subsequent calculations, the change in pH per day (pH()) was
approximated by the function in the following form:

23
pH ( ) = (4.2.1)
+ 17

The rate constant was determined from the function pH(). According to these assumptions,
the rate constant can be determined with the use of equation (4.2.1) and the total amount of
dissolved Ca2+ ions in time.
It is necessary to take into account the variable pH value. The initial pH value pH = pH0 changes
within the evaluation time by the value of pH(), according to equation (4.2.1). In the
subsequent interval, the initial pH is modified back to pH0, and there is another change by the
value of pH(). The function of the rate constant was obtained from the experimental
measurements, as follows. This rate constant has to be multiplied by the concentration of the
H+ ions to obtain the pseudo-rate constant.

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 Jakub Gringer

1 0.15 dm3
=kc ( ) + mol day (4.2.2)
4.76 + 0.12 0.75

The calculation of the change in calcium ion concentration for different specimens and
structural shapes was generalized on the basis of the S/V ratio (surface exposed to the aggressive
environment / element volume). A modified form of equation (3.1.5) is stated in
equation (4.2.3).

S
cCa cCa ,0 exp ( kc ) 0.0382
= (4.2.3)
V

To verify the proposed rate equation (3.1.4), the laboratory obtained values were compared with
the calculations according to equation (3.1.5), with the use of the determined rate constant
(4.2.2). The measured and calculated values are compared in Tab. 4.
Tab. 4 A comparison of the calculated mass and the laboratory-obtained mass of dissolved Ca2+ ions

Set Time in the Calc. mass of Lab. obtained Agreement

acidic solution dissolved Ca2+ mass of Ca2+
[day] [g] [g] [%]
A1 7 126.827 121.160 104.7
A2 14 219.922 237.430 92.6
A3 34 208.192 246.197 84.6
A4 62 380.306 435.510 87.3
A5 90 618.026 678.114 91.1
A6 181 1020.243 1033.495 98.7
A7 363 1699.172 1516.923 112.0
A8 742 1971.837 1859.8061) 106.0
1) estimated mass calculated using a known amount of added HCl (ionic strength method)

The comparison showed good agreement.

The compressive strength and the modulus of elasticity were determined within the
experimental program. The results of the material properties for the reference specimen sets
and the deteriorated specimen sets are shown in Fig. 5.
The reference values for the non-deteriorated material were determined from the sets marked
C. The Fret coefficient (equation (3.1.8)) is time-dependent and for the mix design used
here, it was found in the form shown in equation (4.2.4).

k f (=
) 8.8 0.977( 40) (4.2.4)

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Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

Fig. 5 Time development of compressive strength (left) and elastic modulus (right)

The modified rate equation, as stated in (4.2.3) can be used for calculating the amount of
dissolved Ca2+ ions from the small beams (100x100x400 mm). A comparison of the calculated
and experimentally-obtained compressive strength values is presented in Tab. 5.

Tab. 5 Comparison of the calculated and measured reduced compressive strength values

Set Age Fret Reference fc Deteriorated Deteriorated Agreement

coefficient kf calculated fc measured fc calculated
[day] [-] [MPa] [MPa] [MPa] [%]
A1 35 7.677 30.6 25.2 29.7 118.1
A2 42 7.845 31.2 28.3 29.8 105.4
A3 77 8.377 33.4 31.6 31.9 101.1
A4 105 8.580 34.2 31.6 31.5 99.8
A5 133 8.685 34.6 34.0 30.3 89.1
A6 226 8.787 35.0 29.4 27.8 94.7
A7 406 8.800 35.0 23.7 23.2 97.7
A8 777 8.800 35.0 22.1 21.1 95.5

The proposed approach for evaluating the compressive strength of the deteriorated specimens
showed good agreement with the experimentally obtained values.
The verification of the second proposed method (reduced cross-sectional area) is based on the
assumption that the corroded layer does not interact with the sound specimen core during the
loading, thus only the reduced cross-section is exposed to the stress.
To verify the reduced cross-sectional area method the recorded forces from the compressive
strength testing should be recalculated using the reduced specimen area based on the total
amount of Ca2+ ions depleted. The obtained compressive strengths of the sound core should be
similar to the reference compressive strength of non-deteriorated specimens.

15
 Jakub Gringer

A comparison of the reference compressive strengths and calculated strengths of sound cores
of the deteriorated beam specimens is presented in Tab. 6.

Tab. 6 Comparison of the reference and calculated compressive strength of sound specimen cores

Set Age fc,ref fc,det hbeam fc,core fc,core

calculated acid - tests reduced calculated / fc,ref
[day] [MPa] [MPa] [mm] [MPa] [%]
A1 35 30.6 25.2 99.0 25.7 84.0
A2 42 31.2 28.3 98.3 29.3 93.9
A3 77 33.4 31.6 98.4 32.6 97.7
A4 105 34.2 31.6 97.0 33.6 98.1
A5 133 34.6 34.0 95.1 37.6 108.6
A6 226 35.0 29.4 91.8 34.9 99.6
A7 406 35.0 23.7 86.0 32.1 91.6
A8 777 35.0 22.1 83.5 31.7 90.5

The proposed approach for evaluating the reduced cross-sectional area of the deteriorated
specimens showed good agreement with the reference values.

4.2 SEM and EDS specimen analysis

The scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS)
were used to verify certain assumptions used in the proposed deterioration model.
The beam specimen (100x100x400 mm) from set A8 was selected for the SEM and EDS
analyses. Two different types of specimens were prepared for SEM and EDS analysis;
a) polished-section specimens (diameter 25 mm) and b) thin-section specimens (25x40 mm).
The TESCAN VEGA 3 XMU scanning electron microscope was used to determine changes in
the material matrix due to chemical deterioration. Image scanning was performed in high
vacuum mode (cca 0.05 Pa) with 15-20 kV accelerating voltage and detection of back-scattered
electrons. Three typical areas of interest were chosen; a) a brown-coloured layer with extreme
deterioration, b) the transition layer between the brown-coloured layer and the grey concrete,
and c) the sound concrete core. Image from each typical area is shown in Fig. 6.
The SEM images show extreme changes in the concrete matrix. The brown-coloured
deteriorated layer consists mainly of very fine gravel and sand. It can be assumed that the
content of calcium ions will be very low. The transition zone is much more compact than the
deteriorated layer. The large number of visible voids indicate a small amount of calcium ions.
The sound core of the concrete specimens is continuously filled with cement paste.

16
Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

Fig. 6 SEM image of deteriorated layer (left), transition zone (middle) and sound concrete (right)

EDS was used to determine the composition of the material matrix (sound and deteriorated).
Typical average EDS spectra obtained by the area evaluation for the deteriorated brown-
coloured layer and for sound concrete are shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 Typical EDS spectra for the brown-coloured layer (top) and sound concrete (bottom)

The discrete evaluation in particular points and areas showed that the trend of the content of
selected ions (Ca2+, Si4+, Al3+, Fe3+ and Cl-) was dependent on the depth of the specimen. The
significant difference in the content of Ca2+ ions at the end of the deterioration layer
corresponds with the assumption that the transition zone between the deteriorated layer and
sound concrete is very thin. This phenomenon is shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8 Atomic composition of the deteriorated concrete with depth dependence (discrete points)

17
 Jakub Gringer

For more accurate results, the discrete evaluation was supplemented by a continuous line
analysis. The development of the atomic content of Ca2+ (in relation to other investigated
elements Si4+, Al3+, Cl- and Fe3+) along the depth of the element is shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 9 Atomic percent of Ca2+ ions along the specimen depth (evaluated lines specified on the SEM)

The discontinuity of the dataset is caused by the presence of big aggregates, which were
excluded from the evaluation.
The transition zone exhibits a steep increase in the amount of Ca2+ ions in the material matrix,
and is difficult to distinguish. On the basis of these findings, it can be stated that the diffusion
through the sound concrete is negligible, and that the chemical reaction in the transition zone is
mainly reaction-controlled.

4.3 Cyclic loading

In total 13 specimen sets were cast for the fatigue testing: 5 sets of a non-deteriorated dry
specimen and 8 sets of deteriorated specimens. For the verification of the proposed extension
of the fatigue damage function and the influence of the concrete deterioration on the deflection
increase due to the cyclic loading the deflection measurements were recorded regularly. Excerpt
from the results is stated below.
The third set of deteriorated specimens A3 was tested after 34 days in aggressive solution (age
of 77 days). The evaluated mechanical properties of the specimens are following: modulus of
elasticity Ec,init = 32.4 GPa, measured compressive strength on small beams fc = 31.6 MPa,
calculated compressive strength for cyclic beam fc,cyclic = 32.7 MPa. Comparison of the
measured and calculated values can be seen in Fig. 10.

18
Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

Fig. 10 Comparison of measured and calculated deflections for set A3

The specimen set A8 was tested after 734 days in aggressive solution (age of 777 days). The
evaluated mechanical properties of the specimens are following: modulus of elasticity
Ec,init = 28.5 GPa, measured compressive strength on small beams fc = 22.1 MPa, calculated
compressive strength for cyclic beam fc,cyclic = 28.2 MPa. Comparison of the measured and
calculated deflections can be seen in Fig. 11.

Fig. 11 Comparison of measured and calculated deflections for set A8

The deflection increase shows good agreement with the calculated values. The deflections
calculated using the reduced cross-sectional area are getting extremely overestimated with the
higher deterioration degree. With reduced dimensions the cross-sectional moment of inertia is
reduced, thus the calculated stresses in evaluated layers are higher causing its faster
deterioration of modulus of elasticity. The reduction of the moment of inertia is between 2.2%
for set A1 and 31.8% for specimen A8 with comparison to the reference sets C.
That the reduced cross-section area method is not valid for the deflection increase calculation
or for the stresses evaluation (service limit states SLS). The author suppose that the reduced
cross-sectional area method can be used for ultimate limit states (ULS) as an analogy to the
concrete fire design in [20].
The cyclic loading has a frequency of 5 Hz as described. With higher loading speed,
respectively with the higher strain rates, the increase in the mechanical properties can be

19
 Jakub Gringer

observed. Numerical comparison shows that the maximum deflection reduction is up to 10%
(specimen C1). The common extreme for all the specimens is around 7% (the dynamic
deflection is 93% of the static deflection). The average reduction is about 2% (the average
dynamic deflection measurement is 98% of the static deflection measurement).

4.4 Impact loading

For the evaluation of the specimen resistance to the impact loading the energy dissipated in the
deflection of the beams was chosen. This energy can be determined as a work of the burden on
the beam deflections, see equation (4.5.1).

res ,beam

=Wimp Fburden ( t ) d beam (4.5.1)

0,beam

The deflections of the specimen was evaluated from the PDV and from the camera recordings.
The fitting of the FEM model was based on the change in the fracture energy. Primarily, the
model was modified only by changing the compressive fracture energy Gfc. Only when the
agreement between the results from the LS-DYNA and PDV was not sufficient the modification
of other fracture energies were made.
For each specimen the results of FEM analysis were compared with the measured data from the
experiment. Differences between results were up to 10%, in most cases nearly exact match was
accomplished. Excerpt from the results is described below.
Results for the specimen A8, chemically deteriorated specimen exposed to cyclic loading, are
in Fig. 12. Duration of the impact was about 7 ms. The specimen cracked symmetrically on
both sides without significant damage close to supports. This resulted in relatively small
deflections. Extreme surface deterioration due to the acidic environment can be seen (Fig. 13).

Fig. 12 Development of burden speed / deflection (left) and force-deflection curve / area of spec. A8

20
Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

Fig. 13 Condition of the specimen A8 after impact loading

The possible use of both methods for deterioration degree assessment in the estimation of the
work done on the displacement of the tested specimens will be discussed further in text. Both
modifications of the proposed assessment methods are based on the strain energy release rate
which in its simplified form can be written as in equation (4.5.2).

W W
G=
=
(4.5.2)
ba Acrack

When the strain energy release rate (4.5.2) is equal or greater than the critical value, the fracture
energy Gf, the crack will grow.
The first method, the reduced compressive strength method, is based on these assumptions. The
fracture energy is a property of the material and can be evaluated on the basis of standards.
Furthermore, if the specimens exposed to the impact loading are of the same width b and exhibit
identical or similar damage it can be assumed that the area of the crack Acrack will be the same
or at least similar for all the tested specimens. Therefore substituting (4.5.1) into the energy
release rate (4.5.2) yields the equation (4.5.3).

G f ( f cm ,imp ) Acrack = Wimp (4.5.3)

The fracture energy can be evaluated according to Model Code 2010 [26]. The work done on
deflections Wimp can be obtained from the LS-DYNA analysis or from the experimental
measurements. The crack area Acrack is sought for. For the best fit of the the crack area
Acrack = 7.53 m2. Substituting Acrack into the equation (4.5.3) the formulation (4.5.4) is obtained.

0.18
,imp , k= 549.69 f cm ( c c 0 )
549.69 f c0.18
0.014
= Wimp (4.5.4)

The second method, the cross-sectional area reduction method, is also based on the strain energy
release rate. The basic assumption, as stated before, is that the non-deteriorated concrete core

21
 Jakub Gringer

should have the same material properties across all the samples. This implies that the fracture
energy is also the same and the equation (4.5.2) can be rewritten as follows:

G f Areduced = Wimp (4.5.5)

The value of reduced cross-sectional area Areduced is not the crack area but its substitute which
incorporates the deterioration degree of the specimen. With regard to the fact that all the
specimens were exposed to cyclic loading (except specimen R1) the C1 specimen was selected
as the reference value, therefore Gf = 1081 J. Substituting Gf into equation (4.5.5) yields formula
for the cross-sectional area reduction method, see equation (4.5.6).

1081 breduced hreduced =

Wimp (4.5.6)

The comparison of the values obtained from the LS-DYNA analysis and values calculated
according to the equation (4.5.6) using the reduced cross-sectional dimensions for the beams
can be seen in Fig. 14.

Fig. 14 Area under force-deflection curve according to reduced cross-sectional area

Both methods follow the trend that with higher deterioration degree the work done on the
deflections decreases. The method of the reduced cross-sectional area exhibits better fit than
the method of reduced compressive strength. The main advantage of these methods is in the
reduction of the calculation time which is needed for the specimens fitting. Only one model of
non-deteriorated concrete specimens can be analysed in LS-DYNA or other explicit dynamics
software and the energy balance for the deteriorated specimens will be estimated on the basis
of these methods and obtained results from the FEM model.

22
Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

5 CONCLUSIONS
The main focus of this thesis was to propose an analytical model dealing with the acidic
chemical deterioration of concrete structures which can be further extended for the use in
assessment of the deflection increase due to the cyclic loading and for use in the estimation of
the impact resistance of concrete elements.
The thesis includes comprehensive state of the art of all three topics covered in the work;
chemical deterioration of concrete, cyclic loading and impact loading.
The goals stated in the introduction can be summarized as follows:
Two different analytical approaches for the evaluation of the deterioration degree of the
concrete elements were proposed and successfully verified with the experimental
program. All used assumption were proved with laboratory testing, SEM and EDS.
The analytical system for the evaluation of the deflection increase due to the cyclic
loading was extended and the obtained results were experimentally verified. An
approach for the estimation of the remaining fatigue life-time independent on the total
number of applied cycles N and number of already applied cycles n was proposed.
The approach for possible estimation of the energy dissipated during the impact loading
in dependency on the deterioration degree was formulated. The recommendations for
the FEM modelling of the impact loading were proposed.
Both proposed methods for the assessment of deteriorated specimens were implemented
in the consequent systems of cyclic loading and impact loading analysis. Suitability of
particular method for different limit states was obtained by comparing the calculated
and measured data. Principle of the proposed methods implementation can be seen in
Fig. 15.

Fig. 15 Principle of the proposed approaches implementation to different design states analysis

23
 Jakub Gringer

6 REFERENCES
[1] LAUER, K. R. Classification of concrete damage caused by chemical attack. Materials
and Structures [online]. May 1990. Vol. 23, no. 3, p. 223229.
DOI 10.1007/BF02473022.
[2] PAVLK, V. Corrosion of hardened cement paste by acetic and nitric acids part I:
Calculation of corrosion depth. Cement and Concrete Research [online]. January 1994.
Vol. 24, no. 3, p. 551562. DOI 10.1016/0008-8846(94)90144-9.
[3] ZIVICA, Vladimr and BAJZA, Adolf. Acidic attack of cement based materials a
review Part 1. Principle of acidic attack. Construction and Building Materials [online].
December 2001. Vol. 15, no. 8, p. 331340. DOI 10.1016/S0950-0618(01)00012-5.
[4] FAN, Y.F., HU, Z.Q., ZHANG, Y.Z. and LIU, J.L. Deterioration of compressive
property of concrete under simulated acid rain environment. Construction and Building
Materials [online]. October 2010. Vol. 24, no. 10, p. 19751983.
DOI 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2010.04.002.
[5] BERTRON, a., DUCHESNE, J. and ESCADEILLAS, G. Accelerated tests of hardened
cement pastes alteration by organic acids: analysis of the pH effect. Cement and Concrete
Research [online]. January 2005. Vol. 35, no. 1, p. 155166.
DOI 10.1016/j.cemconres.2004.09.009.
[6] GIRARDI, F. and MAGGIO, R. D. Resistance of concrete mixtures to cyclic sulfuric
acid exposure and mixed sulfates: Effect of the type of aggregate. Cement and Concrete
Composites [online]. 2011. Vol. 33, no. 2, p. 276285.
DOI 10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2010.10.015.
[7] HUANG, Pengfei, BAO, Yiwang and YAO, Yan. Influence of HCl corrosion on the
mechanical properties of concrete. Cement and Concrete Research [online]. March 2005.
Vol. 35, no. 3, p. 584589. DOI 10.1016/j.cemconres.2004.06.027.
[8] BEDDOE, Robin E. and DORNER, Horst W. Modelling acid attack on concrete: Part I.
The essential mechanisms. Cement and Concrete Research [online]. 2005. Vol. 35,
no. 12, p. 23332339. DOI 10.1016/j.cemconres.2005.04.002.
[9] SINHA, B. P, GERSTLE, Kurt H and TULIN, Leonard G. Stress-Strain Relations for
Concrete Under Cyclic Loading. ACI Journal Proceedings [online]. 1964. Vol. 61, no. 2,
p. 195212. DOI 10.14359/7775.
[10] YANG, Bing-Lin, DAFALIAS, Yannis F. and HERRMANN, Leonard R. A Bounding
Surface Plasticity Model for Concrete. Journal of Engineering Mechanics [online].
March 1985. Vol. 111, no. 3, p. 359380. DOI 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-
9399(1985)111:3(359).
[11] GRASSL, Peter and REMPLING, Rasmus. A damage-plasticity interface approach to
the meso-scale modelling of concrete subjected to cyclic compressive loading.
Engineering Fracture Mechanics [online]. November 2008. Vol. 75, no. 16, p. 4804
4818. DOI 10.1016/j.engfracmech.2008.06.005.
[12] HOLMEN, Jan Ove. Fatigue of Concrete by Constant and Variable Amplitude Loading.
University of Trondheim, 1979.
[13] FOGLAR, Marek. Strain development in concrete under cyclic loading. Czech Technical
University in Prague, 2008.
[14] MINDESS, S, BANTHIA, N and BENTUR, A. The response of reinforced concrete
beams with a fibre concrete matrix to impact loading. International Journal of Cement
Composites and Lightweight Concrete [online]. August 1986. Vol. 8, no. 3, p. 165170.
DOI 10.1016/0262-5075(86)90037-0.
[15] MINDESS, Sidney, BANTHIA, Nemkumar and YAN, Cheng. The fracture toughness
of concrete under impact loading. Cement and Concrete Research [online]. March 1987.

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Vol. 17, no. 2, p. 231241. DOI 10.1016/0008-8846(87)90106-2.

[16] WANG, Nianzhi, MINDESS, Sidney and KO, Keith. Fibre reinforced concrete beams
under impact loading. Cement and Concrete Research [online]. March 1996. Vol. 26,
no. 3, p. 363376. DOI 10.1016/S0008-8846(96)85024-1.
[17] SUKONTASUKKUL, Piti, NIMITYONGSKUL, Pichai and MINDESS, Sidney. Effect
of loading rate on damage of concrete. Cement and Concrete Research [online].
November 2004. Vol. 34, no. 11, p. 21272134. DOI 10.1016/j.cemconres.2004.03.022.
[18] SOLEIMANI, S.M. and BANTHIA, N. A Novel Drop Weight Impact Setup for Testing
Reinforced Concrete Beams. Experimental Techniques [online]. May 2014. Vol. 38,
no. 3, p. 7279. DOI 10.1111/j.1747-1567.2012.00810.x.
[19] ABBAS, H, GUPTA, N.K. and ALAM, M. Nonlinear response of concrete beams and
plates under impact loading. International Journal of Impact Engineering [online].
September 2004. Vol. 30, no. 89, p. 10391053. DOI 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2004.06.011.
[20] EN 1992-1-2. Eurocode 2: Design of concrete structures - Part 1-2: General rules -
Structural fire design. 2004. Brussels : European Committee for Standardization.
[21] FRET, R. Sur la compacit des mortiers hydrauliques. Annales des Ponts et Chausses.
1892. Vol. 4, no. 7, p. 5196.
[22] PAVLK, V. Corrosion of hardened cement paste by acetic and nitric acids part II:
Formation and chemical composition of the corrosion products layer. Cement and
Concrete Research [online]. 1994. Vol. 24, no. 8, p. 14951508. DOI 10.1016/0008-
8846(94)90164-3.
[23] BAZANT, Zdenek P. and HUBLER, Mija H. Theory of cyclic creep of concrete based
on Paris law for fatigue growth of subcritical microcracks. Journal of the Mechanics and
Physics of Solids [online]. February 2014. Vol. 63, no. 1, p. 187200.
DOI 10.1016/j.jmps.2013.09.010.
[24] ROSS, L Javier Malvar and C Allen. Review of Strain Rate Effects for Concrete in
Tension. ACI Materials Journal [online]. 1998. Vol. 95, no. 6. DOI 10.14359/418.
[25] TEDESCO, J W and ROSS, C A. Strain-Rate-Dependent Constitutive Equations for
Concrete. Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology [online]. 1 November 1998. Vol. 120,
no. 4, p. 398. DOI 10.1115/1.2842350. 10.1115/1.2842350
[26] CEB-FIP. fib Model Code for Concrete Structures 2010. Lausanne : fdration
internationale du bton, 2013. ISBN 978-3-433-03061-5.
[27] MURRAY, Yvonne. Users Manual for LS-DYNA Concrete Material Model 159. Federal
Highway Administration, 2007.
[28] EN 206. Concrete, Specification, performance, production and conformity. 2013.
Brussels : European Committee for Standardization.
[29] ZIVICA, Vladimr and BAJZA, Adolf. Acidic attack of cement-based materials - A
review Part 2. Factors of rate of acidic attack and protective measures. Construction and
Building Materials. 2002. Vol. 16, no. 4, p. 215222. DOI 10.1016/S0950-
0618(02)00011-9.

25
 Jakub Gringer

7 PUBLICATIONS
7.1 WoS and SCOPUS indexed publications
[P1] Foglar, M. - Gringer, J.: Influence of the Structural Arrangement of Bridges on the
Noise Induced by Traffic. Engineering Structures. 2013, vol. 56, p. 642-655. ISSN
0141-0296. (50%)
[P2] Gringer, J. - Foglar, M.: Analysis of the performance of the concrete specimens
subjected to cyclic loading and aggressive environment. In Bridge Maintenance,
Safety, Management and Life Extension 2014. Leiden: CRC Press/Balkema, 2014, p.
269-276. ISBN 978-1-138-00103-9. (50%)
[P3] Gringer, J. - Foglar, M.: Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Performance of
Reinforced Concrete Specimen Subjected to Cyclic Loading and Aggressive
Environment. In 11th International Fatigue Congress. Zurich: Trans Tech
Publications, 2014, p. 494-499. ISSN 1022-6680. ISBN 9783038350088. (50%)
[P4] Gringer, J. - Foglar, M.: Concrete deterioration due to aggressive environment and
cyclic loading - theoretical study. In 20th International Conference Engineering
Mechanics 2014. Brno: Brno University of Technology, 2014, p. 196-199. ISSN 1805-
8248. ISBN 978-80-214-4871-1. (75%)
[P5] Gringer, J. - Foglar, M. - Jiek, P.: Impact peformance of specimens subjected to
fatigue loading - experimental investigation. In 11th International Conference on the
Mechanical and Physical Behaviour of Materials under Dynamic Loading. Les Ulis:
EDP Sciences, 2015, ISSN 2101-6275. ISBN 978-2-7598-1817-4. (50%)

7.2 Other conference and journal publications

[P6] Foglar, M. - Gringer, J.: Influence of Bridge Structural Arrangement on the Noise
Induced by Traffic. Silnice eleznice. 2012, ro. 7, . 4, s. 73-84. ISSN 1801-822X.
(in Czech). (50%)
[P7] Gringer, J. - Foglar, M.: Review of Approaches to Solve Deterioration Processes in
Concrete due to Cyclic Loading and Aggressive Environment. In 19th Czech Concrete
Days 2012 - Proceedings. Praha: esk betonsk spolenost SSI, 2012, p. 241-244.
(75%)
[P8] Gringer, J. - Foglar, M.: Modeling of Deterioration Processes of Concrete Structures
due to Cyclic Loading and Aggressive Environment. In Proceedings of the 3rd
Conference Nano and Macro Mechanics NMM 2012. Praha: Czech Technical
University in Prague, Faculty of Civil Engineering, 2012, p. 35-42. ISBN 978-80-01-
05097-2. (75%)
[P9] Gringer, J.: Influence of Bridge Structural Arrangement on the Noise Induced by
Traffic. In Workshop doktorand katedry betonovch a zdnch konstrukc. Praha:
Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Civil Engineering, 2012, art. no. 7,
ISBN 978-80-01-05037-8. (in Czech). (100%)

26
Doctoral Thesis Statement: Coupled deterioration processes in concrete

[P10] Gringer, J. - Foglar, M.: Investigation of the Combined Effect of Fatigue and
Aggressive Environment on Concrete. In Concrete under Severe Conditions. Cachan:
RILEM Publications, 2013, p. 1065-1075. ISBN 978-2-35158-124-7. (50%)
[P11] Gringer, J. - Foglar, M.: Performance of specimens subjected to cyclic loading and
aggressive environment. In CCC 2013 - Concrete Structures in Urban Areas. Wroclaw:
Dolnoslaskie wydawnictwo edukacyjne, 2013, p. 300-303. ISBN 978-83-7125-229-7.
(50%)
[P12] Gringer, J. - Foglar, M.: Influence of the long term exposure to aggressive
environment on the fatigue performance of concrete specimens. In Engineering
Mechanics 2013. Praha: stav termomechaniky AV R, 2013, p. 130-135. ISSN
1805-8256. ISBN 978-80-87012-47-5. (50%)
[P13] Gringer, J. - Foglar, M.: The Influence of the Bridge Structural Arrangement on the
Distribution of the Noise Impact Induced by Traffic. In Engineering Mechanics 2013.
Praha: stav termomechaniky AV R, 2013, p. 107-114. ISSN 1805-8256. ISBN 978-
80-87012-47-5. (50%)
[P14] Gringer, J. - Foglar, M.: Experimental Investigation of Concrete Specimens under
Severe Environment. In Proceedings of the 4th Conference Nano & Macro Mechanics.
Praha: Czech Technical University in Prague, 2013, p. 35-42. ISBN 978-80-01-05332-
4. (75%)
[P15] Gringer, J.: Fatigue Properties of Concrete Specimens Exposed to Aggressive
Environment. In PhD Workshop. Praha: Czech Technical University in Prague,
Faculty of Civil Engineering, 2013, art. no. 4, ISBN 978-80-01-05236-5. (in Czech).
(100%)
[P16] Gringer, J.: Evaluation of increase in the deflections of concrete specimens due to
cyclic loading. In PhD Workshop - Proceedings. Praha: Czech Technical University
in Prague, Faculty of Civil Engineering, 2014, art. no. 5, ISBN 978-80-01-05471-0.
(in Czech). (100%)
[P17] Gringer, J.: Impact testing of deteriorated concrete specimens. In PhD Workshop
2015 - Full Versions. Praha: Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Civil
Engineering, 2015, art. no. 6, ISBN 978-80-01-05722-3. (100%)
[P18] Foglar, M. - Gringer, J.: Influence of cyclic loading on the deflection development of
concrete specimens. Stavebn obzor. 2015, vol. 2015, no. 4, art. no. 24, ISSN 1805-
2576. (50%)

7.3 Utility models

[P19] Foglar, M. - Gringer, J.: Steel assembly bearing. Utility model, Industrial Property
Office, 27973. 2015-03-17. (in Czech). (30%)
[P20] Foglar, M. - Gringer, J.: Reinforced concrete frame with optimized static action.
Utility model, Industrial Property Office, 27974. 2015-03-17. (in Czech). (30%)

27
 Jakub Gringer

ABSTRACT
Durability of the structures is one of the most discussed issues of last decades. Modern high-
performance concretes enable to design extremely slender structures which are more vulnerable
to the deterioration effects due to their minimal dimensions. In case of the transport
infrastructure at least two deterioration mechanisms are involved; chemical - the material is
exposed e.g. to acid solution which reacts with concrete components and successively weakens
composition of the binder and mechanical the material is exposed to e.g. cyclic loading which
leads to the formation and further propagation of cracks in the material matrix.
The state of the art in this thesis provided information that the problems of the combined
deterioration processes are not so thoroughly described. Therefore this work is focused on the
problem of coupled deterioration processes in concrete, particularly acidic chemical
deterioration, cyclic loading and extreme type of loading impact.
The thesis presents an analytical tool for the evaluation of the chemical deterioration degree of
concrete elements based on the chemical kinetics. This model was further verified for the use
in the assessment of the deflection increase due to the cyclic loading, so-called cyclic creep,
and in the estimation of the beam energy dissipation during the impact loading.
The analytical model and its extensions were verified with the data obtained from the long-term
experimental program which involved many testing methods (Atomic Absorption
Spectrometry, Scanning electron microscopy, Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Photon
Doppler velocimetry etc.).

Keywords
Concrete, deterioration, acid, aggressive environment, chemical kinetics, SEM, EDS, cyclic
loading, impact loading

28