Accelerated Assessment and Fuzzy Evaluation of Concrete Durability

Abstract

Accelerated durability assessment is one of the promising ways to provide a sound basis for service life prediction of concrete. To follow the rapid pace of research in modern concrete technology, an effective accelerated assessment system for concrete durability with automatic control and consistent working performance is highly desired. In this paper, the general concepts and ways of implementing computerized feedback control of a multipurpose accelerated concrete durability test system are first presented and applied to frost-resistant (one of the main durability factors of concrete structures in cold regions) assessment of different concretes. The experimental investigations showed that the newly developed automatic feedback controlled system was reliable and had a promising future for the accelerated durability assessment of concretes. Second, based on the premise that the deterioration mechanisms and the surrounding aggressive environment of the concrete under consideration cannot be precisely described by classical logic, it is believed that durability assessment of concrete is indeed a decision-making process and belongs to the fuzzy logic field. Following this line of thought, a general framework of synthetic concrete durability evaluation was developed by combining the principles of various individual accelerated durability tests, such as frost resistance, water permeability, crack width, and carbonation penetration and concepts of fuzzy logic. The working examples showed that the fuzzy synthetic evaluation developed agreed well with the experimental results for concrete durability investigated.