Concrete Durability: Estimate of Service Life of Concrete Structures in Marine Environment

Deterioration and distress of concrete structures in service is a result of a variety of physiochemical processes. These processes include attack by acids or alkali, cycles of wetting and drying, freezing and thawing, alkali - aggregate reaction, etc. However, the most serious deterioration process is caused by chloride diffusion mechanism which then leads to corrosion of reinforcing steel. Moreover, up to date, the accurate service-life prediction of reinforced concrete structures is getting more and more attention. Needless to say, the most advanced models on durability of concrete are found in the field of chloride-induced corrosion. However, most of them are built and developed based on the marine environment of Europe, America and a few countries from Asia, excluding Thailand and Vietnam. For this reason, the requirement of an accurate and suitable model for the local marine environment conditions of Thailand and Vietnam is very imperative because Thailand and Vietnam not only have the same environment conditions, but also have a long coast which mostly affect the durability of concrete structures.