Durability Design of Marine Infrastructure

Abstract

This article introduces the methodology for durability design of

marine Concrete infrastructures for a “major” maintenance free life of 120
years. A change of design approach is recommended, from the conventional
“prescriptive approach” practised by current design standards to “performance-
based approach” which considers the actual ageing process through probabilistic
treatment. Corrosion of steel reinforcement is the most critical process and
subjected to performance-based design. The target design life and durability
limit states are attributed to concrete elements according to their structural
importance and ease of maintenance. The thickness and quality
of concrete covers can be designed using a full probabilistic approach for a
target probability of corrosion initiation for a life of 120 years. This article is
based on the authors experience in providing durability design for
infrastructures.

1 Motivation

The demand for human development worldwide continues to grow, and much of
this development is occurring in the marine areas because of the great
advantages of coastal localities in terms of trade and transport opportunities,
areas suitable for human habitation, recreation and accessibility. The current
global population is approximately 7.3 billion, of which approximately 44% is
estimated to live within 150 km of the sea [1].
India has close to 7500 km of coast line and major states of the country sharing
this coast are highlighted in Fig. 1. An example demonstrating the importance
of coastal infrastructure is the Sagarmala programme initiated by the
Government of India (GOI). The mission of this programme is to invest close to
Rs. 4 lakh crores (Rs. 4 trillion) [2] in modernising marine infrastructure. Such
huge investment demands that the built facility be maintenance free and attain
its intended service-life, since the return on this investment is justified by the
service-life attained and the life cycle cost.

Reinforced Concrete (RC) is widely used in the marine environment, and in its
various forms permits the construction of coastal facilities, including docks and
harbours, quays, jetties, wharves, seawalls, pipelines, tunnels, and so on, which
in turn facilitate on-shore and near-shore developments. It is also a popular
choice for infrastructure of coastal cities, such as bridges, residential structures,
warehouses and administrative institutions. Concrete will continue to be the
construction material of choice for use in marine environments, as well as in a
range of other demanding environments, into the foreseeable future. At this
stage, there is simply no other viable alternative [3].

Chloride induced corrosion of reinforcement steel is the leading cause of

deterioration of reinforced concrete structures in marine environment [4],
reducing the service-life of such infrastructures. The annual cost of corrosion in
India is 3% to 4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) [5]. This loss can be
avoided by adopting “performance based durability design” [6, 7] with a specific
target service-life which serves to be economically most profitable and adds
value to the project.

Figure 1: Coastal states in India

2 Concrete Durability
Concrete durability problems arise from the aggressiveness of the environment
to which the structure is exposed. Different exposure conditions in the marine
environment is shown in Fig. 2. Such exposure promotes chloride induced
corrosion of reinforcement steel.

Figure 2: Exposure conditions in the marine environment [8]

The main reasons for such durability problems are the interconnected porous
nature of the hydrated cement paste.

In the construction industry, durability is expected to be achieved through

strength. But there is no simple or unique relationship between strength and
any of the durability parameters [9, 10]. For example, a given grade of concrete
made with different binders types say pure Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) or
OPC blended with Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM) will have
different durability property (database [11]), but same strength. The key to
concrete durability is the achievement of a “designed concrete pore structure”.
The unique way towards this goal is by specifying the concrete accurately for its
intended purpose. The specification should address different aspects such as
intended service-life, quantifiable description regarding serviceability
requirement and failure, acceptable level of risk and possible extent of
maintenance.

         2.1 Conventional durability design

Conventionally, the durability design of a concrete structure for a target working

life is achieved using a “prescriptive (deemed-to-satisfy) approach”. The
prescriptive approach, based on acquired experiences and empirical data,
provides the requirements for material composition and structural details for
given environmental actions and target working lives. This approach is followed
by most design codes in use (IS 456:2000 [12], IS 4651:2014-4 [13], IRC
112:2011 [14], IRS CBC:1997 [15]). The provisions include limits of

 Minimum cement content,

 Maximum water cement (w/c) ratio
 Minimum grade of concrete
 Nominal concrete cover
However, the fulfillment of a particular service-life (say 120 years), if all of
these prescription are satisfied, cannot be quantified using this approach. In
other word, if all requirements are satisfied, what will be the achieved service-
life? Further this approach neither quantifies what constitutes the end of
service-life. To provide solution to such a question, there is an increasing
demand to incorporate more advanced concepts related to concrete durability,
due the need to better foresee and prevent distresses, in particular the
corrosion of the reinforcement.

3 Performance based durability design

The corrosion process in concrete is highly complex with various physical-

chemical interactions among saline solutions, solid phases of concrete and
moisture. The complicated nature of the process leads to significant uncertainty
when modelling corrosion [16]. In addition there is significant uncertainty
associated with some of the parameters which dictate corrosion initiation, such
as the time dependent diffusion coefficient, the critical chloride content and the
provided concrete cover [6, 7]. The presence of such engineering uncertainty
necessitates the adoption of “performance-based approach” for design. The
performance-based approach involves modelling the real ageing process of
structural materials under environmental actions and employs mathematical
models to evaluate the required properties and structural dimensions for
expected design lives through probabilistic treatments. These methods allow the
uncertainty associated with all levels of corrosion process to be incorporated
into the analysis, leading to a robust and informed design. The performance-
based approach is an ‘engineered approach’ to durability design.

Considering structural design of durability for corrosion processes, the design

factors are listed in Table 1 as concrete cover quality (diffusivity), concrete
cover thickness, and crack control criteria. The concrete cover quality and
thickness are designed through the durability models with the target service
lives and appropriate DLS adopted. For the performance design procedure, the
concrete surface is supposed to be exposed directly to aggressive agents (Cl −).
The model-based design follows a reliability analysis format with a target
probability of failure, PT  [6].

Table 1: Durability Requirements

Material Structural

w/c ratio cement type cement cover quality cover thickness crack
content control

         

3.1 Design Life and Durability Limit State

The asset owner desires a working life of 120 years for a particular port
concrete facility. Aiming for this target, the durability design should first decide
the working lives for each elements on the basis of their structural importance
and technical feasibility. The basis being that the principal elements have the
same working life as the whole project (120 years), whereas the secondary or
replaceable elements can be shorter. For these elements the maintenance and
replacement schemes should be specified in the design phase.

Durability Limit States (DLS) are needed for quantitative durability design using
the performance-based approach. These are the minimum acceptable
performance levels for different durability processes. For corrosion process, two
DLS can be defined: (a) corrosion initiation state, and (b) corrosion to an
acceptable extent. As an example IRS CBC:1997 [15] specifies that under
external loads the permitted design crack width can be 0.1 mm or 0.2 mm
depending on exposure condition, for Reinforced Concrete (RC) elements.
Whereas no cracking is permitted for Prestressed Concrete (PC) components. In
a marine port project, PC elements, principal RC elements, and RC elements
with high maintenance difficulty should adopt DLS (a), while secondary RC
elements may adopt DLS (b). The stages in life of a corroding concrete element
is shown in Fig. 3 [6] for visualising various DLS.

Figure 3: Schematic description of phases in corroding concrete

         

3.2 Corrosion deterioration model

The design model for chloride-induced corrosion is adapted from the analytical
model of diffusion. With the DLS specified as the corrosion initiation state (a),
the design equation can be written as [6],

G  = Cth  −  C(Cs,  xd,  Dc,  TSL)                                                  (1)

The objective being to obtain cover thickness (xd) and specifications of the
concrete such as the chloride diffusion coefficient of concrete (Dc) for the
specified design life (TSL  = 120 years) subject to

P  (G <  0) ≤  PT                                                                                                                                (2)

C( ) is the chloride concentration function in concrete. This model has four

governing parameters

1. Threshold chloride concentration (Cth)

2. Concrete surface chloride concentration (Cs)
 3. Chloride diffusion coefficient of concrete (Dc)
4. Concrete cover thickness (xd)
       

  3.3 Preliminary Design

These four parameters have significant dispersion for a given exposure

condition, and their statistical nature must be taken into account to guarantee a
large enough safety margin for the durability design. As mentioned earlier, the
target probability of failure is fixed as PT  for the design at this stage. Towards
this aim, the design is performed by a full probabilistic scheme using directly
the statistical properties of the parameters.

The statistical properties of model parameters are analysed on the basis of the
long-term in-place structural investigations and exposure tests conducted in the
vicinity of the proposed project in the past or based on literature. It is advised
to identify these parameters and must be included in the feasibility investigation
for the project. The investigation comprises of environmental data extracted
from site investigation for atmospheric temperature, humidity, and air-borne
chloride content and wind speed. Further, the evaluation of chloride/carbonation
profiles of structures in the vicinity of the proposed project or similar projects
elsewhere must be incorporated. This investigation helps to statistically
characterise the diffusive property of concrete and evaluate the distribution of
surface chloride concentration. Since the concrete cover is the only structural
parameter in the design equation, correct specification of concrete cover
thickness is the central issue for durability design. The statistical properties of
concrete cover thickness are important for correct estimation of reliability with
respect to the design equation, and are related closely to the construction
methods and practice. Statistical analysis based on the data of achieved cover
thickness of similar concrete infrastructures must be investigated or tolerance
prescribed by the codes may be used.   

3.4 Design assisted by testing

Based on the preliminary design, the required construction material and

specifications for executing the design can be used as design basis for the
project. However, every project is unique and precise characteristic of the
design are quantified by testing the material used at project site.

During the construction, the properties of structural concretes should be tested

in on-site laboratory. In parallel, the constructed concrete elements,
prefabricated or cast-in-place, are
inspected for the achieved quality, and particularly for the thickness of concrete
over. These data provide the information on the realistic construction quality of
concrete elements, thus help to update the statistical properties of parameters
in the durability assessment models. The measurements of concrete cover
thickness for the cast-in-place concrete elements are done either through,
ground penetrating radar, electromagnetic test, ultrasonic and radiography.

The in-situ data of chloride diffusion coefficient of structural concretes are to be

collected from the on-site laboratories for different concrete elements. The
chloride diffusion coefficients are measured on structural concretes under
standard conditions by rapid migration method [17]. The concrete surface
chlorides are tested as per [18] and airbourne chlorides is obtained form [19].
The critical threshold chloride concentration is evaluated by the accelerated
chloride threshold testing [20]. Additions of admixtures such as ground
granulated blast furnace slag, fly ash, silica fume and metakaolin alter the
properties of ordinary portland cement concrete. Test- ing of such concrete is
therefore crucial to study its chloride ingress property and statistically
characterise it to apply in the performance-based design.

This updated data source, form the essential basis for predicting the durability
performance of concrete elements during its service-life.
 3.5 Monitoring and Maintenance Planning

The maintenance planning is to establish the techniques and intervention

periods of maintenance, on the basis of the durability states of the concrete
elements. The strategies of maintenance planning is to be preventive/proactive,
which refers to the intervention at early stage of deterioration, normally at low
maintenance costs. During the service-life, the deterioration processes will be
monitored via periodical inspection and sensors. The maintenance actions are to
be taken at early stage of deterioration for elements with the help of these
inspections and monitoring. Since concrete elements are designed in such a way
that the probability of corrosion initiation (PT  ) will only be exceeded after 120
years, technically all elements can be exempted from maintenance during the
service-life. However, given the uncertainty associated with the concrete
construction, e.g. early-age cracking, unintended lower concrete cover,
accidental use of saline water for concrete mixing and/or curing and the
unexpected environmental actions during service-life, e.g. the global warming
and long-term change of ambience, a basic maintenance planning is necessary
for concrete elements. Through monitoring of as-built concrete components it is
possible to establish the service-life of the casted components in real-time.

The basic maintenance planning considers mainly two aspects: the durability
performance monitoring, and maintenance of the elements. Monitoring involves:
potential mapping, resistiv- ity mapping, embedded anode sensors, cover
thickness measurement, air permeability, chloride profile, etc. It is also
beneficial to cast test concrete elements near the actual structures so that
monitoring can be done on them rather than the actual components. The
maintenance scheme consists of performing the surface chloride extraction by
electrochemical method or a cathodic protection system can be installed to
protect the steel bars against the unexpected durability failure. It should be
noted that this basic maintenance scheme is to interact with the durability
inspection/monitoring data and the real-time durability assessment during the
service-life. A predictive maintenance scheme is setup for the same.

 3.6 Summary

In essence the performance-based approaches is fundamentally a measurement

and verification design procedure. Fig. 4 [6] provides a schematic of this
performance-based approach.
 Figure 4: Schematic representation of the performance-based approach

4 Case study

As requirement for a new concrete harbour, a service life of 120 years is

specified for a caisson quay wall. The part of the caisson facing the tidal zone is
the most prone to corrosion initiation

4.1 Conventional strategy

As per IS 456:2000 [12], the exposure condition can be considered to be

“Extreme”. The “durability design” for Extreme exposure according to current
prescriptive provisions of IS 456:2000 [12] are:

 Minimum nominal cover : 75 mm

 Minimum cement content : 360 kg/m3
 Maximum cement content : 450 kg/m3
 Max w/c ratio : 0.4
 Aggregates : 20 mm nominal maximum aggregate size complying IS
383:2016 [21]
 Min concrete grade : M40
As highlighted previously, by satisfying all the prescriptive requirements the
following important aspects remain unanswered:

 Actual achieved service-life

 How to consider Global Warming effect
  Recommendation on type of cement

4.2 Performance based strategy

In this section two tasks will be undertaken:

1. The prescriptive durability design will be benchmarked using the

performance based design to calculate the actual achieved service life.
2. Actual performance calculation will be done to design the caisson for
120 years.
The target probability of failure is PT  = 0.10, which corresponds to a target
reliability indexβT  = 1.3. The governing parameters of the design are
probabilistically quantified as follows:

1. Chloride load: A chloride surface concentration is a Gaussian parameter

having mean 5.5
2. % weight of cement with 1.3 % weight of cement as standard
deviation [22].
3.
4. Critical chloride: A critical chloride concentration at reinforcement level
for corrosion initiation is 0.6 % weight of cement and 0.15 % weight of
cement as standard deviation. This is a Beta distributed variable with
limits of 0.2 and 2 % weight of cement [23].
5. Chloride diffusion: For comparison two types of concretes varying only
in cement types viz. OPC and OPC+Slag SCM, but same w/c=0.4. The
chloride diffusion values are sourced from database [11]
6. Global warming: At present the average temperature at the site is
27.83 ◦C with a standard deviation of 2.7 ◦C. Future anthropogenic
emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosol particles would cause
climate change and temperature rise. In the IPCC Fifth Assessment
Report released in 2014 [24], some climate change scenarios were
simulated and referred to “Representative Concentration Pathways”
(RCPs). In the present project a medium stabilisation scenarios (RCP
4.5) is considered.
7. Clear cover: The concrete cover is 75 mm with standard deviation of 6
mm, which implies execution requirements targeted. This is a Beta
distributed variable [23]. Based of the design a revised cover is
adopted.
 
4.2.1 Results

Fig. 5 shows reliability plot and service-life achieved by using OPC cement and
using the conventional approach. The achieved service-life is 5.48 years. This is
far from achieving

Figure 5: Benchmark of conventional approach with OPC concrete and 75 mm cover

even a life of 10 years let alone achieve a life of 120 years. Fig. 6 shows
reliability plot and service-life achieved by using OPC+SCM cement and using
the conventional approach. This shows that the achieved life is 46.4 years which
is more than the previous analysis but still far from achieving a life of 120
years. This highlights the importance of the performance based “design”. Fig. 7
shows reliability plot and service-life achieved by using OPC+SCM cement and
using the performance based approach, the service-life achieved is 120.58
years.
 Figure 6: Benchmark of conventional approach with OPC+SCM concrete and 75 mm cover

Figure 7: Performance design for 120 years service-life

The performance approach offers following advantages:

 Quantification of achieved service-life for any design

 Design modification under non-compliance of actual service-life
 Allows choosing of concrete types
 Incorporates climate change which manifest over the long service-life
 Allows practically for the non-maintenance of the infrastructure
 Design option of using stainless steel, lower w/c concretes and other
SCMs is also possible through which further reduction of concrete cover
is possible
 Decisions can be based on life-cycle cost assessment
5 Inclusion in Tender document

In the present scenario, asset owners of coastal ports specify the conventional
prescriptive requirements as per code in the design basis report. However, they
wish to know how much really is the achieved service-life and what can be done
to have a “major” maintenance free life. It is necessary that the change should
begin at tendering stage of the project.

The tender document should mandate the requirement to study the durability
factors and incorporate in the feasibility exercise, to evaluate all the
environmental parameters responsible for degradation, including review of
previous statistics for similar projects elsewhere. This will be the design basis
for the preliminary performance-based design. The asset owner must emphasise
on specific durability limit state as per their requirement and mention the
expected service-life and target probability of failure. Testing of in-situ
components along with the magnitude of tests to be performed are necessary
part of the design basis. The asset owner must press for the requirement of
probabilistic durability design in the tender document with a design report. And
finally long term monitoring and updating of actual service-life must be included
as part of the contract.

6 Conclusions

There is massive capital investment on coastal infrastructure in our country. To

safeguard these investments and avoid costly repairs and renovation due to
premature deterioration of RC structures, it is prudent to verify the properties of
concrete cover (its penetrability and thickness). This technical article
recommends the change of approach to the asset owners/concrete industry
from traditional prescriptive approach to the performance-based specifications.
It highlights important steps involved in the durability design of concrete
components with a case study. It is recommended to bring about a change of
approach from the tendering stage itself. The applicability of this technology is
universal, both for new infrastructures [6, 7] as well as for repairing the existing
assets [25].

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