ACI MATERIALS JOURNAL
Title No. 115-M43
Similarities in Accelerated Chloride Ion Transport Tests for
Concrete in Tidal Zones
by Qing-Zhang Zhang, Xiang-Lin Gu, Zhi-Lu Jiang, and Wei-Ping Zhang
The model for chloride transport in concrete was established by
considering both effects of diffusion and capillary suction. The
model was verified by chloride penetration tests under cyclic
wetting and drying conditions. The developed model was used to
analyze similarities under different environmental conditions for
accelerated tests. The results showed that the influence of external
chloride concentration on chloride penetration was smaller
with a larger depth. When the ambient relative humidity (RH)
decreased, the penetration rate increased when RH was larger
than 70%. However, the penetration rate decreased when the RH
was smaller than 70%. The results also indicated that when the
wetting-to-drying time ratio in a cycle increased, the penetration
rate increased first and then decreased after a critical ratio. When
the cycle period decreased, the penetration rate first increased and
then decreased during a small time period.
Keywords: accelerated test; chloride ions; similarity; tidal zone.
INTRODUCTION
In a marine environment, chloride ions from the sea water
penetrate concrete and damage the passive film of the steel.
Rust forms when the chloride content on the steel surface
exceeds a critical value.1 Many researchers have confirmed
that corrosion of steel reinforcement can cause expanding
and cracking of the cover concrete, reducing the steel
cross-section area and structural bearing capacity, which
threatens structural safety.2,3
In tidal zones, concrete structures are subject to periodic
wetting and drying cycles. As shown in Fig. 1, the concrete
at point “a” is subject to a wetting period when the tidal
curve is above the point, and it is subject to a drying period
when the tidal curve is below the point. In a tidal period, the
wetting and drying time is t1 and t2, respectively, and the
wetting-time ratio is defined as the ratio t1/(t1 + t2). Appar-
ently, the concrete at different altitudes in the wetting-drying
zone is subject to different wetting-time ratios. Chloride
ions transport into concrete by both diffusion and capillary
pressure.4 The chloride diffusion in the concrete is driven by
concentration differences in the chloride ions, and it follows
Fick’s law.5,6 The transport of chloride ions is also driven by
water movement under capillary pressure.4 During the rising
tide, the external water with the chloride ions transports
rapidly into the concrete under capillary pressure, which
leads to a peak of the chloride content distribution near the
exposed surface within the concrete.7 During the ebb of
the tide, chloride ions accumulate near the exposed surface
gradually because water within the concrete transports
towards the surface and evaporates into the atmospheric air.
As the tide rises, water is absorbed into the concrete at a
depth near the exposed surface. Consequently, as the depth
ACI Materials Journal/July 2018
TECHNICAL PAPER
Fig. 1—Wetting-time ratio for concrete structures in tidal
zone.
from the concrete surface increases, the effect of the wetting
and drying on the chloride transport is less significant and
the diffusion mechanism dominates.7
The chloride transport in the concrete can be studied by
field tests on the real concrete structures under a marine
environment.8 However, due to the complexity of the envi-
ronmental conditions and the long period of the test, the
influence of the environmental factors on the chloride trans-
port is difficult to analyze theoretically. On the other hand,
when the accelerated test for chloride penetration in the
concrete is conducted under a simulated environment for the
tidal zone, the simulation becomes a useful tool to study the
mechanism of chloride transport in the concrete.9,10
To forecast the level of chloride penetration in a natural
environment by applying accelerated test results, it is neces-
sary to determine the similarity of chloride penetration
under different environmental conditions. The similarity can
be investigated theoretically by using a chloride transport
model for the concrete under wetting and drying conditions.
Lin et al.11 developed a chloride transport model considering
different parameters for the water transport under drying and
wetting conditions. The transport coefficients of water and
chloride ions in Lin’s model were determined experimen-
tally, but theoretical methods for determining the parameters
were not further studied. Zanden et al.4 proposed a model for
water and chloride transport in concrete, but the influence
of chloride binding and the pore structures of the material
were not considered. In Zhang and Jin’s work,7 the transport
ACI Materials Journal, V. 115, No. 4, July 2018.
MS No. M-2015-311.R2, doi: 10.14359/51702007, was received August 20, 2017,
and reviewed under Institute publication policies. Copyright ©  2018, American
Concrete Institute. All rights reserved, including the making of copies unless
permission is obtained from the copyright proprietors. Pertinent discussion including
author’s closure, if any, will be published ten months from this journal’s date if the
discussion is received within four months of the paper’s print publication.
499
coefficient for the water could be obtained by assuming a
pore size distribution for the concrete, and chloride transport
was then modeled for the concrete under wetting and drying
cycles.
In this paper, water and chloride transport models for
the concrete in the tidal zone were established by consid-
ering the factors of the pores’ structure, such as porosity and
tortuosity. Diffusion and capillary mechanisms for the chlo-
ride transport were modeled. Then, the developed models
were verified by tests under wetting and drying conditions.
Finally, by using the models, similarities in accelerated tests
were investigated in terms of effects of sodium chloride
(NaCl) solution concentration, relative humidity (RH), wet
and dry cycle periods, and wetting-time ratios.
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
Concrete structures in tidal zones are subjected to a cyclic
wetting and drying environment, which accommodates
chloride penetration. Field tests for the concrete under such
environment usually take a very long time and the results
are influenced by many factors due to the complex expo-
sure conditions. To solve these problems, accelerated tests
in a laboratory environment were conducted to simulate the
chloride penetration in the natural environment. To accel-
erate the penetration, the laboratory conditions are different
from natural environment. Therefore, the similarity between
ρl RT  α − (α 2 − 4(1 − CE ))1/ 2 
pc = ln   (3)
M  2kt (1 − CE )
 V 
α = 2 +  m − 1 CE (4)
 W20° C S 
where ρl is the density of liquid moisture (kg/m3); T is the
temperature (K); R is the gas constant (given as 8.314 J/mol/K
[4.378 × 10–3 Btu/mol/°F]), M is the molecular mass of
liquid moisture (given as 0.018 kg/mol [0.03968 lb/mol]);
Vm is the mass of monolayer adsorption moisture for the unit
mass of cement paste (kg/kg); kt is a constant in the range
of 0 and 1; CE is the energy constant; and W20°C is the mois-
ture content of cement paste under 20°C (68°F) and 100%
RH—that is, the moisture content under the water saturation
condition (kg/kg). Vm, kt, and CE are three parameters for the
adsorption model, determined empirically by cement type,
water-cement ratio (w/c), curing time, and temperature.15
The intrinsic permeability of concrete k was calculated
by the Kozeny-Carman model based on parameters such as
concrete porosity and pore tortuosity16
φ3
k= (5)
F τ Ω 2 (1 − φ) 2
2

accelerated tests and long-term field tests must be clarified. s c

CHLORIDE ION TRANSPORT MODEL FOR where Fs is the impact factor for pore shape (given as 2.0
CONCRETE IN TIDAL ZONE for cylindrical pores); τc is tortuosity; and Ω is the specific
Water transport model surface (1/m).
According to Fick’s law and the continuity condition, The relative permeability krl was expressed in terms of
water transport in concrete was written as12 saturation S17,18

∂φS krl = S (1 − (1 − S 1/ m ) m ) 2 (6)

= div( Dl ( S )grad ( S )) (1)
∂t
where m is the fitting parameter from the adsorption
with isotherm.18

k dp Chloride ion transport model

D1 ( S ) = krl c (2)
µ dS The mechanisms of the chloride ion transport in the unsat-

urated concrete include the diffusion and the convection due
to the capillary pressure. The flux of chloride ion diffusion
where ϕ is the porosity of concrete; D1(S) is the transport
driven by the concentration gradient in the pore solution was
coefficient for liquid moisture (m2/s); t is time (s); S is satu-
calculated by
ration; k is the intrinsic permeability for concrete (m2); krl is
the relative permeability, μ is the dynamic viscosity coeffi-
Jd,c = –Dcgrad(Cf) (7)
cient of moisture (Pa·s); and pc is capillary pressure (Pa).
During the wetting and drying processes, the relation-
where Jd,c is the chloride ion transport flux caused by diffu-
ships between capillary pressure pc and saturation level S for
sion (kg/(m2·s)); Cf is the free chloride ion concentration
concrete were different due to the difference of liquid-gas
in the pores (kg/m3); and Dc is the chloride ion diffusivity
interfaces in the concrete pores. Assuming that the pores
(m2/s).
were cylindrical, the saturation for the wetting process at
The function for diffusivity considered pore characteris-
relative humidity h is equal to the saturation at h2 for the
tics of the concrete19
drying process.13 Based on the adsorption model (the rela-
tionship between water content and relatively humidity) and ς
Kelvin’s equation, the function of the capillary pressure is Dw ⋅ φ ⋅ S  t0 
Dc =  t  (8)
expressed as14 τc

500 ACI Materials Journal/July 2018

where Dw is the chloride ion diffusion coefficient in water,
(m2/s), given in Reference 20; ϕ is the porosity at the curing
time t = t0; and ς is an empirical coefficient, given as ς =
0.8 – w/c.21
When water enters the concrete under capillary pressure,
chloride ions in the water are also brought in. The transport
flux of chloride ions caused by capillary pressure was
Cf
J w, c = − ⋅ Dl ( S )grad ( S ) (9)
φS
where Jw,c is the chloride ion transport flux caused by capil-
lary suction (kg·m–2·s–1).
After combining Eq. (7) with Eq. (9), the model for
chloride ion transport was established based the continuity
condition
∂Ct ∂C f ∂  ∂C f C f ∂S 
= Dc + Dl (10)
∂C f ∂t ∂x  ∂x φS ∂x 
where ∂Ct/∂Cf is the chloride binding capacity. For linear
binding, the binding capacity is equal to 1 + Kf, where the
parameter Kf is equal to a constant κ.22 Meanwhile, it is
expressed as the following function for nonlinear binding19
Kf = χ/(1 + 400Cf /ncm)2 (11)
where χ =11.8; and ncm is the mass ratio of cement and the
concrete.
Much research has been conducted on chloride binding
behavior in concrete, but still no consensus has been reached
on its binding function. In the experimental study, the
concrete specimen was first immersed in water with different
NaCl concentrations until an equilibrium was reached. Then,
the contents of the free and total chloride were measured.
Some researchers have found that the binding was linear to
the content of the free chloride,23-25 while others have found
a nonlinear relationship.26-28 It was also found that linear
binding can underestimate the bound chloride content when
the content of free chloride is low but can overestimate when
the free chloride content is high.29 In this study, models for
both linear and nonlinear binding were applied to obtain
different predicted results, which were compared with the
measured results.
VALIDATION OF CHLORIDE ION
TRANSPORT MODEL
Three groups of experimental data for concrete specimens
(Groups C1 through C3) were used to validate the devel-
oped model. Group C1 was tested by Leech et al.,30,31 and
Groups C2 and C3 were tested by the authors. The w/c of C1,
C2, and C3 were 0.4, 0.5, and 0.53, respectively. The cement
content for C1, C2, and C3 were 490.0, 345.9, and 367.5  g/m3
(826, 583, and 619 lb/yd3), respectively. One cylindrical
specimen in Group C1 and four cylindrical specimens in
Group C2 were made with a diameter of 100 mm (3.94 in.),
and their heights in Groups C1 and C2 were 100 and 200 mm
ACI Materials Journal/July 2018
(3.94 and 7.88 in.), respectively. Three cubic specimens with
a length of 100 mm (3.94 in.) were prepared for Group C3.
The measured porosities of Groups C1 through C3 were
0.129, 0.14, and 0.10, respectively.
The specimen in Group C1 was first dried at 105°C
(221°F) and then a one-dimensional (1-D) water absorption
test was conducted by adding distilled water at a temperature
of 22°C (71.6°F) to the bottom surface. Nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR) was used to detect the wetting profiles
during the wetting process.
After curing, specimens in Group C2 were immersed in
3% NaCl solution for 5 weeks. Then, the chloride content
profile of one specimen S-5W was measured immediately
by rapid chloride tests (RCTs). The other three specimens
(RH95-4W, RH65-4W, and RH30-4W) were dried at 20°C
(68°F) and at 95%, 65%, and 30% RH for 4 weeks, respec-
tively. Then, their chloride content profiles were measured
by RCT. The RH distribution within the RH30-4W spec-
imen was measured by RH sensors within the concrete after
5 weeks of soaking and 4 weeks of drying.
Specimens in Group C3 were oven-dried at 60°C (140°F)
for 10 days and their water saturation reached approximately
0.2 before the tests. To reach 1-D transport, five surfaces
of each specimen were sealed with epoxy, and only one
surface was exposed to a periodic wetting-drying environ-
ment for 30 days. The period of the wetting-drying cycle
was 24 hours and the wetting time in a cycle for the three
specimens was 4, 8, and 10 hours. During the drying period,
the specimens were exposed to an atmospheric environment
of 20°C (68°F) and 70% RH. During the wetting period, the
specimens were immersed in 7% NaCl solution. After 30
periodic wetting-drying cycles, the distribution of chloride
content within the concrete was measured by RCT.
The transport models Eq. (1) and Eq. (10) were solved by
a finite difference method with a time step of 7.2 seconds.
The length of the concrete specimen in the transport direc-
tion was discretized with a space step of 0.1 mm (3.94 ×
10−3 in.). Then, the differential equations were discretized
into a group of nonlinear equations by the Crank-Nicolson
method.32 To reduce the oscillation of the numerical solu-
tion for Eq. (10), an upstream weighted method32 was also
used for the convective term in Eq. (10). Finally, the water
and chloride distribution at each time step was obtained
by solving the group of equations using Picard’s iteration
technique.32 The results for Groups C1 and C2 were used
to verify the water transport model during wetting and
drying processes, respectively. The results for Groups C2
and C3 were used to verify the chloride transport model for
the concrete subjected to one cycle and multiple cycles of
wetting and drying, respectively.
Validation of water transport model
The test result of Group C1 was compared with the
predicted water distribution as concrete was wetted, as
shown in Fig. 2. The saturation was plotted against the water
absorption rate: S = x/t 0.5 (where x is the depth from the
surface, mm, and t is the time, seconds). The comparison
between the predicted and measured results showed good
agreement. The measured and predicted RH distributions
501
Fig. 2—Comparison between calculated and experimental
water saturation in absorption process for Group C1. (Note:
1 mm = 0.0394 in.)
Fig. 3—Comparison between calculated and experimental
water saturation for Group C2 in wetting and drying
processes.
within the concrete in Group C2 after 4 weeks of drying are
presented in Fig. 3. The results indicate that the predicted
result overestimated the drying rate compared with the
measured result.
In the model, the differences in water transport coef-
ficients between wetting and drying processes were not
considered comprehensively. During the wetting process,
the concrete pores near the surface were all saturated and the
water in those pores moved under capillary pressure. During
the drying process, only pores smaller than a critical size
were saturated based on Kelvin’s equation.33 Consequently,
the capillary sorption of water was smaller and the trans-
port rate within the concrete became even smaller than that
during the drying process. Additionally, the transport rate
in a single pore was linear to the square of the pore size,
which resulted in a significantly more rapid movement of
water during the wetting process because all the large pores
502
Fig. 4—Comparison between calculated and experimental
saturation in drying process.
were filled.33 The transport coefficient can be determined
theoretically based on the pore structures (pore size distri-
bution and pore interconnectivity) of concrete.33,34 However,
pore characteristics have been traditionally simplified due to
the complex morphology and connectivity of pores. In this
paper, the difference between wetting and drying processes
was modeled and empirically based on the measured data
of Group C2. The modified coefficient for water transport
during the drying process, Ddl(S), is expressed as Eq. (12).
Furthermore, the predicted RH distribution using the modi-
fied coefficient shows good agreement with the experimental
results (Fig. 3).
Ddl(S) = D1(S)/(100 – 90 · S) (12)
where Dl(S) is the water transport coefficient before modifi-
cation (m2/s), obtained by Eq. (2).
The proposed modified coefficient during the drying
process (Eq. (12)) was then verified by another experimental
result from Baroghel-Bouny et al.,18 who made a cylindrical
concrete specimen with a diameter of 160 mm (6.30 in.)
and a height of 100 mm (3.94 in.) for a series of 1-D drying
tests at 22°C (71.6°F) and 50% RH. Water saturation distri-
bution within concrete was measured by gamma ray scan-
ning.18 The predicted results based on the water transport
coefficients, obtained by using Eq. (12), were compared with
the test results in Fig. 4. This comparison indicates that the
predicted profile fits well with the measured results.
Validation of chloride ion transport model
By using the water and chloride transport models as
expressed in Eq. (1) and (10), the chloride distribution
in concrete specimens from Groups C2 and C3 after the
wetting-drying cycles was predicted. In the modeling, both
linear and nonlinear models for chloride binding capacity
were used to investigate the influence of different binding
models on the predictions. The comparison of the predicted
and measured results for Groups C2 and C3 are shown in
Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, respectively.
ACI Materials Journal/July 2018
Fig. 5—Comparison between calculated and experiment results for Group C2.
Fig. 6—Comparison between calculated and experimental results for Group C3.
The comparison in Fig. 5 shows that the predicted distri-
bution of the total chloride content was in good agreement
with the experimental results by using the nonlinear-binding
model while the predicted profiles were significantly below
the measured results by using the linear-binding model. This
was due to the overestimation of the binding capacity near
the exposed surface when the linear-binding model was used
under the high free chloride content.
The results for Group C3 in Fig. 6 indicates that the
predicted results based on linear binding matched well with
the measured results at depths larger than 10 mm (0.39 in.),
while the prediction by the nonlinear binding only fit the
measured chloride content near the exposed surface. The
results can be explained by the kinetics of the chloride
binding. The concrete in Group C3 was initially dried to
reach the water saturation of 0.2 before the wetting-drying
test. During the wetting process, the flow rate of the water
near the exposed surface was much larger for Group C3 than
the rate for the initially saturated concrete in Group C2. As a
result, the free chloride ions in the water could not be bound
by the hydrates effectively, but the nonlinear-binding model
was able to predict the binding behavior with appropriate
parameters. On the other hand, as the depth from the exposed
surface increased, the rate of water transport decreased
significantly, and the free chloride in the water was almost
in equilibrium with the bound chloride. Consequently, the
binding capacity at the larger depth was underestimated
using the same nonlinear-binding model, and the predicted
ACI Materials Journal/July 2018
profile of the chloride content was above the measured result.
When the linear-binding model was applied, the comparison
in Fig. 6 also indicated different binding behaviors of the
concrete near and far from the exposed surface.
During the wetting period, the fast water adsorption for
the initially dried concrete led to fast chloride transport
near the surface. In this case, the chloride binding was more
likely to be a transient process; thus, the binding capacity
in Eq. (10) should be treated as a time-dependent param-
eter, which has not been fully studied yet. For the initially
saturated concrete under periodic wetting and drying condi-
tions, the chloride transport was slower and the free chloride
ions were considered to be in equilibrium with the bound
chloride. In an oceanic natural state, the concrete in the tidal
zone is initially saturated and the nonlinear-binding model is
more suitable for the prediction of chloride transport based
on our work.
SIMILARITY OF CHLORIDE ION TRANSPORT IN
ACCELERATED TESTS
In a marine environment, chloride ions penetrate concrete
and reach the steel surface. When chloride content on the
steel surface exceeds the critical value Ccv, it damages the
passive film of the steel. The results from the literature indi-
cated that Ccv is roughly in the range from 0.065% to 0.36%
(by mass of concrete).35-37 The critical chloride content Ccv
is influenced by numerous factors,35 such as mixture propor-
tions of concrete, internal environment of concrete, steel
503
Fig. 7—Effect of NaCl concentration on normalized critical
time at different depths.
types, and pretreatment method for the steel surface. The
large range of Ccv in the literature is also possibly due to
the difference of the determination methods,35 such as the
definition of Ccv, the test environment, and the monitoring
method for passivation. The quantitative determination of
Ccv by theoretical methods is a very complicated issue and
still needs to be further studied. In this paper, a more conser-
vative lower value of 0.06% was adopted as the critical value
of chloride ion content.
The critical penetration depth from the concrete surface
was the depth where the critical chloride content was
reached, and it was considered as a characterizing index of
the penetration level. The similarity study is based on the
assumption that the penetration levels of chloride ions were
the same if the critical penetration depths were the same in
different environments. The time, tcr, when the critical chlo-
ride content was reached at the depth of the concrete cover
in different environments, was investigated.
Based on chloride ion transport model in Eq. (10) for tidal
zones, chloride ion transport processes were simulated for
the concrete with the same mixture proportion as the spec-
imen in Group C3. The concrete was initially saturated. As
a reference group, the concentration of NaCl in the solution
was selected as 3%, which was close to the actual concentra-
tion of seawater, and the concrete was dried at 20°C (68°F)
and at 70% RH. The period of wetting-drying cycles was
24 hours with the wetting-time ratio of 1/6. One parameter
of the environmental conditions varied with the another
constant to investigate the effect of the varied parameters
on the value of tcr at a given cover thickness of the concrete.
For the refence group, the critical time tcr0 was 74.1, 156.2,
275.4, and 443.4 days at cover thicknesses of 20, 30, 40, and
50 mm (0.79, 1.18, 1.57, and 1.97 in.), respectively.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Effect of NaCl concentrations
The simulation of chloride ion transport was conducted
under different NaCl concentrations in solutions of 3%,
5%, 7%, 10%, and 12%, respectively. The predicted time
tcr was normalized by the time for the reference group at the
corresponding cover thickness, tcr0, as shown in Fig. 7. It is
well known that the chloride penetrates more rapidly with
504
Fig. 8—Effect of ambient relative humidity on normalized
critical time at different depths.
increasing concentration of the external NaCl solution, but
the effects are not as noticeable and the relationship between
NaCl concentration and critical time has been overlooked
for the most part. This study took a quantitative approach to
this process. When the cover thickness of 20 mm (0.79 in.)
was considered, the critical time decreased 30% from 3 to
5% NaCl concentration while it decreased only 4% from
10 to 12% NaCl concentration. The results also indicated
that the acceleration effect of NaCl concentrations decreased
significantly as the cover thickness increased.
Chloride transport is driven by two mechanisms: capil-
lary and diffusion action. For the capillary mechanism,
the absorption of water brings the chloride from external
solution. The acceleration extent by capillary absorption
was approximately linear to the increase of external chlo-
ride concentration, but it only affected the concrete near the
exposed surface. In comparison, during the diffusion process,
due to the concentration difference, the increase of external
chloride concentration increased the chloride content at
different depths nonlinearly. The increase of external chlo-
ride concentration influenced the chloride content at a larger
depth less significantly. Consequently, tcr/tcr0 was decreased
less significantly with increasing cover thickness.
Effect of ambient relative humidity
Different ambient RHs (30%, 50%, 70%, 90%, and 95%)
during the drying process were investigated in the simu-
lation of chloride transport. At each cover thickness, the
predicted critical time tcr was normalized by the value tcr0
at 70% RH. The influence of relative humidity on the time
when the critical penetration depth was reached is shown in
Fig. 8. It was found that critical time decreased significantly
as the ambient RH was decreased to 70%, while it increased
slightly as the RH further decreased. The results indicated
that the acceleration effect of the cyclic wetting-drying
conditions on the chloride transport was most significant
when the ambient RH was 70% during the drying process.
The chloride diffusivity and the amount of absorbed water
during wetting were influenced by the ambient RH during
drying. When the concrete was dried at a lower ambient
RH, the water absorption rate was higher during the wetting
ACI Materials Journal/July 2018
process due to a larger difference of water content. As a result,
more chloride was brought in with more absorbed water. On
the other hand, as the ambient RH decreased, the chloride
diffusivity decreased due to the decreased content of water
during the drying process. The results shown in Fig. 8 indi-
cate that the acceleration effect of the water absorption was
dominant as the ambient RH was decreased to 70%. When
the ambient RH was further decreased, the lower chloride
diffusivity led to a slower transport of chloride from the
surface into the concrete during the drying process.
Effect of wetting-time ratio
By using the developed models, chloride transport in
the concrete was simulated under different wetting-time
ratios—that is, 0.1/24, 0.5/24, 4/24, 8/24, 16/24, and 20/24
(wetting time/ time period in a cycle, hour/hour). The
predicted critical time was normalized by the result at the
wetting-time ratio of 1/6 in the reference group. The influ-
ence of wetting-time ratios on the predicted critical time is
shown in Fig. 9. It was found that the critical time decreased
as the wetting-time ratio was increased to 1/6 and then it
increased as the wetting time-ratio was further increased.
The results indicated that the chloride transported into the
concrete fastest at a wetting-time ratio of 1/6. This behavior
can be explained by two different mechanisms for chloride
ion transport—namely the diffusion due to the concentration
gradient and convection due to the water movement under
capillary pressure. When the wetting-time ratio approached
Fig. 9—Effect of wetting-time ratio on normalized critical
time at different depths.
Fig. 10—Distribution of total chloride content with different wetting-time ratios.
ACI Materials Journal/July 2018
1, chloride ions were moved into concrete mainly by diffu-
sion. As the ratio decreased, more water was absorbed
during wetting after a more severe drying; thus, a larger
number of external chloride ions were brought in with the
capillary flow. On the other hand, when the wetting-time
ratio was further decreased, the time to absorb water during
the wetting process was decreased and the total number of
chloride ions penetrating from the external solution into the
concrete was also decreased.
The results in the field test by Thomas and Matthews8
also indicated a considerable chloride penetration into the
concrete due to the capillary suction of seawater. In Zhang
and Jin’s work,7 the chloride distribution was measured at
different altitudes of a concrete wall in the marine tidal zone.
The wetting-time ratio of the concrete decreased as the alti-
tude increased. It was found that the chloride penetration
was the most rapid at the wetting-time ratio of 1/3 and the
penetration rate decreased as the ratio was away from 1/3.
The critical values of the wetting-time ratio were different
between our results and the field test results, due to different
ambient conditions. However, the trends of the penetration
rates with the wetting-time ratios were similar.
The result in Fig. 9 also showed that the critical time
increased with a larger cover thickness as the wetting-time
ratio was larger than 1/6. This is because the acceleration
effect of the cyclic wetting and drying on the chloride trans-
port was less significant for the concrete at a larger depth.
When the wetting-time ratio was smaller than 1/6, the wetting
and drying effect was smaller, and the chloride transport was
mainly driven by the diffusion mechanism. As a result, the
critical time at the concrete with a smaller depth, where the
chloride transport had been greatly accelerated by the cyclic
condition, increased more significantly as the wetting-time
ratio decreased from 1/6.
The predicted distribution of the total chloride content
in the concrete after 1-year exposure is shown in Fig. 10.
The result showed that the distribution had a peak near the
exposed surface at the end of wetting. This peak was caused
by the convection flow of chloride due to the capillary water
absorption. As the wetting time in a cycle decreased, the
peak of the chloride distribution was higher because after a
longer drying period more pores were emptied and thus the
concrete absorbed more water with NaCl during the wetting.
After the drying process, the peak was eliminated by the
505

Fig. 11—Effect of wetting-drying cycle period on normal-
ized critical time at different depths.
convection due to water transport to the surface and the
diffusion to the deeper zone with a lower chloride content.
Effect of wetting and drying cycle period
The developed model for chloride transport was used to
predict the critical time under different periods of drying-
wetting cycles—that is, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 96 hours. The
influence of the cycle periods on the critical time at different
cover thickness is shown in Fig. 11. It was found that the
critical time decreased when drying-wetting cycle period
increased from 3 to 24 hours, while it increased gradually
after 24 hours. At small cycle periods, the chloride penetrated
into the concrete faster as the time period increased because
the absorption of the external solution during wetting and
the chloride diffusion during drying were more sufficient in
a cycle. The result also indicated that the decrease of the
critical time at the small cycle periods was more signifi-
cant with a larger depth. This is because the chloride trans-
port in the concrete at a larger depth was mainly due to the
diffusion mechanism, while the convection flow of chloride
had more control over chloride absorption in concrete at a
smaller depth. The diffusion process was much slower than
convection and, thus, was more sensitive to the period time
in a cycle. When the cycle period was further increased,
the cycle number at the same exposure time decreased
and, thus, the acceleration effect of the cyclic environment
was decreased. The acceleration effect was greater for the
concrete with a smaller depth, so the increase of the critical
time with increasing periods was more significant.
CONCLUSIONS
The models for water and chloride transport in concrete
were developed and verified by the chloride penetration
tests under cyclic wetting and drying conditions. The results
using linear and nonlinear models for chloride bindings
were compared. It was found that nonlinear binding was
more suitable for chloride transport in the concrete in the
tidal zone. Based on the developed model, the similarity in
accelerated chloride penetration tests under periodic wetting
and drying conditions was analyzed. Based on the simulated
results, the following conclusions can be drawn:
506
1. The results showed that the acceleration effects of
increasing NaCl concentration in solution was less signifi-
cant with a larger depth in concrete. This is because of a less
significant effect of the concentration on the diffusion at a
larger depth.
2. The chloride penetration was more rapid with decreasing
ambient RH as long as RH was larger than 70%. However,
the chloride penetration was slightly slower when the RH
was smaller than 70%. This was explained by the opposite
effects of RH on chloride penetration by chloride diffusivity
and water absorption.
3. The results also indicated that the rate of chloride pene-
tration was highest at the wetting-time ratio of 1/6. When
the depth increased, the influence of the ratio was smaller
because the ratio was smaller than 1/6. On the other hand, the
influence was greater as the ratio exceeded 1/6. This shows
the importance of considering chloride penetration to be due
to the capillary suction of sea water, which conformed to the
findings in the field test.
4. During a small cycle period, the chloride penetrated
more rapidly with an increasing time period, but the chloride
penetration decreased under a large cycle period. When the
depth from the exposed surface increased, the influence was
greater at a time duration of less than 24 hours but the influ-
ence was smaller when the time period exceeded 24 hours.
AUTHOR BIOS
Qing-Zhang Zhang is a Lecturer in the College of Civil Engineering and
Architecture, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, China. His
research interests include chloride transport in concrete structures and
durability of concrete structures.
ACI member Xiang-Lin Gu is a Professor in the State Key Laboratory
for Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering at Tongji University, Shanghai,
China. He is also in the Department of Structural Engineering at Tongji
University. His research interests include fundamental theories of rein-
forced concrete and masonry structures, life-cycle analysis of structures,
and numerical simulation of structural behaviors.
Zhi-Lu Jiang is a Doctoral Student in the State Key Laboratory for
Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering at Tongji University. He is also
in the Department of Structural Engineering at Tongji University. His
research interests include water transport in concrete and durability of
concrete structures.
Wei-Ping Zhang is a Professor in the State Key Laboratory for Disaster
Reduction in Civil Engineering at Tongji University. He is also in the
Department of Structural Engineering at Tongji University. His research
interests include the areas of reliability assessment of existing structures
and durability of concrete structures.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study is financially supported by National Natural Science Founda-
tion of China (Grant No. 51320105013) and the National Basic Research
Program of China (973 Program) (Grant No. 2015CB655103).
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