Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance

planning.
Pablo BENITEZ1, Fernanda RODRIGUES2, Sergio GAVILÁN3, Humberto VARUM4, Anibal COSTA5.
1
RISCO, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal, pablo.benitez@ua.pt
2
RISCO, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal, mfrodrigues@ua.pt
3
Department of Engineering, National University of Asunción, Asunción, Paraguay, ingsergiogavilan@gmail.com
4
CONSTRUCT-LESE, FEUP, Universidad de Porto, Porto, Portugal, hvarum@fe.up.pt
5
RISCO, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal, acg@ua.pt

Abstract: Reinforced concrete is one of the most used materials worldwide in buildings. Its success is given
by its recognised strength and versatility which has allowed designing and construct buildings and
infrastructure that have greater functionality than with another type of material. However, these structures
are vulnerable to interaction with the surrounding environment, leading to anomalies which jeopardize its
durability. The concrete carbonation is a natural process between the cement composites and the carbon
dioxide (CO2) that may causes corrosion-induced degradation in concrete structures. Corrosion is considered
one of the most common and expensive causes of degradation and its study dates back to the beginnings of
reinforced concrete research. Furthermore, considering global climate change assessments, the
concentrations of CO2, temperature and humidity will tend to increase, which could aggravate the concrete
carbonation and consequently, the corrosion of their respective reinforcements. Considering the above, this
paper provides a statistical analysis of the results obtained in a set of carbonation tests performed in 38
buildings of concrete structures in the city of Asunción, Paraguay. This analysis has shown that the structures
present high values of carbonation depth, identifying the cover thickness as the most important parameter
in terms of durability. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to give an outlook for optimal inspections in the
context of maintenance strategies regarding carbonation-induced degradation of concrete structures in
Paraguay. The optimisation problem is formulated through a quantification of cost components over the
lifespan of structures, where the optimal inspection plan is considered when a minimum total expected cost
of maintenance is accomplished. This paper provides a first attempt to develop an optimal maintenance
planning of buildings, which as has been demonstrated in this research, is highly necessary for Paraguay.
Keywords: Carbonation, In situ testing, Durability, Maintenance, Optimisation.

1. Introduction

Reinforced concrete (RC) comprises the main material in a wide set of infrastructures throughout the world
due to its recognised strength and versatility, which has allowed designing and construct buildings and
infrastructure that have greater functionality than with another type of material. The use of RC structures
has overcome the use of steel, wood or ceramics due to an improvement in the durability against a more
intense environmental aggressiveness with the combination of steel and concrete (Ribeiro, 2014).
Nevertheless, the durability of concrete is restricted to a certain time-period associated to the ability of
preserving its performance in order to avoid degradation, which leads to the need of a broad knowledge of
maintenance and extension of its service life.
The maintenance of structures has engaged the interest of structural engineers since the end of the last
century, introducing concepts and theories such as the reliability of structures, the analysis of the life cycle,
and the adaptation of new materials to the durability requirements, among others. Moreover, recent
developments in the field of climate change have led to a renewed interest in the degradation research of

1
structures caused by environmental phenomena. This problem promotes the need to develop innovative
strategies in order to adapt structures to degradation risks and ensure their durability as long as possible.
From a socio-economic perspective, Paraguay is a developing country where the construction industry is
having an important growth since the end of the last century. However, an important weakness of this
development is the lack of control during the construction stage of projects that calls into question the
concrete structure quality. This construction practice is often substandard and leads to an earlier onset of
carbonation-induced corrosion shrinking the service life of structures.
Currently, studies in the field of service life prediction for RC structures is becoming again an expanding
challenge for researchers. The service life of a structure is established as the moment of time after its placing
in service until the moment when an expensive repair becomes essential (Ranjith, et al., 2016). Possibly, the
best-known definition of service life regarding the reinforcement corrosion was that established by Tuutti,
who divides this period into two: an initiation stage and a propagation stage that ends when an acceptable
depth of corrosion is achieved (Tuutti, 1982). On the other hand, some engineers define the end of the
functional service life or the limit state as the time until the first cracking and/or spalling in the concrete,
since this is the point at which the corrective actions will be performed (Broomfield, 2007).
The aim of this paper is to present a study about the concrete structures degradation located in the urban
area of Asunción, the capital city of Paraguay. For that purpose, a set of real carbonation test report has been
collected in order to develop an analysis of the carbonation-induced degradation of buildings in this city. This
study has found that almost half of the structures analysed present a risk of corrosion of their reinforcements,
which involves a need for maintenance that must be addressed in terms of strategies that guarantee their
durability.
During maintenance planning, different activities are developed, such as inspections, monitoring, overhaul,
repairs, and so on. In the maintenance planning, it is common to define the terms "inspection", "preventive
maintenance" and "corrective maintenance" as three different cost drivers. Nonetheless, this is not in
absolutely in agreement with the definition given by the standards, where inspections are defined as part of
the maintenance (Welte, 2008).
Thus, maintenance planning can be established in stages: a first stage where the number and interval of
inspections are established, and a second stage where the probability of performing a repair according to the
inspection results is analysed. In this context, this paper develops the first stage of maintenance planning,
where an analysis regarding the number of inspections that must be performed to detect the damage before
failure is studied.
Maintenance affects the reliability of components and the system: if too little is done, this can cause an
excessive number of costly failures and poor system performance and, therefore, reliability is degraded.
Instead, if it is done too often, reliability may improve but the maintenance cost will increase drastically.
Then, in a cost-effective scheme, both expenditures must be compensated (Endrenyi, et al., 2001).
Therefore, an optimisation problem is formulated through a quantification of cost components over the
lifespan of structures, where the optimal inspection plan is considered when a minimum total expected cost
of intervention is accomplished. Thereby, this research gives an outlook for optimal inspection strategies
regarding this mechanism of degradation that will be useful to preserves the durability of infrastructures in
Paraguay.

2. Carbonation in concrete

Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 2

In general, buildings and infrastructures suffer from degradation of their original features and capacities
throughout its service life. In this way, could be said that a constructive system begins to degrade
immediately after it is put into service as consequence of two independents variable: the constructive system
in itself and the environment surrounding. Nevertheless, this unavoidable degradation process can be
managed and controlled through periodic activities of maintenance that extend its service life (Harris, 2001;
Chew, M.; Tan, S.; Kang, 2004; Riley, et al., 2011).
Carbonation in RC structures is a natural process that consists firstly in a superficial degradation of the
concrete. In this process, calcium hydroxide coming from the hydration of cement reacts with atmospheric
carbon dioxide (CO2) forming calcium carbonate. As a result of this process, shrinkage is generated under
certain moisture conditions that generate micro-cracks, which facilitates the passage of carbon dioxide and
other contaminating agents into the structure that may cause corrosion of the reinforcing steel. (Porrero, et
al., 2014).
Despite concrete carbonation is associated with the corrosion of steel reinforcement and with shrinkage, test
results showed that carbonation may compensate some concrete properties such as compressive strength,
splitting strength, electrical resistivity and chloride ion penetration (Chi, et al., 2002). The degradation
problem arises when the concrete is combined with the reinforcement, since when the first one is
carbonated, the steel rebar remains vulnerable to corrosion.
Regarding specifically to the corrosion of RC structures, studies have found that maintenance and repair
activities expend multibillion USD (United State Dollar) per annum. The estimated annual cost of corrosion
worldwide exceeds the value of 1.8 trillion USD, which translates into a 3-4 % of the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) of the industrialized countries. Nevertheless, is estimated that between 25% and 30% of the annual
cost of corrosion could be preserved if optimised techniques in the corrosion treatment were employed
(Schmitt, et al., 2009; Taffese, et al., 2017).
Many studies have allowed quantifying the advance speed of the carbonation front. Some of them more
accurately than others under the consideration of several factors and variables which govern this degradation
anomaly. However, considering the variability of the results presented in the carbonation tests for real
structures, i.e., structural elements of infrastructures in service, this study has been based on the Häkkinen
Method described in (Pérez Méndez, 2010) to calculate the carbonation rate corresponding to these case
studies.
This methodology allows quantifying the advance of the carbonation front over time, considering variables
such as air content, environmental exposure, the concrete strength and parameters associated to the cement
type, relating them in a relatively simple way. Furthermore, the calculation of carbonation rate was
developed for structures with characteristic strength values of 20, 25, 30 and 45 MPa. For this purpose, the
structures whose strength tests showed values close to these were considered, allowing to analyse the
influence of concrete quality on the carbonation rate results.

3. Climate Change and Concrete Degradation

The durability of building elements depend not solely on physical, chemical or mechanical properties, but
also of maintenance conditions and its environmental exposure (Sarja, et al., 2005). In this way, climate
change and its effects play an important role in terms of environmental exposure that determines the
durability of infrastructure elements.
Climate change will force the formulation of new considerations and to establish new durability conditions
for the construction industry. The knowledge about the implications of climate change in the performance
Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 3
of infrastructures will be of great importance for the industry in the coming years. Therefore, the construction
economy regarding climate change must be treated within a dynamic analytical framework that explicitly
allows the update of the set of information over time (Nordvik, et al., 2004).
As one of the most significant effects of global climate change, an increase in the degradation rates of RC
structures due to carbonation-induced corrosion can be expected (Talukdar, et al., 2012). A study conducted
on concrete structures degradation in several cities around the world has clearly demonstrated that climate
change would play an important role in the lifespan reduction of RC structures due to the carbonation-
induced corrosion (Talukdar, et al., 2013).
The damage risks induced by carbonation can increase by more than 16% by the year 2100, which means
that one in six structures will suffer additional and costly corrosion damage due to climate change. Moreover,
the corrosion rate could increase by 15% if the temperature increases by 2 °C. Regarding the ultimate
carbonation depth values, it has been shown that if appropriate measures are not taken, RC structures could
suffer an increase of between 45% and 400% even in some parts of the world due to climate change effects
(Stewart, et al., 2011, 2012; Peng, et al., 2016).
All the stakeholders of construction industry must adapt future construction designs to ensure that they have
sufficient capacity and durability to cope with the consequences of climate change. For this reason, there is
a possibility that design codes should be revised to increase design capabilities considering the likelihood of
extreme load events that may increase in the future (Chalmers, 2014; Talukdar, et al., 2015).

4. Carbonation in Paraguay– Case Study

Concerning the durability of RC structures, carbonation-induced corrosion is definitely a source of significant

and expensive degradation, directly related to climatic parameters such as CO2, temperature and relative
humidity. In Paraguay, the lack of control during building construction often leads to weak structures highly
vulnerable to the attack of harmful external agents. When countries experiment a rapidly developing
infrastructure, a poor quality control procedures in construction often leads to poor quality concrete and low
concrete cover leading to carbonation problems (Broomfield, 2007).
To perform this analysis was possible to obtain the measurement of carbonation depths through 206 tests in
several different structures located in the city of Asuncion (urban zone). These interventions include the
carbonation test with phenolphthalein, the values of the cover thickness of structural elements and their
characteristic strength. The case studies correspond to structures whose service life at the inspection time
were between 1 and 40 years. Considering only the classification of structural elements, the carbonation
depth and cover thickness values are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1 - Summary of results obtained from the intervention of concrete buildings in Asunción
Cover Thickness (mm) Carbonation depths (mm)
Structural N° of
Standard Standard
element data Mean Mean
Deviation Deviation
Beam 87 18.4 9.61 12.9 7.92
Column 88 19.2 10.78 17.6 10.07
Slab 31 12.2 5.52 12.0 7.86
Performing a statistical analysis, the structures considered showed a mean value for the cover thickness equal
to 18.9 mm with a standard deviation equal to 8.04 mm; and carbonation depth mean value and its standard
deviation equal to 16.5 mm and 7.25 mm respectively. However, the statistical mode for the same

Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 4

parameters was 10 mm and 15 mm respectively. This means that in several cases there is a carbonation depth
value greater than the cover thickness, and knowing the effect of carbonation on RC structures, can be
expected that those structures are under a considerable corrosion risk. The normal distribution of all
measurements made in the case study is depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1 - Normal distribution of the test results

In order to characterise these structures, it should be noted that this set of data corresponds mostly to
concrete structures of commercial and office buildings, even though some of them are school building,
apartment and residential constructions. Moreover, in some cases, these structures were from unfinished
buildings, where a different consideration of exposition must be taken into account in a deterioration
analysis. Regarding environmental conditions, Paraguay has an annual average temperature of 24 °C and high
thermal variations, where a tropical savannah climate and humid subtropical climate are predominant.
Another important parameter for carbonation-induced corrosion is the relative humidity, for which the
average value in Asunción is around 73.4% (Portillo, et al., 2001; Peel, et al., 2007; DNEEC, 2014)
Although Figure 1 shows the test results in a general way, it is important to highlight some particular cases
from the point of view of the degradation state that they presented. The most concerning case corresponds
to a structure of an unfinished two-storey dwelling that had cover thickness values between 27 and 45 mm,
and a characteristic strength around 30 MPa. However, taking into account that the intervention was carried
out only after 5 years of service life, these structures had values of carbonation depth of up to 25 mm in
some points. The rapid advance of the carbonated front denotes the poor quality of the concrete in terms of
the porosity property that puts the durability of such building at risk.
Another interesting point to highlight was that, in several cases, the cover thickness of the concrete was just
1 mm. Even though it is an unthinkable case considering the durability of structures, it is usually a recurrent
situation in the structures not only in Asunción, but throughout the country. The main cause of this problem
is given by the lack of control during the execution of the structures, where the cover thickness established
in the structural design are not respected at the time of the concreting process.
Considering the test results, an analysis where the corrosion risk was represented based on a correlation
between the concrete cover and the carbonation depth was also performed. Thus, it was possible to classify
three degradation conditions for the structures, which are shown in Figure 2: corrosion risk, without
corrosion risk, and the condition of imminent corrosion initiation. The last condition considers what has been
established in the literature, where corrosion begins when the carbonation front is at least 5 mm from the
reinforcement (Yoon, et al., 2007; Lollini, et al., 2012; Larrard, et al., 2014).
This analysis has shown that almost half of the cases analysed in the structures present a considerable risk of
corrosion or imminent corrosion initiation caused by carbonation. This means that the carbonated thickness
in the concrete is greater than the cover thickness and that the durability of the structure would be
compromised by the reinforcement corrosion, requiring immediate and possibly expensive intervention.

Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 5

Thus, considering the literature review previously developed in this research, it could be said that almost 50%
of the buildings analysed in the urban area of Asunción, and that were built no more than 40 years ago, can
be considered as structures in the second stage of its service life.

DEGRADATION CONDITIONS

14.91% Imminent Corrosion

50.93%
34.16% Corrosion Risk

No Corrosion Risk

Figure 2 - Degradation conditions based on test results

Carbonation is a phenomenon that is highly influenced by the environment. Concrete structures under
sheltered and unsheltered exposure conditions tend to have different carbonation depths due to the
influence of relative humidity. Thus, the sheltered structures tend to have a greater progression of
carbonation front than those unsheltered from the weathering (Neville, 1996; Yoon, et al., 2007; Leemann,
et al., 2015). Establishing a mathematical relationship between both exposure conditions could be useful for
modelling the degradation of structures.
Among all records of carbonation tests, those ones corresponding to concrete structures of 20 MPa were the
most frequent. For this reason, it was possible to establish a classification of the carbonation depth measured
in sheltered and unsheltered elements. The result of this classification is shown in Figure 3, where a greater
depth of carbonation is perceived in the unsheltered elements.
Exposure of Concrete elements - 20 MPa
Unsheltered Sheltered
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0 45.0
Carbonation depth (mm)

Figure 3 - Normal distribution of carbonation depths for sheltered and unsheltered concrete elements
The results depicted above seems to be inconsistent with other research. However, should be denoted that
that analysis correspond to a dataset of 81 carbonation depth measurements for unsheltered conditions and
only 16 dataset for sheltered structures. This limitation can constrain the outcomes of the analysis. On the
other hand, the climatic conditions and the urban zone of Asunción could have influenced in the carbonation
depth results, besides that several structures tested were structures that remained unfinished.
Finally, using the database obtained from the tests performed in the case study, it was possible to determine
a real value for the carbonation rate corresponding to concrete structures in the city of Asunción. The test
results were taken to obtain a carbonation rate value for representative structures whose characteristic
strength was around 20, 25, 30 and 45 MPa. The results of this study are presented schematically in Table 2.

Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 6

 Table 2 - Carbonation rates of characteristic strength for concrete structures in Asunción
Characteristic Strength Carbonation Rate (mm/year0.5)
20 MPa 3.83
25 MPa 3.31
30 MPa 1.75
45 MPa 1.32

These results appears to be very logical, since both carbonation and compressive strength are considerably
controlled by the porosity properties of concrete. The table above clearly represent the influence of the
concrete quality in the carbonation resistance properties of structures. The values obtained allow the analysis
of the structures service life from the point of view of corrosion initiation. Conversely, is important denoting
that, besides the concrete quality and as the carbonation rate is a function of thickness, good cover is
indispensable to resist carbonation and to ensure the structures durability against harmful agents of the
environment surrounding.

5. Durability strategies for maintenance

Considering the nature complexity of the environmental effects for concrete structures, it is known that their
performance cannot be improved solely through the design of the material's features. Moreover, the
durability design process must involve the architectural elements, execution processes, structural design,
and inspection and maintenance procedures, including preventive maintenance.
Therefore, as established by the Comite Euro-International du Beton (CEB), it is important that the
stakeholders in a project have the basic knowledge related to the degradation processes of materials and the
parameters that govern them, being this requirement a precondition for the ability to make correct decisions
at the precise time in order to achieve a required durability (CEB, 1989). In this section, an outlook for
inspection schedule as part of maintenance planning for RC structures is developed, where doing the
interventions before corrosion reaches its critical value is established as the main objective.
The inspection schedule is formulated through a quantification of cost components over the service life of
structures, where the optimal inspection plan is considered when a minimum expected total cost is
accomplished. Likewise, the inspection tasks are formulated based on certain parameters such as:
carbonation rate, quality of the inspection technique, the cost of the inspection technique and the probability
of failure due to corrosion of the structure.

5.1 Detectability of the inspection technique

Generally, it is not possible to fully guarantee the damage detection by a particular inspection technique
during the intervention of a structure. However, it can be expected that a high-quality inspection will have a
higher probability of flaw detection, even if this implies a more expensive intervention. For that purpose, it
is necessary to make a trade-off analysis between the cost and the effectiveness of inspection techniques
that result in an optimal maintenance planning during the service life of structures.
The detectability 𝑑(𝜂) of an inspection technique describes the ability to detect damage in a structure given
a certain intensity of damage. This intensity of damage can be expressed as a function of the damage degree
factor 𝜂(𝑡) , where a value of 𝜂(𝑡) = 0 means no damage in the structure and 𝜂(𝑡) = 1 represents a damage
for total loss of reinforcement by corrosion (Frangopol, et al., 1997):

Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 7

 𝐷0 − 𝐷(𝑡) (1)
𝜂(𝑡) =
𝐷0
𝐷(𝑡) = 𝐷0 − 2. 𝑣𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟 (𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝 − 𝑇𝑖𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟 ) (2)

where 𝐷0 is the reinforcement rebar diameter in initial condition (cm), 𝐷(𝑡) is the rebar diameter over time
(cm); 𝑣𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟 is the corrosion rate (cm/year0.5), 𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝 is the time of intervention (year) within the lifespan
(𝑇𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑛 ), and 𝑇𝑖𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟 is the time of corrosion initiation (year); and the factor 2 represent an uniform
corrosion process along the rebar. It should be noted that for 𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝 < 𝑇𝑖𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟 the corrosion no longer exist.
Therefore, the intensity of damage caused by corrosion must be equal to zero.
Once the damage intensity is calculated, then is possible to establish the detectability for each inspection
technique. This detectability function can be formulated as a cumulative normal distribution function for
each inspection technique where is considered, besides the damage intensity, the medium damage intensity
𝜂0.5 for which a certain inspection technique has a 50% probability of detecting the damage. The values range
for detectability is from zero to one and is related to a minimum (𝜂𝑚𝑖𝑛 ) and maximum (𝜂𝑚𝑎𝑥 ) damage degree
in the structure (Frangopol, et al., 1997).
𝜂(𝑡) −𝜂0.5 (3)
𝑑 = Φ(
(𝜂) 𝜎
) for 𝜂 <𝜂<𝜂 𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑥

where Φ(. ) is the standard normal cumulative distribution function and 𝜎 is the standard deviation.
Considering 𝜂𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 0.7 ∗ 𝜂0.5 and 𝜂𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 1.3 ∗ 𝜂0.5 , then the detectability will be equal to zero for 𝜂 ≤
𝜂𝑚𝑖𝑛 and it will be equal to 1 for 𝜂 > 𝜂𝑚𝑎𝑥 .

5.2 Probability of failure by corrosion

Corrosion in the reinforcement of concrete causes a section loss of the rebar that decreases its design
resistance. Nevertheless, a large part of the corrosion problems of steel are not due to the section loss, but
to the growth of oxide that leads to a cracking and spalling of the concrete cover (Broomfield, 2007). Due to
the high uncertainty of parameters involved in the study of structural failure, it is necessary to perform the
analysis from a probabilistic approach.
Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) can be a useful method to performing the probability of failure for a structure
given a failure function that describes the mechanism of degradation. Thereby, this simulation technique
provides the probability density function (PDF) regarding the time to failure (𝑇𝑓 ) of the structure over its
service life. In this paper, the failure function is obtained from equation (1), where the damage degree is set
as a critical damage degree to obtain the limit state function.
For this purpose, it is possible to establish that when the rebar registers a section loss greater than 25%, it
could present changes in its structural behaviour and reduce the margin of safety significantly (Cheung, et
al., 2012). Therefore, can be said that when a damage degree reach a value of 25% , corrosion-induced failure
is expected in the structure. Thus, considering the variables of equation (1) as a random variables and
developing a number of iteration in the MCS, the PDF for the probability of failure is obtained.

5.3 Probability of damage detection before failure

One of the main objectives in the inspection schedule of structures is the need to detect the damage before
the failure is reached. Achieve this goal depends mainly on the damage degree in the structure at the
inspection time, as well as the detectability of the applied inspection technique. Therefore, the probability

Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 8

of damage detection before failure (𝑃𝐵𝐹 ) can be formulated considering both the 𝑑(𝜂) and the PDF of 𝑇𝑓
(Soliman, et al., 2013).

𝑛 𝑗

𝑃𝐵𝐹 = ∑ (∏[𝑃(𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖 ≤ 𝑇𝑓 ). ̅̅̅̅̅

𝑑(𝜂) (𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖−1 , 𝜌𝑖−1 )]. 𝑑(𝜂) (𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑗 , 𝜌𝑗 )) (4)
𝑗=1 𝑖=1

where 𝑛 is the number of inspections, 𝑃(𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖 ≤ 𝑇𝑓 ) is the probability that the ith inspection is performed
before the corrosion failure, 𝑑(𝜂) (𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑗 , 𝜌𝑗 ) is the probability of damage detection of an inspection technique
𝜌𝑗 at the time of inspection 𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑗 , and ̅̅̅̅̅
𝑑(𝜂) (𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝0 , 𝜌0 ) = 1.

5.4 Cost Analysis

It is well known that both the design costs and the construction costs of a construction system are subject to
rigorous care and attention. However, less than 15% of the total cost of a construction system is produced
during the design and construction stage, while the broader phase of the life cycle, meaning the operations
stage, constitutes approximately 60% of the total cost (Akcamete, et al., 2010). Whether a building with a
service life of 50 years is considered, approximately between 75% and 80% of the total costs are presented
during the use and maintenance stage (Madureira, et al., 2017).
The previous equations provide the capabilities of the available inspection techniques for detecting damage
during an intervention. Those capabilities are decisive to establish accurately the repair activities within the
structure that guarantee the service life foreseen in the design. However, as already mentioned, a higher
quality of inspection implies a higher operating cost of maintenance activities.
The total inspection cost is obtained from both the individual cost of each inspection technique and the net
discount rate that allows obtaining the Net Present Value of total cost during the service life of the structure.
Thus, the individual cost of an inspection technique can be expressed as (Mori, et al., 1994):
𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝 = 𝛼𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝 (1 − 𝜂𝑚𝑖𝑛 )20 (5)

where 𝛼𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝 is constant value that represents a fraction of the initial total (𝐶𝑇 ) of a structure and is connected
to the quality of the inspection method. Subsequently, given a number of inspections 𝑛, is possible to
compute the total inspection cost expected by the intervention strategy through the follow equation:
𝑛
1
𝐶𝐼𝑁𝑆𝑃 = ∑ 𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝 . (6)
(1 + 𝑟)𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖
𝑖=1
where 𝑟 is the net discount rate of money. From the point of view of costs, a smaller number of inspections
throughout the service life of a structure supposes a lower expected cost of the life cycle. However,
decreasing the inspections times can lead to a failure in the structure that was not be detected in time, which
may increase the failure cost of the life-cycle. Therefore, it is necessary to schedule the inspections of
structures in such way that minimizes the total life-cycle cost but insure a minimum reliability.
If the time interval is prolonged, a decrease in inspection costs can be expected. However, if once the damage
is detected has a magnitude that exceeds the repair limit, the costs of the intervention could be increased
widely and jeopardize the structural safety, besides an increment of the life-cycle cost (Mullard, et al., 2009).
Therefore, a trade-off between both considerations must be developed in the life-cycle cost analysis of the
structural system.
Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 9
The expected failure cost (𝐶𝐹 ) can be related with the probability of failure and the cost of this failure (𝛼𝑓 ).
The probability of failure can be expressed as the complementary of the probability of damage detection
before failure in equation (4). Then, the cost associated with a failure must include all the expected cost
related to this event which are not easily estimated. These failure cost can be the replacement of damage
elements, cost due to lost use, injuries, fatalities, and so on (Chung, et al., 2006).
̅̅̅̅̅
𝐶𝐹 = 𝛼𝑓 . 𝑃 𝐵𝐹 (7)

In a structural reliability assessment, a structural system needs to comply with certain requirements
regarding safety and functionality, which can be evaluated from the point of view of the ultimate limit state
or the service limit state (Afzal, et al., 2016). If these requirements are not met, then the system could be
considered under failure condition.
When a certain degradation phenomenon that acts on a constructive element produces the overcoming of
its limit state defined in the design stage, then the structure can be considered as one that has reached the
limit of durability (Gaspar, et al., 2005). Likewise, the failure condition in a structure is considered as the loss
of capabilities to fulfil the functions that are required (International Standard ISO 15686-1, 2000). Thus, the
main objective of a maintenance policy must be to avoid failure occurrence at the lowest cost (Dieulle, et al.,
2003).

6. Results and Discussion

A numerical example regarding the methodology proposed for the inspection planning is presented in this
section. After the development of the carbonation-induced degradation problems of RC structures in
Paraguay, this paper seeks to provide an optimal number of inspection that allows a minimum total cost of
𝑇
the inspection (𝐶𝐼𝑁𝑆𝑃 ) schedule and that ensuring simultaneously the structural reliability. Therefore, the
work herein presented considers the expected total cost of this inspection planning as the sum of the
inspection cost and the failure cost (Chung, et al., 2006).
The context of this research is highly influenced by uncertainties. Thus, several parameters of the proposed
equations are governed by stochastic process that requires large experimental investigation which is outside
of the aims of this paper. For an illustrative purpose, some of these variables have been assumed with an
estimated value and are summarized in Table 3.
Table 3 - Values of random variables and deterministic parameters
Variable Units Mean Value Standard Deviation Distribution
𝐷0 cm 1.6 0.032 Lognormal
𝑣𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟 cm/year 0.0089 0.003 Lognormal
𝑇𝑖𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟 year 3.2 1.2 Lognormal
𝐴 𝐵 𝐶
𝜂0.5 ; 𝜂0.5 ; 𝜂0.5 - 0.225 ; 0.175 ; 0.125 - Deterministic
𝐴 𝐵 𝐶
𝜎0.5 ; 𝜎0.5 ; 𝜎0.5 - 0.0225 ; 0.0175 ; 0.0125 - Deterministic
𝐶𝑇 - 1000 - Deterministic
𝐴 𝐵 𝐶
𝛼𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝 ; 𝛼𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝 𝛼𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝 - 5; 8; 9 - Deterministic
𝛼𝑓 - 2000 - Deterministic
𝑇𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑛 year 50 - Deterministic
𝑟 - 0.055 - Deterministic
Source: Frangopol, et al., (1997); Almås, et al., (2011); Bastidas-Arteaga, et al., (2012);Kim, et al., (2011).

Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 10

A failure condition does not necessarily has to involve a collapse of the structure. Regarding carbonation-
induced corrosion, some authors assume the failure conditions when the carbonation front comes into
contact with the rebar reinforcement (Houst, et al., 1983; Rostasy, et al., 1989). In terms of corrosion, it is
possible to associate the failure to a certain value of section loss of the reinforcement. Thus, for the failure
condition considered herein, a critical section loss has been assumed when the damage degree reached in
main structural elements is greater than or equal to 25% (Cheung, et al., 2012). From this stage, failure is
presented in the construction system by a reduction of its structural behaviour that jeopardize the
serviceability.
In order to estimate the probability of time to failure in a concrete structure considering the corrosion of
reinforcement, equation (1) and (2) was applied to found the limit state function. Due to the uncertainties
regarding some parameters of both equation, the solution has been found using the MSC technique. So, by
setting the variable 𝜂 as the critical damage degree (𝜂 = 0.25), the time to failure and its probability is
founded. After using 100.000 iterations in the MSC, the PDF for the time to failure has been performed and
is depicted in Figure 4.

Figure 4 - Probability Density Function for the Time to Failure by carbonation-induced corrosion damage
The PDF for the time to failure is quite sensitive to the parameters involved in the limit state function. Mainly,
the corrosion rate is the most influential parameter in obtaining the probability of failure. A slight increase in
this value could increase the likelihood of early structural failure, which means that structures placed in more
aggressive environments must carefully schedule its inspections, as well as the cover thickness.
Another issue for consideration in the maintenance planning is the effectiveness of the inspection technique
applied during an intervention for detecting damage. This subject has been developed according to the
detectability function for each technique. For illustrative example, three different inspection technique has
been selected in order to assess its probability of detection a corrosion damage. In this case, these techniques
has been nominated as technique A, B and C.
Nevertheless, these techniques can be whatever technique capable of measuring the corrosion probability
in the reinforcement, or even, the intensity and/or corrosion rate, e.g. phenolphthalein test, Linear
Polarization Resistance, half-cell potential, resistivity, ground penetrating radar, and so on. In this way, each
technique will have its own operation cost and detectability related to its quality. In this paper, the relation
among techniques of low, medium and high quality have been analysed.
For instance, considering the values of Table 3 and assuming the inspection technique A and C applied five
years after the corrosion initiation in a RC structure whose damage degree caused by corrosion is 𝜂 =
0.0556, the detectability can be founded. Then, the quality of inspection can by quantify where the
𝐴 𝑐
detectability for the technique A is 𝑑(𝜂) = 2.58 × 10−14 and for the technique C is 𝑑(𝜂) = 1.43 × 10−8 . As
expected, a higher quality technique requires lower corrosion intensity to detect the damage in the structure.

Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 11

This behaviour of detectability factor can be seen in Figure 5, where the probability of damage detection as
a function of damage degree is depicted.

Figure 5 - Detectability for each inspection technique

Similar to the previous analysis, the probability of damage detection before failure is highly associated to the
quality of the inspection technique. By this point, a high-quality technique will need to perform a low number
of inspections over the service life of the structure to achieve the maximum probability of detection. The
relationship among the probability of detection damage before failure for each inspection technique is
depicted in the Figure 6.
Damage detection before failure
Technique "A" Technique "B" Technique"C"
1

0.8

0.6
Probability

0.4

0.2

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
N° of Inspections

Figure 6 - Probability of damage detection before failure for each inspection technique
Generally, the propagation of corrosion damage is slow in RC structures and it is unlikely that during the first
years of the service life, corrosion damage becomes an issue of structural failure (Mullard, et al., 2009). This
behaviour can be seen in the previous figure, where inspections developed in the initial period of service life
have a low probability due to the direct influence of the detectability function in the equation, which presents
low values when a low damage degree occurs. However, if it is considered to perform only an inspection over
the service life of a structure, it is expected that the probabilities damage detection before failure will be
lower. Even though this approach does not necessarily mean that the structure will fail.
Finally, another very important aspect to analyse in the inspection planning is the expected cost based on
the number of proposed interventions. Clearly, a minimum number of inspections leads to a lower total cost.
However, as was found previously, the smaller the number of inspections, the greater the probability that a
failure damage will occur in the structure and that it will not be detected.
In this context, the inspection cost function has an inverse behaviour regarding the function of failure costs
over the service life time of a structure. This means that a trade-off between both functions must be founded
in order to achieve an optimal cost of the inspection planning. Figure 7 shows the relationship between both

Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 12

functions, where the optimal number of inspection is revealed when the lower expected total cost of the
interventions is found. For instance, if technique A is applied, the optimal number of inspections required is
𝑇
𝑛 = 6 and the expected total cost of the inspections planning will be 𝐶𝐼𝑁𝑆𝑃 = 264.34.
Cost Analysis
Inspection Cost Failure Cost Total Cost Optimal
2500

2000

1500
Cost

1000

500

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
N° of Inspections

Figure 7 - Cost analysis as a function of the number of inspections

For the previous analysis, the effect of applying inspection technique A on the total expected cost was
considered. Whereas for the assumption taken into account in this paper the technique A is the lowest quality
one, the same analysis presents the same behaviour but with a higher expected cost for the inspection
technique C, which is the highest quality ones. On the other hand, performing the analysis with a higher
quality technique reduces the costs of failure considerably due to the detectability function of it.
In a parametric study, the cost analysis shows that for the inspection technique B the minimum expected
total cost of the inspection planning would be 313.64 when the optimal number of inspection is 𝑛 = 7.
Furthermore, the application of the inspection technique C gives an expected total cost equal to 340.57 but
the number of inspections required is only 5 to achieve this minimum total cost expected.
Therefore, the analysis developed in this paper illustrates, on one hand, the influence of the environment
surrounding the structure on the result of probabilities for the expected corrosion-induced failure. On the
other hand, the influence of the inspection quality both on the capability to damage detection before failure
at the intervention time, as well as on the expected total cost for the proposed number of inspections has
been demonstrated.
Finally, it should be noted that parameters assumed in the cost analysis has been considered as referential
cost. This means that the real cost values can be considered with the same approach making use of the
market cost for each country. Likewise the properties of the inspection techniques can be considered with
more realistic values through the permanent update of data that are collected after each intervention. The
values for these parameters are usually difficult to establish due to the high uncertainty involved in the
degradation mechanism, that is, each case should generally be treated as a different case.

7. Conclusion

Carbonation in concrete structures is a phenomenon that occurs naturally due to the reaction between the
atmospheric CO2 and the components of the cement paste. It should be noted that carbonation is not
properly a concrete degrading agent since it could make the cement more compact over time, even

Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 13

increasing its resistance. The problem arises when the construction system is a RC structure, where the
depassivation of the cement leaves vulnerable the reinforcement to corrosion degradation.
This paper presents an analysis of corrosion risk caused by carbonation in RC structures located in the urban
area of the city of Asuncion. The study allowed identifying that among 38 different RC structures analysed
through a bit more than 200 carbonation tests, almost half of these results have presented values that allow
the assumption of risk conditions due to corrosion or imminent initiation of corrosion by carbonation on
these structures.
Likewise, the values referred to the carbonation rate were obtained based on the real data presented in this
work. As expected, these values were considerably influenced by the quality of the concrete, which has been
established according to its characteristic strength. Besides that, the cover thickness should also be
considered as a determining factor for the onset of corrosion times. In the case study considered, the values
of cover thickness were many times below the values recommended by the standards, presenting critical
cases where the thickness measured was even 1 mm. The lack of control during the construction phases
becomes determinant for these cases.
Considering the above, a framework for the inspection planning as a stage of maintenance strategies was
performed in order to preserve the durability of RC structures against carbonation-induced corrosion. For
the analysis was taken into account parameters as the time of corrosion initiation, corrosion rate, rebar
diameter, quality of inspection techniques, among others. In this way, an optimal number of inspection has
been determined in order to minimize the expected total cost of inspection planning, preserving the safety
and serviceability through a reliability approach.
Finally, the economic factor is considered through a cost analysis for the application of each inspection
technique and the expected cost of failure if the inspection is not effective. This analysis has shown that the
inspection planning is very sensitive to the detectability of the available inspection technique. Regarding the
probability of failure time, it has been found that the parameter of the corrosion rate is very influential in the
times of failure of structures, meaning that structural elements in more aggressive environments must
consider the durability criteria more carefully.
Subsequently, after the analysis developed in this paper, it is necessary to determine the probabilities of
performing a repair after each inspection, which can be addressed through the event tree analysis method.
In this way, it will be possible to perform an evaluation from the point of view of the Life-Cycle Cost Analysis,
where a more rigorous optimization must be approached. Future works on this area should be addressed to
assess the effectiveness of the repair techniques available in Paraguay and/or to develop new inspections
techniques based on non-destructive standards.
In conclusion, applying the approach presented in this paper, the optimal planning for the inspection tasks
can be determined as a first stage for the maintenance strategies, where the optimal inspection interval can
be appraised throughout the minimisation of the expected total cost of inspection activities for a specified
limit state.

8. Acknowledgment

This project has been funded with support of the European Commission. This publication/communication
reflects the view only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may
be made of the information contained therein - ELARCH program (Project Reference number: 552129-EM-1-
2014-1-IT-ERA MUNDUS-EMA21).

Carbonated structures in Paraguay: Durability strategies for maintenance planning 14

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