Durability and Service Life Modelling of Alkali-Activated Concrete

A numerical model has been developed and validated for service life prediction of alkali-activated concrete in marine conditions by including transport and reactions that occur when the concrete is exposed in unsaturated conditions; moisture transport, chloride ingress and carbonation reactions. The model is set to probabilistically predict the service life of alkali-activated concrete by taking into account the distribution of critical chloride concentrations. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to systematically vary the durability properties in the model to provide a range of possible values for service life. It can be concluded that moisture transport can have an equal impact as carbonation on the distribution of service life when alkali-activated concrete is exposed to a wetting cycle. Furthermore, the developed service life model can be used as an efficient decision-making tool in material design of concrete for suitable structural applications with low environmental impact.