Predictive Durability Model for Life Extension of Naval Waterfront Concrete

"Concrete durability and its impact on life-cycle infrastructure costs and military readiness is a major societal issue. This SBIR Phase I project focuses on the development and demonstration of the feasibility of key aspects of a plan for theimplementation of new concrete durability software. Existing service-life prediction models do not capture the complexity and severity of marine exposure environments. The ultimate model will account for the major mechanisms of deterioration: corrosion,carbonation, alkali-silica reaction, and external sulfate attack, as well as porosity, transport properties, and mix design. By its unique structure (designed to take into account the occurrence of numerous, potentially coupled, deterioration phenomena),and its integration with state-of-the-art concrete forensics technology, this new model will be particularly well adapted to the prediction of the performance of Naval waterfront concrete structures. The model will also have an economic impact analysismodule to evaluate various repair options and assess cost in life-cycle terms.The key deliverable under the work in Phase I will be the elaboration of the structure of this new model. Additional deliverables include review of existing Naval condition assessments and focused forensic investigations. As a result, the Navy will havespecific modeling parameters to input into existing durability software. Annually, the toll paid for treatment or lost