Open Access
ARTICLE
Load-Carrying Capacity Service Life Prediction of Existing Reinforced Concrete Bridge Using Time-Dependent Reliability Analysis
Ming-Te Liang1,2, Jiang-Jhy Chang3, Han-Tung Chang3, Chi-Jang Yeh4
1 Department of Civil Engineering, China University of Science and Technology, No.245, Sec.3 ,
Academia Road, Taipei, Taiwan 11581, ROC
2 Corresponding author. Tel:+886-2-27864448; fax: +886-2-27864403 E-mail address:
mtliang@cc.cust.edu.tw or mliang@ntou.edu.tw (M.T.Liang)
3 Department of Harbor and River Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan
20224, ROC. Tel: +886-2-24622192 ext.6127; fax: +886-2-24632375, E-mail: jjc@ntou.edu.tw
4 Sinotech Engineering Consultants Ltd., Taipei, Taiwan 105, ROC. Tel: +886-2-27698388 ext. 112
of; fax: +886-2-87611595, E-mail: cjyeh@mail.sinotech.com.tw
Structural Longevity 2009, 2(2), 103-128. https://doi.org/10.3970/sl.2009.002.103
Abstract
Engineering experience has clearly shown that existing reinforced
concrete (RC) bridges are reliable to damage from environmental attack such as
freeze-thaw, alkali-silica reaction, and corrosion. To establish feasible and rational
method, reliable prediction of the service life of deteriorating RC bridge is needed.
To obtain an exact insight into this problem, time-dependent reliability methods
have to be used. In this paper, the reliability of RC girder bridges under corrosion
condition is studied using a time-dependent reliability analysis in which both load
and resistance are time-dependent. The corrosion process has three stages, the
initiation (diffusion or carbonation) time (
ti =
tc), the depassivation time (
tp), and
the propagation (corrosion) time (tcorr). The load-carrying capacity service lives
of existing RC bridges or viaducts can be expressed as
tt =
tc +
tp +
tcorr Many
mathematical models could be employed to calculate each value of
tc,
tp, and
tcorr.
The value of tt may be directly predicted from the relationship between reliability
index and time. The existing Wann-fwu bridge and Chung-ching viaduct in Taipei
were offered as illustrative examples for the modeling technique and load-carrying
capacity service life prediction. The results of t
t predicted from the relationship
between reliability index and time were rationally compared with the results of
tt
calculated from the sum of
tc,
tp, and
tcorr. The results of this study were provided as
a decision making for repair, strengthening, and demolition of existing RC bridges
or viaducts.
Keywords
Cite This Article
Liang, M., Chang, J., Chang, H., Yeh, C. (2009). Load-Carrying Capacity Service Life Prediction of Existing Reinforced Concrete Bridge Using Time-Dependent Reliability Analysis.
Structural Longevity, 2(2), 103–128. https://doi.org/10.3970/sl.2009.002.103