Open Access

ARTICLE

Load-Carrying Capacity Service Life Prediction of Existing Reinforced Concrete Bridge Using Time-Dependent Reliability Analysis

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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 (t_i = t_c), the depassivation time (t_p), and the propagation (corrosion) time (tcorr). The load-carrying capacity service lives of existing RC bridges or viaducts can be expressed as t_t = t_c + t_p + t_corr Many mathematical models could be employed to calculate each value of t_c, t_p, and t_corr. 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 t_t calculated from the sum of t_c,t_p, and t_corr. The results of this study were provided as a decision making for repair, strengthening, and demolition of existing RC bridges or viaducts.

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