Chloride ion transmission model under the drying-wetting cycles and its solution

The chloride ion transmission model considering diffusion and convection was established respectively for different zones in concrete by analyzing chloride ion transmission mechanism under the drying-wetting cycles. The finite difference method was adopted to solve the model. The equation of chloride ion transmission model in the convection and diffusion zone of concrete was discreted by the group explicit scheme with right single point (GER method) and the equation in diffusion zone was discreted by FTCS difference scheme. According to relative humidity characteristics in concrete under drying-wetting cycles, the seepage velocity equation was formulated based on Kelvin Equation and Darcy’s Law. The time-variant equations of chloride ion concentration of concrete surface and the boundary surface of the convection and diffusion zone were established. Based on the software MATLAB the numerical calculation was carried out by using the model and basic material parameters from the experiments. The calculation of chloride ion concentration distribution in concrete is in good agreement with the drying-wetting cycles experiments. It can be shown that the chloride ion transmission model and the seepage velocity equation are reasonable and practical. Studies have shown that the chloride ion transmission in concrete considering convection and diffusion under the drying-wetting cycles is the better correlation with the actual situation than that only considering the diffusion.