Durability of steel reinforced concrete in chloride environments: An overview

Concrete is a unique composite material that is porous and highly heterogeneous. The durability of steel reinforced concrete in chloride environments is of great interest to design engineers, infrastructure owners and maintainers, and researchers. This review reports recent advances in the knowledge base relevant to the durability of steel reinforced concrete in chloride environments, including: the role of mineral admixtures in concrete durability, the methods of measuring the chloride ingress into concrete, the challenges in assessing concrete durability from its chloride diffusivity, and the service life modeling of reinforced concrete in chloride-laden environments. It concludes with a look to the future, including research needs to be addressed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.