Effect of Carbonation on Chloride Maximum Phenomena of Concrete Subjected to Cyclic Wetting–Drying Conditions: A Numerical and Experimental Study

The combined action of chloride and carbonation generally accelerates chloride penetration in concrete. Plenty of studies have revealed a chloride maximum phenomenon in the chloride profiles of concrete under wetting and drying cycles, which affects the accuracy of the service life prediction of concrete structures. Carbonation is probably one of crucial factors inducing chloride maximum phenomena. To investigate the influence of carbonation on chloride distribution of concrete subjected to cyclic wetting–drying conditions, this study established a numerical model coupling carbonation effect, simulated chloride distribution at different carbonation degrees, and verified the simulation results with experimental results. The results show that a chloride peak appears in all predicted chloride profiles when carbonation effect is taken into account, and the higher the carbonation degree is, the more significant the chloride peak is. This demonstrates that carbonation can enhance the forming of chloride maximum phenomenon under cyclic wetting and drying. Moreover, the calculated results are highly consistent with the experimental results under different carbonation conditions, especially in terms of the peak chloride concentration and the corresponding depth. Furthermore, the significance degree of the chloride maximum phenomenon is closely related to some key parameters, such as CO2 concentration, environmental humidity, and temperature.