Jukka Lahdensivu Tampere University of Technology, Department of Structural Engineering

Hanna Tietvinen, Pentti Pirinen Finnish Meteorological Institute

CORROSION OF REINFORCEMENT IN EXISTING CONCRETE FACADES

Corrosion of reinforcement in existing concrete facades

Contents: - Finnish building stock - Objectives and research material - Results - Conclusions

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

FINNISH BUILDING STOCK

Half of Finnish apartment buildings has been built between 1960 and 1979 pre cast concrete buildings. Totally app. 44 Mm2 concrete facades, 975 000 concrete balconies until 2005 (and 5,2 million inhabitants). Remarkable repair need after short service life.
Finnish building stock in numbers, 2008
apartments
3 000 000 2 700 000 2 400 000 2 100 000 1 800 000 1 500 000 1 200 000 900 000 600 000 300 000 0

All buildings Apartment houses

whole building stock built before 1960 built in 1960 - 1979 Department2008 of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

Precast concrete facade panel

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

Precast concrete facade panel

Outer layer 70 mm

Inner layer 80 mm

Mesh 3-150
Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

Precast concrete facade panel

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

Finnish building stock

other metal wood brick concrete pre cast concrete rendering

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

Vainio et al. 2005 Vainio et al. 2005

OBJECTIVE AND RESEARCH MATERIAL

Objective: To study the factors that have actually had an impact to the existence and progress of corrosion of reinforcement in existing Finnish concrete facades. Research material consist of: The database of deterioration and material properties of existing Finnish concrete facade panels built up between 1961 and 1996. Weather observations since 1961 made by FMI.

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

The data of deterioration and material properties is collected Some basic data from the database from condition assessment reports of 946 existing concrete buildings.

One condition assessment report include a lot of information about the building: - A lot of information is in numerical form, like cover depths of steel bars, carbonation depth of concrete, porosity of concrete, thickness of insulation layer etc. - Quite lot of information is also in verbal form, like thinsection analyses, situation and amount of visual damage, condition of coatings etc.

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

Objective and research material

Weather data consist of: annual liquid precipitation wind directions and wind speed during the rain gathered from coast line (Turku), south coastal area (Vantaa) and inland (Jyvskyl).

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

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RESULTS, Carbonation depth of concrete

- Carbonation depth of concrete varies a lot depending on surface treatment of panel and material properties of concrete - Typical carbonation depth is between 10 and 20 mm in concrete panels made in the 1970s.
Corbonation of concrete according to surface finishing
25 20
carbonation depth [mm]
fast, k = 3,2 brushed, painted float-finished painted plain concrete uncoated plain concrete exposed aggregate concrete brushed uncoated brick tile finishing white cement concrete

15 10 5 0 0 10 20 30 time [years] 40 50

ceramic tile finishing

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

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RESULTS, Cover depth of reinforcement

Mesh, exposed aggregate concrete kohteissa peitepaksuusmittarilla mitattuna

(n=147)
0% 0% 3%

Verkkotersten peitepaksuudet tietokannan

Verkkotersten Mesh, ceramic peitepaksuudet tile mitattuna; peitepaksuusmittarilla finishing klinkkeripintainen (n=43)
0%2%

11 %

8%

31 %
0-4 mm 5-9 mm

0-4 mm
5-9 mm

22 %
10-14 mm 15-19 mm

28 %
10-14 mm 15-19 mm 20-24 mm 25 mm

64 %

20-24 mm 25 mm

31 %

According to Finnish building codes, cover depth should be > 20 mm.

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

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RESULTS, Visual corrosion damage

- During condition assessment visual corrosion damages was seen - 59.2 % of all Finnish concrete facades - 53.5 % were local - 5.7 % were wide spread. - Age of buildings varied between 8 and 32 years when the condition assessment was conducted - Visually seen corrosion damages were more common in the coastal area than inland.

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

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RESULTS, Visual corrosion damage

- During condition assessment visual corrosion damages was seen - 59.2 % of all Finnish concrete facades - 53.5 % were local - 5.7 % were wide spread. - Age of buildings varied between 8 and 32 years when the condition assessment was conducted - Visually seen corrosion damages were more common in the coastal area than inland.

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

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Visual corrosion damages and weather stress

Corrosion speed depends strongly on the amount of rain.

800

700
Annual rainfall [mm]

600 500 400 300 200 100 0 1960 1970 1980

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

Vantaa Turku Jyvskyl 1990 2000 2010

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Year

Influence of prevailing wind directions

Only app. 50 % of rain to facades.

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RESULTS, Corrosion induced by chlorides

- Chloride-induced corrosion is uncommon in Finnish concrete facades

- The chloride content were high only four cases out of 946.

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CONCLUSIONS
Corrosion of reinforcement is caused by carbonation of concrete in Finnish concrete facades. Chloride-induced corrosion is not problem. Despite the fact that carbonation has achieved reinforcement widely, corrosion can bee visually seen only locally. The corrosion of reinforcement has been possible last 20 to 30 years in concrete facades made 1970s or earlier. Corrosion speed has strong relationship with the amount of rain and prevailing wind directions. Corrosion damages occurs mostly on southern and northern facades. Corrosion is more general in the upper parts of facades than first floors.

Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

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TUT campus

Hervanta suburban area in Tampere 28 000 inhabitants

Thank You.
jukka.lahdensivu@tut.fi
Department of Structural Engineering, Jukka Lahdensivu

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