Fabien Georget is a workgroup leader at RWTH Aachen University in Aachen Germany. He developed a new type of reactive transport simulator for cement paste during his PhD in Princeton University (2017). During his postdoc at EPFL, Switzerland, he extended his work to experimental investigations to develop more meaningful physical models for carbonation and chloride ingress. Since 2021, his team at RWTH Aachen University focuses on microstructure studies of cementitious materials to elucidate the hydration and durability mechanisms of eco-efficient cements.
Understanding chloride ingress in concrete
Chloride induced reinforcement corrosion is one of the main degradation mechanisms for reinforced concrete structures exposed to chloride loaded environments. It is a major threat to our global infrastructure. Even so, the fundamental mechanisms are still not fully understood. In this talk we will focus on the chloride ingress through the concrete cover protecting the steel from chloride induced corrosion. Commonly used prediction models for chloride ingress in concrete require extensive experimental data to make reliable long-term predictions. The expected changes in the cement compositions due to scarceness of materials and a movement towards more environmental cements, challenges these commonly applied partially experience-based models. We need a more fundamental understanding of the chloride ingress mechanisms in concrete. In this talk we will dive into chloride profiles, describe the state of the chlorides in concrete i.e. free, adsorbed and bound, and discuss how we should interpret chloride profiles and use them for predictions.