Life cycle analysis for concrete beams designed with cross-sections of equal durability

Durability at the corners of the cross-section is relatively weak in the concrete beams of bridges; the reinforcement at the corners therefore corrodes first. In order to delay durability failure at the corners, measures should be taken such as the application of corner concrete coatings or adjustments to the reinforcement at the corners. In this way, the durability resistance would be adjusted to be equal in the section, which is called the equal durability design method. In this paper, the life cycle analyses of a component designed with equal durability and one designed in the traditional way - both in a carbonation environment - are conducted and compared. A probabilistic model of service life is established based on empirical degradation models. Service life distribution is calculated with the Monte Carlo simulation method. Costs associated with durability failure are estimated based on the service life distribution. Related influencing factors are analysed as well. Finally, life cycle cost analyses of the component designed with equal durability and the one designed in the traditional way are conducted and compared. The results show that the component designed with equal durability is more economic over the life cycle if construction cost is kept within about 1.1 times that of the component designed traditionally.