Damage model of concrete subjected to coupling chemical attacks and freeze-thaw cycles in saline soil area

Concrete in saline soil area is subjected to chemical attacks and freeze-thaw cycles, which both considerably decrease the service life of concrete structures. In this research, we aimed to assess the durability of concrete in saline soil area under the coupling action of CO32−-SO42− attacks and freeze-thaw cycles. A new damage model was established based on the logistic function for the first time to describe the freeze-thaw damage to concrete. Then, tests on CO32−-SO42− attack, freeze-thaw, and coupled salt attack-freeze-thaw were performed. The experimental results showed that CO32− exerted a more severe effect on the salt-freeze-thaw damage to concrete than SO42−. The comparison results showed that the theoretical values well agreed with the experimental ones. The analysis indicated that the damage model can potentially be used to predict the damage degree of concrete in saline soil area under the coupling effect of CO32−-SO42− attacks and freeze-thaw cycles.