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NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF ASR INDUCED DETERIORATION OF

CONCRETE BEAMS BASED ON A HYGRO-CHEMO-MECHANICAL
MODEL
G. Meschke (1), M. Gofman (1) and F. Bangert (2)

(1) Institute for Structural Mechanics, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
(2) Hochtief Construction AG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Abstract
A hygro-chemo-mechanical model for ASR affected concrete (Bangert et. al [1]) is applied to
the durability analysis of ASR-affected concrete beams. The experimental results are taken
from a comprehensive testing campaign performed at LCPC [2]. An ASR-affected beam and
an inert beam have been re-analyzed to investigate the applicability of the numerical model.
Using the ASR-affected beams as a validation example, the presentation focuses on the
discussion of the model assumptions in view of the computational results obtained.

1. INTRODUCTION
The alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is one of the most hazardous chemical deterioration
mechanisms in concrete structures which considerably affects the structural integrity of
concrete infrastructure, such as highways, dams etc. ASR is a chemical reaction between
alkali hydroxides, primarily generated from the alkalis in the cement, and reactive forms of
silica within the aggregate particles. The reaction leads to the alkali-silica gel as reaction
product. In the presence of water the gel swells, creating an increasing internal pressure. This
swelling pressure causes excessive expansion, the development and propagation of cracks as
well as a considerable reduction of the mechanical properties.
For durability-oriented computational analyses a hygro-chemo-mechanical model has been
developed [1]. This multiphase model is formulated on a macroscopic level within the
framework of the Theory of Porous Media [3]. Concrete is regarded as a mixture of three
main superimposed and interacting constituents: the matrix, the pore liquid and the pore gas.
The matrix material is represented as a binary mixture of the un-reacted, un-swollen and the
already reacted, swollen material. When ASR takes place, mass of the un-reacted material is
non-instantaneously converted into mass of the reacted material according to a first order
kinetic law. The proposed model is based on two chemical material parameters, which can be
determined by macroscopic strain measurements on reactive concrete specimens and which
strongly dependent on the moisture content.
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2. REACTION KINETICS OF ASR
The ASR in concrete is a chemical reaction between the high alkaline pore water and the
amorphous silica present in reactive aggregates [4]. It starts with the dissolution of silica on
the surface of the aggregates. In this topochemical reaction, hydroxyl ions from the pore water
disrupt silioxane and silanol bonds of the poor crystallized silica network. The dissolution
process results in the formation of a gel at the aggregate surface, which is hydrophilic. In a
sufficient humid environment the gel imbibes water and swells. The swelling exerts a pressure
on the concrete skeleton inducing expansions in localized regions which, in turn, lead to the
opening of cracks and to a disruption of the affected concrete.
In the proposed macroscopic modelling framework the progress of the alkali-silica reaction
is phenomenologically described by a non-dimensional reaction extent [ ] 1 , 0 , where 0 =

represents the beginning and 1 =

the end of the reaction [5]. The evolution of is defined
by a first-order kinetic law [6]

) 1 (
1

dt
d
, (1)
where is the characteristic time of the reaction. Integrating equation (1) for constant
environmental conditions (

= const.) yields


=
/
1
t
e . (2)
3. HYGRO-CHEMO-MECHANICAL MODEL FOR ASR-AFFECTED
CONCRETE
3.1 Multiphase Model for Concrete
Concrete is a heterogeneous medium, which is interpreted as a mixture of the skeleton
s
,
the pore liquid
l
and the pore gas
g
. The concrete skeleton itself is a porous material
which, in the proposed model [1], is regarded as a binary mixture of two constituents: the
unreacted skeleton material
u
and the reacted skeleton material
r
after completion of
ASR.
Following the classical concepts of the Theory of Porous Media the volume fraction

is
defined as the ratio of the volume

dv occupied by the constituent

to the volume dv
occupied by the mixture :

dv
dv

= , 1 = + +
g l s
,
r u s
+ = . (3)
The porosity of the porous medium
0
is identified as the sum of the volume fractions of the
pore liquid and the pore gas:

g l
+ =
0
. (4)
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In a partially saturated porous medium, the ratio of the volume fractions of the pore liquid
and the pore gas to the porosity denotes the liquid saturation
l
s

and the gas saturation
g
s ,
respectively:

0

=
l
l
s ,
0

=
g
g
s , 1 = +
g l
s s . (5)
The material density

and the partial density

of each constituent

are defined as
the ratio of the local mass

dm to the volume element

dv and dv, respectively:

=
dv
dm
,

= =
dv
dm
. (6)
Consequently, the partial density of the skeleton is composed of an un-reacted and a reacted
part:

r r u u s s s
+ = = . (7)
3.2 Balance equations
Neglecting any mass exchange between the skeleton and the pore fluids and using the
seepage velocity
' '
s
x x w =

, the mass balance equations of the pore fluids are given by

0 ) ( div
t
= +

w , g l, = . (8)
Assuming the two constituents building up the solid skeleton as incompressible, the
associated partial mass balance equations result in the following volume balance equations

u
u
1
t

,
u
r
1
t

, with 1 >

=
r
u
. (10)
These equations are based on the assumption, that the kinetics of the alkali-silica reaction and,
consequently, the mass exchange between the un-reacted and reacted phase follow the first
order kinetic law (1). The equations (10) can be integrated analytically for constant
environment conditions. With the initial volume fraction of the unreacted phase
u
0
one
obtains

) 1 (
0
=
u u
, =
u
0
r
. (11)
3.3 Transport laws
According to van Genuchten [7] the dependency of the liquid saturation on the capillary
pressure
l g c
p p p =

can be expressed by


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m
n
r
c
c l
p
p
p s

(
(

|
|

\
|
+ = 1 ) ( , (12)
where
r
p and n m / 1 1 = are material parameters.
Denoting the intrinsic permeability of the porous material by
0
k , the relative permeability
by

r
k and the dynamic viscosity by

, the transport of the pore fluids can be described by

Darcys law

) p ( grad
k k
r 0

= w , g l, = . (13)
According to Couture et al. [8] the relative permeability of the pore liquid can be written as
the function of the liquid saturation

|
|

\
|

=
< <
) ( / ) (
min
) (
1
l
l
c
l
l
c
S s
r l l
r
s
s
p
S
s
p
s k
l l
,
(14)
where r is a material parameter, which has to be calibrated from experimental data.
3.4 Constitutive laws
The total stress state of all the constituents is given by the sum of the effective and fluid-
related stresses [3]

) , (
c s s s
p B F + = , ) , (
c
p B F

+ = , g l, = , (15)
where B is the Biot tensor and ) , (
c
p B F is the tensor associated with the gaseous and hygral
stresses, which is given by analogy with Daltons law:

) , ( ) 1 ( ) , ( ) , (
c g l c l l c
p s p s p B F B F B F + = . (16)
Neglecting the fluid frictional stresses 0 =
g l


and summing up the partial stress
tensors, the overall stress tensor of the porous material is given by

) , (
c s
p B F + = . (17)
For the isotropic case I B
l
s = and B B F
c c
p p = ) , ( , one obtains the well known concept of
effective stresses [3]:

I
c l s
p s + = . (18)
The ASR induced volumetric expansion
a
s
is related to the change of the density of the
skeleton as a consequence of the transition of the un-reacted portion of the matrix material to
the reacted portion [1]:

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1
0

=
s
s
a
s
. (19)
Herein,
u s
0
= denotes the initial material density of the skeleton. Inserting equations (7) and
(11) into equation (19) yields the macroscopic ASR expansion as a function of the reaction
extent:

= ) 1 (
a
s
. (20)
Considering the ASR expansion as irreversible and employing a nonlocal damage model, the
constitutive relation for the effective stresses reads

) ( : ) ( I C
a
s s
s
d = , (21)
with d as a scalar damage parameter. Considering the volume fraction of the skeleton affected
by damage, the damaged stiffness tensor of the porous medium is given by

s
d d C C ) 1 )( 1 ( ) (
0
= , (22)
where
s
C denotes the elasticity tensor of the skeleton. The damage parameter d is an explicit
function of the internal damage variable

measuring the accumulation of damage given by:

])] [ exp( 1 [ 1
0 2 1 1
0
+

= d . (23)
The constants
1
,
2
are material parameters and
0
is the initial damage threshold. The
evolution of is governed by the criterion

0 , (24)
with the non-local equivalent strain . The non-local equivalent strain is calculated on the
basis of the following differential equation

)) grad( div( = g , (25)
Herein,

denotes the local equivalent strain and g is the gradient parameter [9].
4. NUMERICAL APPLICATION
The proposed chemo-hygro-mechanical model for ASR-affected concrete is applied to the
re-analysis of experiments conducted at the Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chausses
(LCPC) [2]. These tests were carried out on simply supported beams with 3 m length, 0.25 m
thickness and 0.50 m height (Fig. 1). The beams were, after curing, subjected to a moisture
gradient generated by immersing the bottom part with a depth of 70 mm into water and
exposing the upper surface to the ambient relative humidity of 30 %. Moisture transport from
the lateral faces was prohibited by sealing the faces by sheets of watertight aluminum to
create a moisture flow oriented in vertical direction only. The beams were exposed to
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constant environmental conditions at 38C for about one year and were not loaded during this
period.
A 3D finite element model of one fourth of the beam was used in conjunction with the
presented ASR damage model. In the analyses, the following material and model parameters
were used: Youngs modulus
s
E = 42500 N/mm
2
, Poissons ratio
s
= 0.2, initial damage
threshold
0

= 10
-4
, softening parameters
1
= -38.3,
2
= 199.5, initial porosity
0
=
0.158.


Fig.1. Cross-section of the investigated concrete beam and hygral boundary conditions

The initial saturation was specified as
l
s
0
= 0.85, the intrinsic permeability
0
k = 1.5
.
10
-16
mm
2
, the parameters for the ) (
c l
p s relation (12) were taken as 33 =
r
p

N/mm
2
and m =
0.529 and the parameters for the relative permeability law (14) were taken as r = 0,2. The
relationship between the asymptotic expansion and the liquid saturation as well as the
characteristic time of the reaction have been identified from test results on cylindrical
specimens of the dame aggregate type and concrete mix reported in [2] as

[%] 33 , 0 s 66 , 0
l a
, s
=

,

] d [ 200 s 3 , 133
l
+ = . (26)
The left diagram in Fig. 2 illustrates the evolution of the water mass variation per unit area
of the beam with time both obtained from the experiments on a reactive and a non-reactive
beam and the analysis. The experiments show relatively small differences between reactive
and non-reactive beams. The liquid mass variation m per unit of drying area taken as the
mean values from all measurements can be expressed as a function of the square root of time
as [2]

] m / g [ 591 t 218 m
2
+ = , (27)
with time t in days. The analysis result corresponds satisfactorily with the regression line (27)
taken from the measurements. The increase of the beam weight during the first ten days,
which has not been observed in all tests, could, however, not be replicated by the model.
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Fig. 2. Left: Variations of mass related to the drying area as function of time obtained from
the experiments and from the numerical model. Right: Profiles of mass variation along the
height of the beam according to the model compared with an idealized profile deducted from
measurements [2]

The right diagram in Fig. 2 shows distributions of the relative mass variation along the
height of the beam at 5 different time instants as obtained from the numerical simulations.
These results are compared with the idealized mass variation profile for the 430
th
day obtained
on the basis of the experiments [2]. Because of the larger gradient of the capillary stresses the
drying process in the vicinity of the upper face is faster than the water uptake from the
bottom. After 430 days the drying front has penetrated almost 150 mm while the wetting front
from the bottom face has reached a penetration depth of app. 100 mm. Between 200 mm and
350 mm from the bottom face almost no change of water content is observed. The maximum
mass loss at the upper (drying) part of the beam has been measured as app. 6% [2] and was
obtained in the numerical analysis as app. 5%.
The left diagram in Fig. 3 shows the distribution of the ASR-induced expansion
a
s
along
the height of the beam for different time instants. At the beginning of the test the liquid
saturation is high and almost constant. Hence, the ASR-induced expansion also shows almost
constant distribution at low values of % 02 , 0 01 , 0
a
s
after 4 days. Only within narrow area
near to the upper surface, the low water saturation prohibits any ASR-induced expansion. In
the lower part of the beam, the increasing water saturation leads to a strong and fast ASR
reaction accompanied by an increase of the ASR-induced expansion within the first 150 days.
During this period, the region affected by ASR expansion has penetrated approximately 40
cm into the beam, with the strongest increase in the bottom region of 7 cm permanently
exposed to full saturation. After this initial period, the ASR reaction slows down. After 400
days the maximum ASR-induced expansion at the bottom face is obtained as % 326 , 0
a
s
.

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Fig.3. Left: Computed profiles of ASR-induced expansion
a
s
along the height of the
beam. Right: Evolution of the ASR-expansion in three points along the axis of symmetry and
measurements from cylindrical specimens

The diagram on the right-hand side of Fig.3 illustrates the evolution of the expansion
a
s
at
three points located along the axis of symmetry with time. The drying process decelerates the
ASR reaction kinetics at the top of the beam, leading to a complete stop after app. 300 days,
while in the parts continuously exposed to moisture, the ASR-expansion is continuously
increasing, finally reaching asymptotic values after app. 250 days. This indicates, that the
ASR reaction has come to an end. The right-hand side of Fig. 3 also contains a comparison of
the experimental and computed ASR expansion at point A. Except the delay of ASR
expansion within the first 2 weeks observed in the measurements, a satisfactory correlation is
observed. The deviation between model predictions and measurements in the early stage
possibly results from the fact, that the initial filling of the pore space in the vicinity of the
aggregates, which delays the built up of pressure acting on the matrix surrounding the
aggregates, is not considered in the present model.
Fig. 4 illustrates the spatial distribution of the liquid saturation
l
s , the expansion
a
s
and
the damage parameter d along the outer face of the beam at selected stages of the loading
history. The sequence of contour plots shows that the upward directed moisture transport
raises the saturation from the bottom of the beam. At an early stage, skin cracking resulting
from the change of capillary pressure during moisture uptake in the bottom part immersed in
water is observed. At this stage, ASR-induced expansion has not yet started. The moisture-
induced activation of reaction kinetics starting from the bottom leads to the upwards
propagation of ASR-expansion, following the moisture transport. However, ASR-induced
cracking starts along the outer face of the beam in the vicinity of the top face. It should be
noted, that this cracking process constitutes a rather complex 3D process which is only
partially reflected in the contour plots in Fig. 4. The ASR induced skin cracking grows
rapidly downwards to app. 120 mm after 20 days and app 230 mm after 150 days. At the same
time, it starts to penetrate into the core of the beam, while, more slowly, the thickness of the
damaged zone at the surface gradually increases
i
. After app. 300 days, the ASR-induced
damage has reached a stationary state, reflecting, that the ASR reaction has almost completely
come to an end.
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Fig.4. Spatial distribution of the liquid saturation
l
s , the expansion
a
s
and the damage
parameter d at the front face of the beam at different stages of the loading history.

5. CONCLUSIONS
In the paper, a chemo-hygro-mechanical damage model formulated in the framework of the
Theory of Porous Media developed in [1] has been applied to numerical damage analyses of a
test series performed on ASR-affected beams [2]. In the model, a first order chemical reaction
kinetics model based on two chemical material parameters that can be determined from
standard ASR-tests is used. The interaction of the ASR-reaction with moisture transport is
described in the framework of a three-phase model for partially saturated concrete. From the
analyses of the tests, characterized by the simultaneous drying from the top and water uptake
from the bottom, the following conclusions are drawn:
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The realistic modelling of the moisture distribution within the beam strongly depends on
the chosen assumptions for the relative permeability, which varies over several orders of
magnitude in the saturation range between 0,6 and 1.
The present model was able to capture all measured data both related to the moisture
loss, spatial moisture distribution and ASR expansion.
The interaction between the dynamics of the transport process and the ASR reaction
leads to a complex cracking mechanism starting from the outer surfaces and slowly
penetrating into the core of the beam.
Although the intrinsic cracking process at the meso-level (i.e. the formation of radial
cracks in the vicinity of the aggregates) has been neglected, damage resulting from
restrained deformation (i.e. the ,,structural effect of ASR expansion) is well predicted
by the model. From studies performed in [1] it is concluded, that this structural effects
dominates the structural degradation of the beam.
ASR-induced damage constitutes a priori a three-dimensional mechanism which
requires fully 3D numerical analyses.

REFERENCES
[1] Bangert F., Kuhl D. and Meschke G., 'Chemo-hygro-mechanical modeling and numerical
simulation of concrete deterioration caused by alkali-silica reaction', International Journal for
Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, 28 (2004) 689-714.
[2] Multon S., 'Evaluation exprimentale et thorique des effets mcaniques de l'alcali-raction sur
des structures modles', Dissertation, Universit de Marne la Valle, (2003).
[3] Ehlers W., 'Foundations of multiphasic and porous materials', in: 'Porous Media: Theory,
Experiments and Numerical Applications', (Springer, Berlin, 2002) 386.
[4] Dent Glasser L.S. and Kataoka N., 'The chemistry of alkali-aggregate reaction', Cement and
Concrete Research, 11 (1981) 1-9.
[5] Coussy O., 'Mechanics of Porous Continua', (Wiley, Chichester, 1995).
[6] Atkins P.W., 'Physical Chemistry', (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998).
[7] Van Genuchten M.T., 'A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of
unsaturated soils', Soil Science Society of America, 44 (1980) 892898.
[8] Couture F., Jomaa W., and Puiggali J.R., 'Relative permeability relations: a key factor for a drying
model', Trans. Porous Media, 23 (1996) 303-335.
[9] Peerlings, R.H.J., R. de Borst, W.A.M. Brekelmans & J.H.P. de Vree (1996), Gradient enhanced
damage for quasi-brittle materials. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering
39, 3391-3403.

i
This cannot be visualized in the planar distributions illustrated in Fig. 4