Evaluating changes of transport properties of chemically degrading concrete using a coupled reactive transport model

This paper presents a model to simulate chemical degradation of concrete due to leaching. The model considers simultaneously the multi-scale nature of concrete, a thermodynamic description of cement phases, and time-variable transport properties. It is implemented in the generic simulator HP1, which simulates the reactive transport in variably-saturated porous media. To illustrate the capabilities of the program, we simulate diffusive transport through concrete in contact with waters of different solution compositions (i.e., concentrations of major cations and anions and inorganic carbon contents) and use a homogenization scheme for upscaling tortuosity. The simulations show the coupled effects between geochemical state variables, transport properties, and durability criteria for cementitious materials used in near-surface radioactive waste disposal facilities.