Prediction of Remaining Service Life of Prestressed Concrete Girders Containing Cracks

Most concrete service life models are designed for uncracked conditions, and the effect of microcracks on such models has not been as well researched. A service life model for concrete structures that takes into account microcracking is presented. A unique feature of this model is that its input parameters can be determined using only nondestructive methods, thus allowing it to be used when samples for laboratory tests cannot be extracted--for example, in in-service or critical infrastructure. The model was developed for low water-cementitious materials ratio (w/cm) concrete mixtures and validated on full-scale prestressed concrete girders. The results showed that the presence of a large number of microcracks could cause a loss in the remaining service life of concrete structures, even if individual microcracks did not cause a significant impact. Keywords: concrete girders; microcracks; precast concrete; prediction models; service life.