Frontier Analysis on Optimal Inspection Times for Reinforced Concrete Structures

Abstract

Reinforced concrete is one of the most predominant materials in infrastructures throughout the world, hence management of the structures maintenance is an important subject of study in order to slow down the degradation process and to extend a structure lifespan. This work focus on a numerical model to find the best inspection planning for concrete structures under carbonation- induced corrosion, decomposed in three steps: (a) estimate the probability density function for critical failure time, (b) determine the optimal times for inspections sequences maximising its detectability; (c) multi-objective optimisation via frontier analysis to have a final relative ranking of inspection sequences. In short, this work answer the questions: when the inspections should be done and what are the best inspections for a given efficiency metric, under a set of parameters characterising the degradation process and inspection capabilities. Our formulation extend the models in the literature (e.g. detectability function) and its seems that the multidirectional efficiency analysis algorithm used here is better suited for real situations.