Numerical simulation on the coupled chemo-mechanical damage of underground concrete pipe

Long-termly used in water supply, an underground concrete pipe is easily subjected to the coupled action of pressure loading and flowing water, which can cause the chemo-mechanical damage of the pipe, resulting in its premature failure and lifetime reduction. Based on the leaching characteristics and damage mechanism of concrete pipe, this paper proposes a coupled chemo-mechanical damage and failure model of underground concrete pipe for water supply, including a calcium leaching model, mechanical damage equation and a failure criterion. By using the model, a numerical simulation is performed to analyze the failure process of underground concrete pipe, such as the time-varying calcium concentration in concrete, the thickness variation of pipe wall, the evolution of chemo-mechanical damage, the distribution of concrete stress on the pipe and the lifetime of the pipe. Results show that, the failure of the pipe is a coupled chemo-mechanical damage process companied with calcium leaching. During its damage and failure, the concentrations of calcium phase in concrete decrease obviously with the time, and it can cause an increase in the chemo-mechanical damage of the pipe, while the leaching and abrasion induced by flowing water can lead to the boundary movement and wall thickness reduction of the pipe, and it results in the stress redistribution on the pipe section, a premature failure and lifetime reduction of the pipe.