Chloride transport in concrete modeled by the FE^2-method

An FE^2-method is employed for modeling diffusion of chloride ions in concrete. Concrete is considered on the mesoscale, within a representative volume element (RVE), as a heterogeneous composite material consisting of the cement paste, ballast and the interfacial transition zone (ITZ). In addition, the proposed model accounts for the fact that the diffusion of chloride ions is cross-coupled to the diffusion of moisture