Numerical modelling of mechanical deterioration of cement mortar under external sulfate attack

An integrated numerical method is developed to model the deterioration of mechanical properties of cement mortar under external sulfate attack (ESA). The proposed method is module-oriented, which includes three modules, i.e. an ionic diffusion module, a chemical reaction module and a mechanical module. In the mechanical module, an analytical model is developed for evaluating the variation of flexural strength under ESA. The development of...