Compliance testing for probabilistic durability design purposes

Probabilistic service life design and probabilistic assessment of residual service life of civil engineering structures are currently becoming more and more important. In design situations, input values representing material resistances and expected field exposure conditions are needed in order to compute the probability of reaching a given structural state as a function of service time. Usually, the material resistances are obtained from laboratory tests. However, material performance observed under accelerated exposure conditions may differ from the performance observed in (long-term) natural exposure. Laboratory compliance tests performed (direct or indirect tests, test under accelerated or under natural conditions) should be reliable, reproducible, cheap, easy to perform and deliver precise results in a short period of time. Unfortunately, the tests rarely fulfil all these requirements. This paper considers this problem and develops a solution strategy based on the example of reinforcement corrosion induced by carbonation of concrete.