International standards for

durability of RC structures:
Part II — Recommendations
for IS 456 : 2000

M.B. Anoop, K. Balaji Rao, T .V

T.V .S.R. Appa Rao,
.V.S.R.
S. Gopalakrishnan

The first part of this paper, published in September 2001 issue Recommendations for changes in
of this journal, contained a detailed review of the provisions IS 456: 2000
in various international codes and standards for ensuring
Durability of concrete structures was one of the major thrust
durability of reinforced concrete structures. The recently revised
area for changes in the recent revision of IS 456. In this revision,
IS 456 : 2000 identifies durability as a major criterion in the in order to introduce in-built protection from factors affecting
design of RC structures; however, the review of various a structure, the existing durability related clause in
international durability provisions indicates that there is a IS 456 : 1978 has been improved and elaborated, and a detailed
scope for improvement in the current provisions for durability. clause covering different aspects of design of durable
The part II of the paper* presents a list of recommendations for structure has been incorporated. For example, while IS 456 :
changes in the durability provisions of IS 456 : 2000. 1978 defines only three classes of exposure, IS 456 : 2000
defines five classes of exposure thus providing a more detailed
(Continued from pp. 559-569 of September 2001 issue)
classification. The maximum value of w-c ratio for mild
In 1996, CEB decided to accept a performance-based approach
exposure condition specified by IS 456 : 1978 was 0.65, which
with explicit attention for the design life, limit states and
is very high compared to most of other codes of practice and
reliability. The Western Scheldt tunnel (in Netherlands) is the
has been reduced to 0.55 in IS 456 : 2000. While IS 456 : 1978
first concrete structure that has been designed completely on
specified a minimum grade of concrete to be used for all RC
the basis of service life, performance and reliability concepts1.
constructions irrespective of the exposure classes,
Attempts are being made internationally to incorporate the
IS 456 : 2000 specifies explicitly the minimum grade of concrete
concept of service life in the codes of practices. This change in
to be used in different exposure zones. While these changes
trend world over has been reflected in the recently-revised
will help in integrating the service life design with limit state
Indian standard code of practice for plain and reinforced concrete,
design, there is a scope for improvement over the current
IS 456 : 2000, in which durability is identified as a major criteria
in the design of RC structures and due emphasis is given to
the specifications of durability requirements2.

November 2001 * The Indian Concrete Journal 693

Table 1: Proposed exposure classification for IS 456 : 2000
Exposure Definition of exposure conditions as stated in IS 456 : 2000
class
Mild Concrete surfaces protected against weather or
aggressive conditions, except those situated in coastal area
Moderate Concrete surfaces sheltered severe rain or freezing whilst wet
Concrete exposed to condensation and rain
Concrete continuously under water
Concrete in contact or buried under non-aggressive soil/ground water
Concrete surfaces in coastal zone sheltered from salt air
Concrete surfaces sheltered from saturated salt air in coastal areas
Severe Concrete surfaces exposed to severe rain, alternate wetting and drying,
or occasional freezing whilst wet or severe condensation
Concrete completely immersed in sea water
Concrete exposed to coastal environment
Very severe Concrete surfaces exposed to sea water spray, corrosive fumes
or severe freezing conditions whilst wet
Concrete in contact with or buried under aggressive
sub-soil/ground water
Extreme Surface of members in tidal zone
Members in direct contact with liquid/solid aggressive chemicals
Note: * the classification specified in Eurocode 2 is used for the classification of chemical environment; for details refer Table. 5.8-3 of reference 39
Modified definition of exposure conditions suggested
Concrete surfaces in inland zone protected against weather
or not exposed to aggressive conditions
Concrete members in inland zone with low temperature and low rainfall
Concrete members in inland or near-coastal zone with medium temperature and low
to medium rainfall
Concrete members in near-coastal zone protected against weather or not exposed to
aggressive conditions
Concrete members submerged in fresh water
Concrete in contact with or buried under non-aggressive sub-soil or ground water
Concrete members in inland or near-coastal zone with high temperature
Concrete members in inland or near-coastal zone with medium temperature and heavy
rainfall
Concrete members in coastal zone with medium temperature
Concrete members submerged in seawater
Concrete members in contact with slightly aggressive chemical environments*
Concrete members in coastal zone with high temperature
Concrete members in inland zone with very low temperature (annual average
temperature less than 10oC) and medium to heavy rainfall
Concrete members in tidal zone
Concrete members in contact with moderately aggressive chemical environments*
Concrete members exposed to seawater spray
Concrete members in contact with highly aggressive chemical environments*

provisions for durability. The following recommendations

are proposed for consideration in the future revision of on many of the deterioration processes. The average
IS 456 : 2000. These recommendations are based on the review annual rainfall available in different parts of the
presented in this paper, and the information available in the country as shown in Fig 2. Broadly, three different
public domain on temperature, rainfall and corrosion rainfall regions can be identified in India; heavy rainfall
aggressivity of environment. regions (regions with annual rainfall greater than 200
cm), medium rainfall regions (regions with annual
(i) IS 456 : 2000 defines five classes of exposure, as against rainfall between 40 cm and 200 cm), and low rainfall
three classes of exposure defined in IS 456 : 1978, to regions (regions with annual rainfall less than 40 cm).
cater for different environments encountered in The concentration of chloride and carbon dioxide
practice. These definitions of exposure conditions are define the corrosivity of the environment. It can be
general and are qualitative. A more rational
classification of the exposure conditions can be made
based on the available information on the
environmental parameters influencing the durability
of reinforced concrete. The major environmental
parameters that influence the different deterioration
mechanisms in reinforced concrete are temperature,
rainfall, and concentration of chlorides and carbon
dioxide3,4. For instance, it is known that an increase in
temperature accelerates the chemical reactions leading
to the deterioration of reinforced concrete. A simple
rule-of-thumb is that an increase in temperature of
10oC causes a doubling of the rate of reaction5. The
annual average temperatures for different parts of
the country are shown in Fig 1. Based on the annual
average temperature, India can be broadly divided
into three regions, namely, high temperature regions
(regions with average annual temperature greater
than 27.5oC), medium temperature regions (regions
with average annual temperature between 20.0oC and
27.5oC), and low temperature regions (regions with
average annual temperature less than 20.0oC).

The amount of rainfall influences the moisture

conditions within the cover zone of the concrete4. The source: www.mapsofindia.com
moisture conditions in concrete have significant effect Fig 1 The average annual temperature in India

694 The Indian Concrete Journal * November 2001

Table 2: Values of diffusion coefficients for OPC concrete and concrete Thus, the time to initiation of reinforcement
with PFA as cement replacement material based on experiments carried corrosion increases.
out at SERC, Chennai 43
No Cement Water- Cement Superpl- Compressive Diffusion SERC, Chennai has been conducting
replacement binder content, asticiser, strength at coefficient, experiments for characterising the durability
90 days × 10 , m /s
3 3 -12 2
material, percent ratio kg/m l/m 28 days
properties of ordinary portland cement concrete
1 - 0.3 520 13 83.5 93.7 0.204
(OPC) and high performance cement concrete
2 25 percent flyash 0.3 390 13 85.2 94.0 0.102
(HPC) mixes. Some of the results of these
3 50 percent flyash 0.4 240 2.4 40.0 45.0 0.047
experiments for concrete with pulverised fly ash
Note: The values of diffusion coefficient reported here are based on the results obtained from rapid
chloride penetration test (RCPT) of 6 hours duration performed according to AASHTO specifications 11 (PFA) as cement replacement material are given
in Table 2. From this table, it is noted that as the
amount of cement replacement material
increases, the value of diffusion coefficient of concrete
observed from the corrosivity map of India, Fig 3,
for chlorides decreases. For instance, value of diffusion
that the corrosivity of the environment depends upon
coefficient of concrete with 25 percent PFA as cement
the distance from the sea. The Australian code,
replacement material is about half of that of OPC
AS 3600, classifies the exposure in accordance with the 6
concrete . This is attributed to the improvement in
distance of the structure from the coastline. Following
microstructure of concrete due to the addition of PFA.
the exposure classification specified in AS 3600, three
The durability based service life design of structures
zones can be identified for classifying the
involves the determination of the time to corrosion
environmental aggressivity in India, namely :
initiation. The time to corrosion initiation can be
• inland zone (greater than 50 km from the coastline), determined using Fick’s second law of diffusion. This
requires the values of diffusion coefficient, surface
• near-coastal zone (1 to 50 km rom the coastline), and chloride content, and critical chloride content.
• coastal zone (less than1km from the coastline). Experiments by Thomas and Takagi et al have shown
that for reinforcement embedded in concrete with
Also, the aggressive chemical environment, which has mineral admixtures, the value of critical chloride
been classified as extreme exposure in IS 456 : 2000, can be content is smaller compared to reinforcement
divided into three sub-classes as defined in Eurocode 2 as 7,8
embedded in OPC concrete . For instance, Thomas
slightly aggressive chemical environment, moderately has reported a critical chloride content of 0.50 percent
aggressive chemical environment, and highly aggressive by weight of cementitious material for concrete with
chemical environment. In IS 456 : 2000, tidal zone is classified 30 percent PFA as cement replacement material while
as extreme exposure while sea water spray is considered to the critical chloride content for OPC concrete is 0.70
be very severe exposure. It is noted from literature that sea percent by weight of cement7.
4
water spray conditions are more severe than tidal condition .
Based on the above discussion, it is proposed to redefine the The time to corrosion initiation determined using
environmental exposure conditions. The proposed exposure values of diffusion coefficient (diffusion coefficient
classification is given in Table 1. values based on field tests and laboratory tests)

(ii) IS 456 : 2000 specifies limits on total

amount of chloride content in the
Table 3: Computed values of time to initiation of corrosion of reinforcement
concrete at the time of placing. While this
embedded in OPC concrete (Mix-1) and concrete with 25 percent PFA as
reduces the risk of corrosion of cement replacement material (Mix-2)
reinforcement due to chlorides already
Exposure Concrete Cover, Surface chloride Critical chloride Diffusion Time for
present in the concrete, the risk due to class type mm iii content percent by content percent by coefficient, corrosion
ingress of chlorides from the weight of concrete
iv
weight of concrete
2
cm /s initiation,
environment is not considered. years
Specification of a critical chloride content Severe
i
Mix-1 45 0.25 0.125 5.0 x 10
-8
14.1
(the chloride content at which the steel Mix-2 45 0.33 0.100 1.0 x 10-8 30.3
depassivates and corrosion is initiated) Extreme
ii
Mix-1 75 0.40 0.125 5.0 x 10
-8
17.5
as given by BS 8110 and CEB Design Mix-2 75 0.53 0.100 1.0 x 10
-8
51.6
Guide will be useful in the durability- Note: * Values of diffusion coefficient reported in literature based on field tests (tests on concrete
based service life design for determining specimens in natural exposure conditions and on existing concrete structures
the service life of new structures and (i) RC member exposed to coastal environment with medium temperature
residual service life of existing structures. (ii) RC member exposed to splashing of seawater
Also, IS 456 : 2000 permits the use of (iii) Minimum cover thickness as per IS 456 : 2000
mineral admixtures in concrete to render (iv) Values of surface chloride content are based on the values reported in literature
concrete eco-friendly. The use of mineral If the cover to reinforcement provided is 35 mm instead of 45 mm for members exposed to severe
environmental conditions, the time to corrosion initiation reduces to 8.5 and 18.3 years for
admixtures in concrete reduces the rate mix-1 and mix-2, respectively. This shows the importance of quality of workmanship in
of diffusion of chlorides from the maintaining the cover thickness. The nominal cover specified by IS 456 : 2000 should be
environment into the cover concrete. strictly adhered to.

November 2001 * The Indian Concrete Journal 695

source: www.mapsofindia.com

Fig 2 The average annual rainfall in India

source: http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/AtmCorros/mapIndia.htm
reported in literature for OPC concrete and concrete
Fig 3 The corrosivity map of India
with 30 percent PFA as cement replacement material
are presented in Table 3. From this table, it is noted
that though the critical chloride content for PFA
materials such as PFA in reinforced concrete to enhance
concrete is lesser than that of OPC concrete, the time
the durability properties.
to corrosion initiation increases by 2 to 3 times for
concrete with PFA as compared to OPC concrete. This From the above discussion, it is clear that for
indicates the benefit of using cement replacement durability-based service life design of structures, there
is a need to specify the values of critical chloride content

Table 4: Requirements for durability (Eurocode 2)

Requirement Type of concrete Class of exposure
1 2a 2b 3 4a 4b 5a 5b 5c

Grade of concrete CE 32.5 cement C25 C30 C35 C30 C35 C30 C35 C40
CE 42.5 cement C30 C35 C40 C35 C40 C35 C40 C45
Maximum Plain - 0.70
water-cement ratio Reinforced 0.65 0.60 0.55 0.50 0.55 0.50 0.55 0.50 0.45
Prestressed 0.60 0.60
Minimum cement Plain 150 200 200 200
3
content, kg/m Reinforced 260 280 280 300 300 300 280 300 300
Prestressed 300 300 300 300
Minimum cover thicknes, mm
Concrete grade < C40/50
Slabs Reinforced 15 15 20 35 35 35 20 25 35
Prestressed 25 25 30 45 45 45 30 35 45
Other members Reinforced 15 20 25 40 40 40 25 30 40
Prestressed 25 30 25 50 50 50 25 40 50
Stronger concrete
Slabs Reinforced 15 15 15 30 30 30 15 20 35
Prestressed 25 25 25 40 40 40 25 30 45
Other members Reinforced 15 15 20 35 35 35 20 25 40
Prestressed 25 25 30 45 45 45 30 35 50
Minimum air content for maximum
size of aggregate, percent
32 mm 4 4 4
16 mm - - 5 5 - 5 - - -
8 mm 6 6 6
Frost-resistant aggregate - - Yes Yes - Yes - - -
Low permeability - - Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

696 The Indian Concrete Journal * November 2001

Table 5: Recommended values of minimum cover thickness for Table 6: Recommendations for changes in IS 456 : 2000
RC slabs
Parameter IS 456 : 2000 Recommendations
Exposure Minimum cover thickness* Recommended values of concrete
Exposure Five classes of exposure are A revised classification based
condition specified in IS 456 : 2000 cover thickness for slabs, mm
classification defined as in BS 8110, that is, on the major environmental
Mild 20** 15 mild, moderate, severe, very parameters influencing the
severe, extreme different deterioration
Moderate 30 25
mechanisms related to durability
Severe 45+ 35+ of reinforced concrete is
Very severe 50+ 45+ suggested in Table 22
Extreme 75 60 Permissible The specified permissible In addition, the specification of a
Note: * for a longitudinal reinforcing bar in a column, nominal cover shall not be less level of chloride total amount of acid soluble critical chloride content value, to
than 40 mm, nor less than the diameter of such bar content chlorides at the time of account for the risk of corrosion of
** for reinforcement upto 12 mm diameter. bar for mild exposure, the nominal placing for reinforced reinforcement due to the ingress of
cover may be reduced by 5 mm concrete is 0.60 kg/m3 per chlorides from the environment, is
+ for exposure conditions severe and very severe, reduction of 5mm may be cubic meter of concrete. suggested.
made, where concrete grade is M 35 and above
Cover to Minimum cover to reinforce- It is recommended to specify the mini-
reinforcement ment is specified for different mum cover thickness for slabs sepa-
exposure conditions.. rately. The recommended values are
for concrete with mineral admixtures. Experiments given in Table 25.
on corrosion of reinforcement in concrete with mineral
For concrete grade ≥ M 35, It is suggested to expand the
admixtures commonly available in India are being provision is given for 5 mm provision for trade-off between
carried out at SERC, Chennai, and other research reduction in cover cover and concrete quality for
laboratories/institutions. The results of these thickness if the exposure better grades of concrete as in BS
class is severe or very 8110 and AS 3600.
experiments will be useful while incorporating the severe
specifications for durability of concrete with
Service life The service life of the It is recommended to specify the
admixtures. structure/structural member service life for structures in lieu
is not explicitly mentioned with specifications in BS 7543.
(iii) IS 456 : 2000 permits a reduction in cover thickness for
severe and very severe classes of exposure if the grade
of concrete used is greater than equal to M 35.
However, it can be noted that values of minimum in lieu with BS 7543 will be useful for durability-based
cover thickness specified by IS 456 : 2000 for aggressive service life design.
environments are high when compared with values
The recommendations along with the provisions for
specified in EC2, BS 8110 and AS 3600 for similar
durability in IS 456 : 2000 are given in Table 6.
environments (especially for higher grades of
concrete). Hence, the current provisions for trade-off
between concrete cover and grade of concrete can be
Conclusions
expanded for higher grades of concrete (as in BS 8110 Worldwide, efforts are being made to rationally integrate
and AS 3600). the durability-based design clauses with the existing limit
state design clauses. This trend has been reflected in the recent
(iv) IS 456 : 2000 specifies the minimum values of nominal revision of IS 456. Based on the studies reported in this paper
cover thickness for reinforced oncrete for all types of and information collected on Indian environmental
structural members. Beams and columns are the main conditions, recommendations on exposure classification and
load bearing members of a structure. Hence, any minimum cover thickness have been made which may be
damage/distress to any of these members will have considered in the future revision of IS 456.
severe consequence(s) including partial or complete
collapse of the structure. But, the consequence(s) of Acknowledgements
damage/distress of slabs is less severe compared to
This paper is being published with the kind permission of the
those of beams and columns. Hence, a lower value of
director, Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai.
minimum cover thickness can be specified separately
The authors are thankful to the referee for the comments,
for slabs as in Eurocode 2, Table 4. The recommended
which have been helpful.
values are given in Table 5.
References
(v) The review presented in this paper brings out the
1. SIEMES, T. History of service life design of structures, Workshop on Design
importance of designing the structure/structural
durability of concrete,15-16 June 1999, Berlin.
element for specified target service life. The guidelines
available in literature can be used for specifying the 2. _______ Indian Standard code of practice for plain and reinforced concrete,
IS 456 : 2000, Indian Standards Institution, New Delhi.
target service life9,10. However, it is noted that to put
service life design into practice in Indian conditions, a 3. LINDVALL , A. Environmental actions and response - Survey, inspection and
measurements, The European Committee Brite EuRam Project BE95-1347
holistic approach involving concerted efforts from Working Report, March 1999.
researchers, designers, contractors and builders, is
4. ALLEN, R. T. L. (ED.) Concrete in coastal structures, Thomas Telford, London,
required. The explicit specification of expected service
1998.
lives for structures/structural elements in IS 456 : 2000,

November 2001 * The Indian Concrete Journal 697

5. _______ Durable concrete structures - Design guide, CEB, Second Edition,
Thomas Telford, London, 1989.
6. GOPALAKRISHNAN, S. Durable concretes using mineral waste materials - An
overview of SERC’s Experience, Conference on Waste and byproducts as
secondary resources for alternate building materials, New Delhi, April 14-15,
1999, pp. 283-296.
7. THOMAS, M. Chloride thresholds in marine concrete, Cement and Concrete
Research, 1996, vol. 26, pp. 513-519.
8. TAKAGI, N., MIYAGAWA, T., AMASAKI, S., and KOJIMA, T. Chloride corrosion of
reinforcing steel in silica fume concrete exposed to marine environment,
Durability of concrete 126,Vol. I, SP Malhotra, V. (Ed.), American Concrete
Institute, Detroit, 1991, pp. 479-497.
9. BALAJI RAO, K. and APPA RAO, T.V.S.R. Chloride induced corrosion of reinforcement
in reinforced concrete members - Brief review of literature and results of preliminary
studies on reliability analyses, Project Report No. SS-OLP 07741-RR-99-1, SERC
Madras, May 1999.
10. _______ Structural Concrete: Textbook on behaviour, design and performance
Updated knowledge of the CEB/FIP Model Code 1990 - Volume 3, International
Federation for Structural Concrete, December 1999.
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Mr M.B. Anoop obtained his Masters degree in
structural engineering from Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore, in 1998. Since then he has been
working as a scientist at Structural Engineering
Research Centre (SERC), Chennai. His research
interests include analysis and design of structures,
computational mechanics, uncertainty handling, and
risk and reliability of structures.
698
Dr K. Balaji Rao obtained his masters and doctorate
degrees in civil engineering from Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore in 1984 and 1990, respectively.
Since then he has been working as a scientist at SERC,
Chennai. His research interests include analysis and
design of reinforced concrete and ferrocement
structures/structural members, uncertainty
handling, reliability analysis and reliability-based design of
structures, risk analysis for decision-making.
Dr T.V.S.R. Appa Rao is an emeritus scientist in
SERC, Chennai and was its former director. His
research interests include computer-aided analysis
and design of complex structures, risk and reliability-
based design of structures and computer software
development. He has been guiding a number of
scientists in the development of the finite element
method for advanced structural analysis and also in the
development of integrated software packages for design of
structures. He has authored a number of technical papers
published in national/international journals.
Mr S. Gopalkrishnan is deputy director and head
of concrete composites laboratory and advisor
management, SERC, Chennai. He is currently vice-
president of International Centre for Fibre Reinforced
Concrete, Chennai. His research interests include
inelastic analysis of RC shells and concrete
composites, high performance concrete and
assessments of distress and repair of concrete structures.
•••
The Indian Concrete Journal * November 2001