GOODSON CHITSA N0111054L PART V CIVIL AND WATER ENGINEERING.

PREDICTING THE SERVICE LIFE OF AN INCOMPLETE BUILDING: CASE STUDY

THE NUST CAMPUS LIBRARY.

Introduction.
In recent years there has been an ever increasing focus on the need to determine the service life of
existing structures since it is a significant aspect of sustainability in terms of material and energy
considerations. This has been based on two important aspects that is environmental issues
particularly scarcity of materials and energy resources. In addition to that, the construction industry
is one of the biggest consumer of these resources and this have a great impact on the environment.
Due to this fact, it is not sufficient for the design engineer to know only the rules and guidelines
for the design of new structures. Knowledge and experience on the assessment of existing
structures in particular their residual service life is needed. Service life is the actual life during
which the structure fulfils its performance requirements with no unacceptable expenditure on
maintenance or repair. (The Indian Journal March 2014). During its service life a structure has to
meet minimum required levels of structural safety and also minimum levels of serviceability.
Corrosion and carbonation are the main prime reasons for the deterioration of reinforced concrete
structures. In the life of concrete structures, they are subjected to external actions and agents that
in time may alter them from a safe state to failure or damage state .Estimation of service life of a
structure requires models to be established for the most likely parameters that could cause loss of
function for example corrosion of steel reinforcement and carbonation induced deterioration.

BACKGROUND
Due to financial constraints some of the engineering projects in Zimbabwe have been left in unfinished
state and exposed to environmental conditions. The NUST campus library forms a statistic of such projects
and has not reached the completion stage since the onset of its construction more than one and half a decades
ago. Most of the structural elements of the building have been exposed to potential carbon induced
deterioration and also spalling reinforcement corrosion. Noticeable corrosion damage is evident is evident
from cracking and of concrete cover and local reinforcement steel loss.

JUSTIFICATION
The estimation of the service life of the NUST campus library is an essential part in drawing up a realistic
and economically viable maintenance program of its structural elements. Knowing the service life of the
structure will determine when most of the structural elements are to be replaced. In this way the necessary
capital investments for the building can be programmed for its entire service life and an appropriate
maintenance program set.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Overall Objective:
To predict the residual service life of the NUST campus library.
Specific objectives:

To develop models which provide a reliable estimate on the service life of the structure.

To carry out in situ tests to determine the depth and rate of carbonation in the critical structural
members of the structure.

To calculate the loss of area of the reinforcement due to rebar corrosion.

To evaluate the extend of deterioration of the hardened concrete of the structure.