PSI - Issue 84

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ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 84 (2026) 1023–1030

© 2026 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Conference Keywords: Reinforced Concrete Bridges, Corrosion-induced Degradation, Pitting corrosion, Structural Capacity Assessment, Life-Cycle performance, Defect-Based Classification, Time-Dependent Structural Safety. Abstract Corrosion critically affects the durability of prestressed concrete (PSC) bridges, with direct consequences for the safety and resilience of transportation networks. Current practices, including those outlined in the recently developed Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) 2020 guidelines, rely mainly on defect indices and visual inspections, which inherently provide only qualitative information on the expected structural performance. Moreover, as part of his multi-level approach the procedure often requires to move to an advanced “Level 4” analyses, yet without specific instructions on how to quantitatively and mechanically account for that defect in the analytical/numerical structural model. This study proposes an analytical framework for life-cycle risk assessment, developed to improve current evaluation procedures. The methodology integrates defect-based classification with mechanical degradation models, enabling the linkage between observed defects and corresponding mechanical indices. A distinctive feature is its predictive capacity, as it incorporates time-dependent deterioration models and evaluates the performance of structural components under both gravity and seismic loads. The framework is applied to a case-study PSC bridge for illustrative purposes. Fiber-based section analyses, combined with time-dependent deterioration models, are adopted to quantify the progressive reduction in load-carrying capacity of critical structural components and the associated impact on safety over time. Results demonstrate that the proposed approach enables scenario-based service life predictions and provides an effective analytical tool for risk-informed bridge management. III Fabre Conference: Existing Bridges, Viaducts, and Tunnels: Research, Innovation, and Applications A defect-to-mechanics framework for rapid structural assessment of corroded prestressed concrete bridges. Federica Di Criscio a, *, Livio Pedone a , Stefano Pampanin a a Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Structural and Geotechnical Engineering, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184, Rome, Italy

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: federica.dicriscio@uniroma1.it

2452-3216 © 2026 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Conference 10.1016/j.prostr.2026.06.131