Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Slabs under Corrosion Attack
Volume Title: ICASGE2025
Paper ID : 1182-ICASGE (R1)
Authors
Assistant Professor
Abstract
This study investigates the behavior of reinforced concrete slabs exposed to various issues related to the corrosion process, initiation, and its damaging effects. High strength concrete has a great interest in the results of the study.
In this experimental study, fourteen reinforced concrete slab specimens were poured with dimensions of 2000mm length, 600mm width and 80mm depth. Three control slabs were not exposed to corrosion. The eleven remaining slabs have been exposed to accelerated corrosion using impressed current. Two specimens were loaded during the process of corrosion acceleration. All specimens were tested in flexure in a four-point bend test to investigate their behavior. The variables included in this study are three different types of concrete having characteristic strengths fcu=80MPa to resemble High Strength Concrete (HSC), fcu =40MPa to represent Medium Strength Concrete (MSC) and fcu =20MPa to stand for Low Strength Concrete (LSC), three different ratios of reinforcement corrosion 10%, 25%, and 40% and three cases of loading during corrosion acceleration process; 0.0Pu, 0.3Pu and 0.6Pu. The results indicated the significant impact on the behavior of slabs made of high strength concrete when exposed to the process of reinforcement corrosion and become more brittle by increasing the ratio of reinforcement corrosion. The cracks evolve more rapidly in the loaded specimens than the unloaded specimens, leading to a great reduction in the forces of cohesion between the reinforcement steel and the surrounded concrete. It was also noted that wider crack width would definitely reduce slabs durability.
In this experimental study, fourteen reinforced concrete slab specimens were poured with dimensions of 2000mm length, 600mm width and 80mm depth. Three control slabs were not exposed to corrosion. The eleven remaining slabs have been exposed to accelerated corrosion using impressed current. Two specimens were loaded during the process of corrosion acceleration. All specimens were tested in flexure in a four-point bend test to investigate their behavior. The variables included in this study are three different types of concrete having characteristic strengths fcu=80MPa to resemble High Strength Concrete (HSC), fcu =40MPa to represent Medium Strength Concrete (MSC) and fcu =20MPa to stand for Low Strength Concrete (LSC), three different ratios of reinforcement corrosion 10%, 25%, and 40% and three cases of loading during corrosion acceleration process; 0.0Pu, 0.3Pu and 0.6Pu. The results indicated the significant impact on the behavior of slabs made of high strength concrete when exposed to the process of reinforcement corrosion and become more brittle by increasing the ratio of reinforcement corrosion. The cracks evolve more rapidly in the loaded specimens than the unloaded specimens, leading to a great reduction in the forces of cohesion between the reinforcement steel and the surrounded concrete. It was also noted that wider crack width would definitely reduce slabs durability.
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