An Experimental Approach to Evaluate the Effect of Reinforcement Corrosion on Flexural Performance of RC Beams

The corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete has been reported as one of the main durability problems of reinforced concrete (RC) structures exposed to chloride, carbonation or both. To investigate the structural performances of RC structures subjected to corrosive exposure, the corrosion of rebars embedded in concrete is accelerated to induce a targeted degree of reinforcement corrosion in a short time duration. Several earlier researchers have attempted to develop a setup to induce the accelerated corrosion of steel bars in concrete structures. However, the induced corrosion has not been simulative of the naturally occurring corrosion of steel in concrete, causing a lack of accuracy in the test results. In this study, an attempt was made to develop a novel approach that could be utilized to induce required degrees of reinforcement corrosion following a natural pattern. To demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed setup and procedure of introducing uniform reinforcement corrosion, RC beam specimens were designed, cast, and corroded to three different corrosion levels. After inducing reinforcement corrosion, the beams were tested under flexural stress, and then the corroded bars were extracted to measure the mass loss due to corrosion. The visual inspection and gravimetric and flexural test results showed the capability of the proposed corrosion setup and procedure to induce the targeted uniform corrosion of steel bars, simulating a real-life scenario and facilitating the evaluation of the effect of reinforcement corrosion on the flexural performances of RC beams with very high accuracy.