Title:
The effect of fibres on corrosion of reinforced concrete
Author(s):
Berrocal, C.G.; Lundgren, K.; Löfgren, I.
Publication:
Symposium Paper
Volume:
343
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
361-370
Keywords:
Chloride-induced corrosion, durability, cracking, reinforcement bond, residual flexural capacity
DOI:
Date:
10/1/2020
Abstract:
In the present paper, long-term experiments involving natural corrosion of RC beams
subjected to chloride solution cyclic exposure were carried out to investigate the effect of
fibres on different aspects of the corrosion process as well as their contribution to the
structural behaviour of RC elements damaged by corrosion. The long-term experiments were
complemented with short-term accelerated corrosion experiments and mechanical tests to
investigate the influence that low fibre contents may have on individual mechanisms that play
an important role in the corrosion process of steel in concrete. These showed that fibres
promote crack branching which results in a change of the internal crack pattern towards
multiple thinner cracks, particularly near the reinforcement. This agrees with the long-term
experiment results, which exhibited longer times to corrosion initiation for FRC beams with
bending cracks and revealed a more distributed corrosion with more pits but less crosssectional
loss compared to bars in plain concrete. Fibres also proved beneficial in delaying
corrosion-induced cracks and preventing cover spalling, which greatly enhanced the bondbehaviour
of corroded bars. Furthermore, a positive effect of the fibres was also observed on
the residual flexural capacity of corroded beams, which generally increased the load-carrying
capacity and rotation capacity.