Flexure Behaviour of Reinforced High Strength Concrete Elements Affected by Corrosion

Corrosion of the reinforcement is a constant vulnerability for reinforced concrete structures exposed to aggressive environments. High strength concrete is known to prevent corrosion of the reinforcement, in a non-cracked state, when exposed to aggressive environments. The purpose of this study is to assess the opportunity of using high strength concrete in cracked elements exposed to corrosion and compare them with non-exposed elements. A series of simply supported reinforced high strength concrete beams with concrete cover of 25 and 50 mm were pre-cracked, up to a service life crack of 0.1 mm, further exposed to accelerated corrosion through a process of electrolysis and finally tested to failure. A series of non-exposed witness specimens were also tested to failure. All elements were designed with the same bending capacity. The flexure behaviour was assessed by plotting experimental and theoretical ultimate limit state position of the neutral axis at midspan and the results show no significant differences in the overall behaviour, despite the affected reinforcement, between the corroded and non-corroded elements. Moreover, the design bending moments were approximately 40% lower than the experimental ones, even for corroded beams, which can be a significant strength reserve of the beams, useful in aggressive environments.