Effect of Tension Strain Level on Reinforcement Corrosion

Abstract

Reinforcement corrosion is a general problem about the reliability and durability of concrete structures. A lot of research about the issue of reinforcement corrosion has been done; however, it has focused primarily on reinforcement under zero strain. To discuss how tension strain affects reinforcement corrosion, a salt spray test was conducted on reinforcement specimens. The degree of corrosion in reinforcement and the mechanical properties of the tested reinforcement were obtained. The strength of reinforcement decreased with the degree of corrosion, and the decrease of elongation was more significant. Strain level had a nonnegligible influence on the degree of corrosion. The reinforcement corroded more when it was kept under a higher tension strain. During the same corrosion period, the corrosion degree in a specimen under a tension strain of 1.×1−3 was 1.22 times that of an unstrained specimen. The coefficient representing the effect of strain on corrosion was defined. It was also found that the influence of tension strain on mechanical properties of tested reinforcement is irregular.