Study on crack of corroded reinforced concrete beams

The cracking character is an evaluation index on the serviceability limit state of the reinforced concrete (RC) structure. 37 RC beams with different type reinforcement bars and ratio of reinforcement were made in the laboratory. The corrosion of reinforcement in RC beams was realized by accelerated electrochemical test. The corrosion ratio was controlled by the electric current density and time. The cracking character of the corroded RC beam in the static load test was discussed. Based on comparison between calculation results according to Code for design of highway reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete bridges and culverts (CDHRCPCBC) JTG D62-2004 and Code for design of concrete structures (CDCS) GB50010-2002, the relation between corrosion ratio and crack spacing is established. The relationship between corrosion ratio and crack width is also given. The experimental results indicate the cracking character of the RC beams is the same as that of the uncorroded members when the corrosion ratio is little. However, both the crack spacing and width are increased quickly when the corrosion ratio becomes larger and larger.