Specifically improved durability of reinforced concrete structures
Specifically improved durability of
reinforced concrete structures.
by Dipl.-Ing. Rainer Böllinghaus,
managing director at Gebr. Seifert
GmbH, Europe's leading manufactu-
rer of rebar spacers.
This article describes in detail efforts
in Europe, in particular in Germany
to optimise and standardise use of
rebar spacers with regard to increa-
sing the durability of reinforced con-
crete components.
Introduction
It has long been recognised in
Western Europe that the thickness and
sealing capability of the concrete
cover over the steel reinforcement has
a deciding influence on the durability
as well as on the level of fire protec-
tion of buildings constructed using
reinforced concrete or prestressed
concrete. In order to ensure the neces-
sary thickness of the concrete cover,
spacers are required which are placed
between the formwork and reinfor-
cing steel.
The required concrete cover depends
on the one hand on the diameter of the
reinforcing steel, on the other hand on
direct influences from the surroun-
ding area of the reinforced concrete.
In this respect it is of significance
whether a concrete part is, for
instance, on the inside of a building
or on the outside, if this part of the
construction is subject to periodic
damp penetration or if aggressive
chemicals come into contact with the
concrete.
In order to at least partly fulfil a cor-
rosion protection requirement, at the
stage where this was initially recogni-
sed, wooden or concrete blocks were
made at the building site in order to
ensure a distance, obviously adequate
but not yet exactly defined, between
the reinforcement and the subsequent
concrete surface. Within a relatively
short time however, it was understood
that the exact definition of the concre-
te cover in particular depends on the
reinforcement and the surroundings,
and that the form and type of spacers
used are of significant importance in
respect to the durability of reinforced
concrete structures.
Ingress of moisture to the reinforce-
ment incurs corrosion which creates
surface cracking along the line of rein-
forcement.
When the first industrially manufac-
tured spacers were introduced, it see-
med that a firm seating of the spacer
and the stress loading capability in a
horizontal or vertical direction as a
result of formwork and reinforcement
pressure were the most important cri-
teria for selection. This was initially
more important than spacers of a con-
structionally superior design which
were thus more suited to the relevant
area of use.
Over the years, manufacturers such as
Seifert have, after various testing,
proved that an optimum product
design can prevent or reduce a host of
corrosive developments to a negli-
gible level such as, for instance, car-
bonation (figure 1) or surrounding
damp penetration through and along
the spacer. In contrast to an interna-
tional trend towards spacer construc-
tion becoming thinner, weaker and
simpler, Seifert in particular has put
great emphasis on technical details
right from the beginning.
Figure 1 Spacer with carbonation brake
In spite of the relative cheapness of
using spacers, they are still neglected
in some countries, or merely thin pla-
stic wheels or unstable plastic chairs
come into use if the consultant or
architect expressly demands their use
for the purpose of securing the con-
crete cover. For a long time, even in
Europe, exactly defining the type of
spacer to be used was neglected, by
comparison to other products such as,
for instance, reinforcement, anchor
channels and fixing or lifting inserts.
For a number of years, within the
Spacer Project Group, whose mem-
bers consist of Germany's leading
construction associations, manufactu-
rers of prefabricated concrete compo-
nents, universities, manufacturers and
construction companies with renow-
ned names such as Hochtief, Philip
Holzmann, Dyckerhoff & Widmann,
Strabag Hoch- und Ingenieurbau,
Europe's leading manufacturer of spa-
cers - Seifert, the University of Essen,
the German Specialist Association for
Prefabricated Concrete Units, the
Institute for Steel Reinforcement and
many more have been occupied with
standardising spacers with regard to
requirements, description, recom-
mendation, inspection and quality
control. Standardisation is in particu-
lar intended to assist planners of sup-
porting frameworks whose responsi-
bility it is to select suitable spacers
with regard to performance class and,
if necessary, special requirements.
Also the manager at the building site,
whose task it is to order and use the
spacers, as well as the consultant who
has to check the installation of the
spacers according to requirement by
way of approval of the reinforcement.
DIN 1045 or the information sheet of
the German Concrete Association
"Concrete Covering and Reinforce-
ment" already stipulates installing
reinforcement using a predefined
nominal measurement or installation
measurement of the concrete cover, in
such a way that the concrete cover in
the finished building component is
maintained with adequate safety. This
of course requires spacers which
ensure maintaining the concrete cover
before and during concrete work and
which after completion do not impair
the usability and durability of the
building component.
For this reason, for every precisely
defined instance of application, suita-
ble spacers are to be installed in such
a way that they do not move or rotate
and so that they accept the forces
acting on them during construction
work in their designated position at all
temperatures and with negligible
deformation. The spacers available on
the market generally consist of cement
mortar, possibly reinforced with fib-
res, plastic (usually polyethylene) or
mortar set in reaction resin (figure 2).
Figure 2 Common concrete and plastic
spacers available on the market
Although spacers are unavoidable
inhomogenous units in concrete, they
must not significantly impair the sea-
ling qualities of the concrete cover in
the finished building component. The
widely held assumption that use of
concrete spacers leads to a kind of
"fusion" with the surrounding concre-
te is a fallacy, as many tests have pro-
ved. Concrete spacers, as well as pla-
stic spacers, remain an inhomogenous
unit, whereas plastic spacers, due to
their constructional design, give better
anchorage in concrete. Equally, com-
plex testing has disproved the second
fallacy, namely that plastic spacers are
negatively acting foreign bodies.
The load-bearing capacity of spacers
depends on the material characteri-
stics and on the shape of the spacer as
well as on the temperature at the res-
pective load. Material specific charac-
teristics of concrete spacers are, for
instance, that no deformation takes
place under load, but that sudden bre-
akage may occur. Furthermore, con-
crete spacers have a tendency to beco-
me porous, in particular at temperatu-
res below freezing point, and to being
highly hygroscopic. Plastic spacers on
the other hand have a reduced tenden-
cy towards breakage, tend to not be
hygroscopic, but do tend towards
deformation under load, in particular
at higher temperatures.
Figure 3 Excerpt from the Seifert line
In the process of almost 100 years
development work, Seifert Research
has developed the largest spacer line
world-wide for horizontal, vertical,
top and bottom reinforcement as well
as for formwork (figure 3). This tried
and tested line of spacers and special
products allows installation in all
areas of use in insitu-cast and precast
applications, taking individual condi-
tions into consideration such as envi-
ronmental influences, chemical
aggression, temperature deviations
etc. and the respective technical requi-
rements during construction.
Terminology
The concrete cover is the concrete
layer between a reinforcing bar and
the concrete surface. The minimum
measurement of the concrete cover
(minc) is the minimum sufficiently
safe distance between the concrete
surface and the rebar. The nominal
measurement of the concrete cover
(nomc) is the sum of the minimum
measurement and a lead measurement
(nomc = minc + ∆c).
The lead measurement of the concrete
cover ∆c is intended to cover unavoi-
dable deviations in measurement due
to bending and installing the reinfor-
cement, the type of spacers and instal-
ling them, production of the form-
work as well as placing and compac-
ting the concrete. The lead measure-
ment ∆c does not contain the unavoi-
dable measuring errors during non-
destructive verification measurement
of the finished concrete component.
The placing measurement nomcv of
the reinforcement is the "spacer mea-
surement" of the concrete cover. It is
deduced from the nominal measure-
ments nomcl of the vertical bars and
nomcq of the horizontal bars (stirrups).
It is usually the setpoint distance bet-
ween the outer reinforcement bars and
concrete surface. The thickness or
height of the spacers is measured
according to this setpoint distance. In
order to be able to differentiate from
the required nominal measurements
(setpoint measurements) the selected
placing measurement (actual measu-
rement) is described as nomcv.
Spacers are installation components
which secure the required placing
measurement of the concrete cover
between the outer reinforcement bars
and the formwork. Spacers can be
point-type, line-shaped, or flat-sha-
ped. Supports are installation compo-
nents which secure the top reinforce-
ment in position, e.g. supporting
cages, line-shaped or curved lattices,
lattice supports or individual hystools
(figure 4). Supports for the top rein-
forcement can either stand on the
formwork or are stood into the bottom
reinforcement. Position securing devi-
ces are installation components which
secure the distance between the two
reinforcement layers in concrete walls
or individual reinforcement positions,
e.g. stirrup bolts, S-shaped hooks.
Figure 4 Supports for top reinforcement
Spacer requirements
Spacers vary in design, size, material,
types of application and in their cha-
racteristics when inside and outside
concrete. Table 1 is a classification list
of spacers according to the type of
contact area.
To begin with, one must differentiate
between spot supporting single spa-
cers and large-area supporting spacers
(figure 5).
Fig. 5 Point-type and area-type spacers
With single spacers, generally at least
4 spacers are used per m2. If the spa-
cers carry a heavy load or if in the
case of thin reinforcement danger
exists that the reinforcement may for
instance be trodden down between the
spacers, then more spacers must be
used accordingly. In the case of area-
type spacers or of line-shaped spacers
the distances between the spacers for
medium rebar diameter thicknesses
should not exceed 70 cm. For bar dia-
meters up to 6 mm Ø, a distance of 50
cm between the spacers should not be
exceeded.
Table 1
Classification list of spacers
A C2
B1
B2
C1
To secure the concrete cover with
regard to thickness and sealing capa-
bility, the spacers must have a suffi-
cient load-bearing capability and tilt
resistance depending on the respective
load pressure and temperature effect,
if necessary, must be able to be ade-
quately fastened to the reinforcement
bar and must have a minimum spring
backlash so that after striking form-
work, the concrete layer next to the
surface is not pressed off.
Furthermore, they should be formed
in such a way that they can only be
used for one placing measurement cv
and so that the concrete completely
surrounds the spacer and does not
segregate as a result of the spacer. The
following are of utmost importance:
sufficient resistance to the alkaline
content of the concrete, as well as the
requirement that the spacer be made
of a material which itself is not corro-
sive and which does not cause further
corrosion to the reinforcement and
which damages neither freshly wor-
ked nor hardened concrete. The Insti-
tute for Construction Technology in
Berlin verifies the unreserved accep-
tability of plastic spacers: "There are
no reservations regarding the use of
plastic spacers in concrete, reinforced
concrete and prestressed concrete in
respect to fire protection, as long the
plastic in question is not polyvinyl
chloride.".
In case of fire the following applies: in
the case of higher temperatures (e.g. a
fire) a plastic spacer may melt. As the
thickness of the spacer is usually
small in relation to the thickness of the
D1
D2
A Wheel-shaped C1 Line-shaped, not f.
B1 Spot-support, C2 Line-shaped, f.
not fastened D1 Area-type, not f.
B2 Spot-supporting, D2 Area-type, fastened
fastened
building component, melting has no
significant impact on the fire-resi-
stance capability of the building com-
ponent.
Performance classification
The loads to which a spacer is subjec-
ted in practice may vary greatly accor-
ding to the type of use. Thus, on brid-
ge constructions with very heavy rein-
forcement and high concrete covers,
for instance, loads of 100 kg and more
per spacer are taken into account,
whereas when reinforcing inside
walls constructed when building
apartments for instance, loads of only
5 - 10 kg per spacer occur. On vertical
areas, the load capability depends on
the type of formwork and reinforce-
ment. With columns, side areas of cei-
ling joists and stiffly braced walls it is
necessary to take into consideration
that the reinforcement cage, when the
formwork is tensioned, puts a sub-
stantial load on individual spacers. In
such cases, with spacers for vertical
reinforcement, high loads are taken
into account similar to those for hori-
zontal reinforcement.
Minimum requirements are defined in
two performance classes.
No increased requirements exist for
performance class L1 with regard to
load-bearing capability and tilt resi-
stance, e.g. for use in cases where the
reinforcement is not subject to traffic
load. In contrast, for performance
class L2 increased demands are made
on load bearing capability and tilt
resistance; standard spacers for site-
mixed concrete usage (e.g. for reinfor-
cements carrying human loads; spa-
cers bearing a load when the form-
work is tensioned; for outside loads
which are temporarily stored on the
placed reinforcement etc.)
Standard requirements with regard to
inspection loads and permissible
deformation are described in detail in
Table 2 on the next page.
Figure 6 Testing of plastic spacers
If spacers are used in reinforced con-
crete components which in a state of
damp penetration are frequently sub-
jected to temperature variations above
and below freezing point with or with-
out salt, then the spacers embedded in
the concrete must additionally be of a
higher frost-resistance level. The resi-
stance capability counts as being ful-
filled if, after due inspection no cracks
appear and only negligible chipping
has occurred.
If spacers are installed in water-resi-
stant reinforced concrete components
or in components which are intended
to offer a high resistance to chemical
aggression, then the spacer must addi-
tionally itself offer a high resistance to
chemical aggression. Water penetrati-
on of the spacer in the concrete may,
according to the DBV (German Con-
crete Association) information sheet,
not exceed the maximum permissible
value as stated in DIN 1045.
If spacers are used in reinforced con-
crete components which are exposed
to higher temperature (e.g. outside
building components, containers in
industrial building concrete and fair-
faced concrete), the DBV information
sheet states that for the following
alternating temperature loads, no
cracking and chipping in the area of
the spacer embedded in the concrete
may occur. Tests have shown that
microscopic cracks as a result of dif-
ferent temperature expansion rates in
plastic and concrete have no negative
influence on the durability of buil-
dings. A mathematical example shows
that for a plastic spacer with an assu-
med contact width of 1 cm only a very
minor change in volume results, even
when the temperature varies in the
order of 50° C. Thus, in the case of
this temperature variation the said pla-
stic spacer expands by only 0.035 mm
to 0.065 mm. The concrete cannot be
damaged by such diminutive expansi-
on measurements as it is known that
cracks in concrete below 0.25 mm in
width have no damaging effect.
If spacers are used in reinforced con-
crete which is intended as "designed
concrete" (fair-faced concrete), then
the contact area on the formwork must
be as small as possible (figure 7) and
the spacer may only be slightly pres-
sed into the formwork. Furthermore,
the spacer may only make a slight
impression on the concrete surface.
Fig. 7 Praxifix spacer (pointed legs)
Recommendations for selecting
spacers
As a rule, cement mortar spacers are,
with regard to stability of form, less
sensitive to load and temperature
variations than plastic spacers. They
should be preferred for building com-
ponents with very high static and ther-
mal loads and in the case of high con-
straining loads from the formwork
(e.g. tunnel formwork).
Firmly clipped spacers or single spa-
cers fastened with wire should always
be fastened at the intersection of the
reinforcement (figure 8), as they can
easily rotate when fixed to normal
reinforcement bars. Spacers which are
not fixed can move out of position
when the formwork is cleaned and
thus become ineffective.
Figure 8 Spacer clipped on at
crosspoint of the reinforcement
Spacers must be formed and fastened
in such a way that the placing measu-
rement is also maintained in the case
of sectional weakening (e.g. by trape-
zium rails). In the case of concrete
work against soft layers (e.g. insula- Summary
ting boards), spacers with a larger The decisive criteria for selecting spa-
contact area must be used (figure 9). cers should always be: fulfilment of
the function "Guarantee of the requi-
red distance between formwork and
reinforcement for ensuring the neces-
sary concrete cover". If e.g. the load
bearing capability of the individual
spacer is not sufficient, then either
another spacer with a larger load bea-
Fig. 9 Spacer with larger contact area
ring capability should be selected or
When reinforcing in vertical building the number of spacers per area should
components, spacers should be selec- be correspondingly increased in order
ted so that after placing the fresh con- to distribute the load. A spacer which
crete beneath the spacers no damaging has to accept a high load necessarily
voids occur. When arranging long requires a large contact area on the
line-shaped spacers in the area of a formwork. The spacer will later on be
tension zone, cracks in the concrete, more or less visible in the concrete.
in particular in the area of the spacers, This fact has consequences in fair-
must be taken into account. For this faced concrete and must be taken into
reason, short line-shaped spacers consideration at the planning stage. A
should be used, with sufficient stagge- firm seating of the spacer is also of
ring to each other. Line-shaped spa- great importance. Even the most stable
cers in the pressure zone of building spacer cannot fulfil its function if it
components subject to flexing may changes its position when the concrete
only be installed parallel to the direc- is being poured. The ideal spacer for all
tion of tension, in the case of vertical areas of use under all conditions does
installation the usable height decrea- not yet exist. Selection of a spacer can
ses and an indenting effect with nega- therefore generally only be a compro-
tive concentration in tension additio- mise which takes the individual condi-
nally results. tions at hand into consideration.
Table 2 Special thanks to Seifert Germany for
Standard requirements providing photos and test results.
Standard requirements with
regard to inspection load Performance class L1 Performance class L2
and permissible deformation
Inspection loads
- static short-time test 250 N1 1.000 N1
- tilt resistance – 500 N
- creep test – 350 N2 / 175 N3
Permissible deformation
- nom cv ≤ 20 mm 1 mm 1 mm
- nom cv ≤ 20 mm 2 mm 2 mm
1
In the case of stiffly formed spacers, e.g. concrete spacers, the mean value of the measured bearing load must be doubled.
2
Spot-supporting spacer
3
Line-shaped spacer
Table 3 contains recommendations according to building components and spacer type groups.
Ceilings, foundations,
Building component Supports Walls Beams floor slabs
Formwork vertical vertical horiz./vert. horizontal
Reinforcement horizontal horiz./vert. horiz./vert. horizontal
Spacer type groups
A Wheels K1) K1) L L L L
B1 spot-supporting
not fastened
(block, trestle)
L L L K L K
spot-supporting (block, trestle)
B2 fastened J2) J2) J
) 2)
J J2) J
C1 line-shaped, not fastened L L L J L J
C2 line-shaped, fastened J J K J K J
D1 area-supporting, not fastened L L L J L J
D2 area-supporting, fastened J J K J K J
J recommended, K partially suitable, L unsuitable
1) Caution, frequently insufficient tilt resistance when tensioning the formwork
2) If tilting or pushing is not feasible
3) With max. length (350 mm or < 2d or <1/4 x building component width)