Civil and Environmental Engineering

CIVL631 – Directed Studies in Civil Engineering

Spring 2019

Flexural capacity of corroded reinforced concrete

beams-A case study

Final Report

Student Name: Nouman Khattak

Student ID: 201890045
Submitted to: Prof. Tamer El-Maaddawy
Date of submission: 05-May-2019
 ABSTRACT

This report presents a study on the flexural behavior of corroded reinforced concrete (RC)
beams. Corrosion of reinforcement in concrete is the major cause of deterioration of reinforced
concrete buildings. In order to investigate the effect of corrosion on the flexural behavior of
reinforced concrete beams, a comprehensive literature review of research articles published in
international journals, starting from the year 2000 till date, was conducted. In the literature
review, focus was given to loss of mass/area of steel (corrosion level) and its effect on the
flexural capacity of RC beams, loss of bond strength of reinforcements in concrete due to
corrosion and effect of corrosion on crack widths. Numerical modeling was also conducted using
ATENA 3D software to see the effect of corrosion on the flexural behavior of RC beams. For
this purpose an already tested reinforced concrete beam from literature was selected for
numerical analysis. After validating the results of experimentally tested beam with numerical
results, a parametric study was conducted to evaluate the effect of strain hardening of steel, the
effect of finite element mesh size and the effect of loss of steel area on the flexural capacity of
the beam. From the literature review it was concluded that the mass loss of steel in concrete can
considerably reduce the flexural capacity of beams and the corrosion can lower the bond strength
of reinforcement in concrete. From the numerical analysis it was concluded that the loss of steel
area can significantly reduce the flexural capacity of RC beams.

2
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER PAGE ......................................................................................................1

ABSTRACT ..........................................................................................................2
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................3
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................3
LIST OF FIGURES ...............................................................................................4
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .........................................................................6

1.1 Background ...............................................................................6

1.2 Aim and Objectives...................................................................7
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..............................................................8
2.1 Flexural capacity of corroded reinforced concrete beams ........8
2.2 Effect of corrosion on bond strength ........................................13
2.3 Effect of corrosion on crack width............................................16
CHAPTER 3: CASE STUDY AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION ...........18
3.1 Introduction ..............................................................................18
3.2 Finite Element Analysis ............................................................19
CHAPTER 4: ENVIRONMENTAL, SUSTAINABILITY, ETHICAL, AND
COMMERCIAL ISSUES ....................................................................................25
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ..............................................................................26
CHAPTER 6: REFERENCES ..............................................................................27

3
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Summary of literature on corrosion of longitudinal bars in beams........... 12

Table 2: Summary of literature on bond strength ................................................... 14
Table 3: Effect of loss of steel area on ultimate flexural load................................. 22

4
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Effect of corrosion on the flexural strength of RC beams ....................... 11

Figure 2: Effect of corrosion on bond strength ....................................................... 15
Figure 3: Effect of corrosion on crack width .......................................................... 17
Figure 4: Beam dimensions and reinforcement details .......................................... 18
Figure 5: 3D view of numerical model ................................................................... 19
Figure 6: Experimental load vs displacement curve ............................................... 19
Figure 7: Material models ....................................................................................... 20
Figure 8: Experimental vs numerical results (using 25mm mesh size)................... 21
Figure 9: Crack patterns of RC beam ...................................................................... 21
Figure 10: Effect of loss of cross-sectional area of steel on flexural strength ........ 22
Figure 11: Effect of strain hardening of steel on flexural strength ......................... 23
Figure 12: Effect of mesh size on flexural strength ................................................ 24

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 CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background

Reinforced concrete is a very first choice for building construction because of its numerous
advantages for instance availability of materials, high strengths, ease of construction etc.
However, the main problem associated with these buildings is the corrosion of reinforcement
inside concrete which raise a serious safety hazard. The corrosion can affect the service life and
ultimate load carrying capacity of RC structures. The two main causes of corrosion are chloride
induced corrosion and carbonation induced corrosion. The service life of RC structures is the
summation of corrosion initiation time and propagation time.

Reinforcing bar inside concrete has a chemically stable protective passive layer of iron oxide
resulted due to alkalinity of concrete. The chloride ions (Cl-) from the surface of concrete enters
into concrete and through diffusion process it reaches to the reinforcing bar. Once the chloride
reaches the reinforcing bar, it starts to destroy the passive layer around the reinforcing bar and
corrosion begins. The time for the chloride to reach from the concrete surface to the reinforcing
bar inside concrete is known as corrosion initiation time. After the corrosion is initiated, another
stage starts called the propagation stage. During this stage expansive corrosion products are
formed around the reinforcement due to electrochemical reactions. These products expand with
the passage of time and exert pressure on the concrete which create tensile stresses in the
concrete and reinforcing bars start losing its cross-sectional area because of pitting corrosion.
This results in crack initiation in concrete around the reinforcement which then reaches to the
surface. Ultimately, it leads to cracking and spalling of concrete, which exacerbates the
progressive damage, thus affecting the durability of the structure. Carbonation is also detrimental
to concrete structures. In carbonation induced corrosion, the CO2 from the air enters the concrete
and damages the passive film by the neutralizing alkalinity of concrete. Unlike chlorides, the
carbonation induced corrosion results in uniform corrosion.

Since, the corrosion can affect the serviceability and strength of reinforced concrete. It is
important to investigate the residual capacity of RC structures after the corrosion has occurred.
For this purpose, the current study will deal with the performance of corroded flexural members

6
especially beams. Strength reduction, loss of bond strength and crack widths against different
corrosion level will be investigated. A case study will be performed to see the effect of different
corrosion level on flexural capacity of RC beams.

1.2 Aim and Objectives

The aim of this report was to investigate flexural behavior of corroded reinforced concrete
beams. To reach this aim, the following objectives were outlined:
• To carry out literature review regarding residual capacity of corroded reinforce concrete beams.
• To review about loss of bond strength due to corrosion.
• To see the effect of increasing corrosion level on the crack width.
• To perform numerical analysis to simulate the loss of steel cross-sectional area and its effect on
flexural strength.

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 CHAPTER-2
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Flexural capacity of corroded reinforced concrete beams

Castel et al. (2000) tested total four 14 years old RC beams, two as control and two corroded
beams. The corrosion of beams was based on a natural process by keeping them inside the
laboratory and fog spraying of NaCl (35 g/l). The corroded beams resulted in 20% reduction in
ultimate flexural load, 35% reduction in flexural stiffness and 70% reduction in ductility. They
also concluded that residual flexural strength is not a function of bond loss but is affected by
mass loss of tensile rebars.

Sherwood and Soudki (2000) tested three RC Beams. One beam acted as control while other two
were subjected to accelerated corrosion to achieve a 10% mass loss in rebar. One of the corroded
beams was strengthened with CFRP before subjecting to accelerated corrosion. The beams were
tested under four point bending load test. It was found that the strengthened-corroded specimen
retained 92% of the control beam strength, whereas the unstrengthen-corroded beam retained
only 79% of the control beam strength.

Wei-liang and Yu-xi (2001) tested corroded RC beams with increasing % of corrosion under
flexural load. They found that the flexural strength of corroded reinforced concrete beams
decreases with increase in corrosion level of reinforcement. The decrease is based on the
reduction in steel bar cross section, reduction of yield strength of steel bar, and reduction of bond
capacity between steel bar and concrete.

El Maaddawy et al. (2005) tested nine RC beams (152x254x3200mm) under sustained loading.
The tested specimens were corroded using accelerated corrosion procedure for 310 days. They
found that the reduction in flexural strength of corroded beams was directly related to the loss of
steel rebar area due to corrosion.

Du et al. (2007) performed experimental study on corroded beams to investigate the ductility
behavior. A total of nineteen RC beams (150 × 200 × 2100 mm) were subjected to monotonic
flexural two-point load, of which 8 specimens were corroded on the tension side by accelerated

8
corrosion. The beams were over-reinforced, balanced-reinforced, under-reinforced, and very
under-reinforced RC beams. From the study conducted it was found that when the behavior of a
beam is dominated by cracking of its compression concrete and/or the reduction of its tension bar
area, corrosion improves beam ductility. The corrosion decreases beam ductility, if the behavior
of a beam is controlled by deterioration of its bond strength and/or the reduction of its steel
ductility.

Torres-Acosta et al. (2007) experimentally investigated the flexure capacity reduction in concrete
beams due to the loss of steel cross-sectional area. Eleven concrete beams (100×150×1500 mm)
were tested for flexure under three-point loading, 3 un-corroded and 8 corroded beams. It was
found that a decrease of up to 60% in the flexure load capacity values was observed with only
10% of the average corrosion penetration/rebar radius ratio. It was also found that the maximum
rebar pit depth was the most important parameter affecting flexural load capacity reduction in
corroded beams.

Azad et al. (2007) tested a total of twenty eight reinforced concrete beams under four-point
bending load. Out of the total, four beams were tested for without corrosion while the rest were
tested inducing different level of corrosion. The beam size was 150x150x1100 mm. An empirical
model for estimating the residual flexural strength of beams was developed accounting for
corrosion current density, corrosion duration and diameter of the reinforcement. He concluded
that with the increase in degree of corrosion and rebar diameter, there is a decrease in residual
flexural strength. He also stated that cover thickness has an insignificant effect on residual
flexural strength of corroded beams.

Cairns et al. (2008) experimentally investigated the effect of plain round rebar corrosion on the
flexural behavior of RC beams. For this purpose four types of beam specimens were selected
with different reinforcement ratio and having 4%-10% cross-sectional area loss of reinforcement.
It was found that flexure strength of corroded beams exceeded then that of companion non-
corroded specimens.

Rose et al. (2009) tested three RC beams of the size 150x250x3000 mm under four point bending
load to investigate ultimate strength and ductility. One beam was as built and two beams were
corroded to 10 and 25% corrosion level. The ultimate load taken by un-corroded beam was 71

9
kN, whereas the corroded beams taken 51.5 kN and 46.5 kN for 10% and 20% corrosion level,
respectively. The reduction in ultimate load was 27.5% for 10% corroded beam and 34.5% for
20% corroded beam. There was no significant difference in the ductility of the tested beams.

Azad et al. (2010) conducted four point bending tests on forty eight RC beams having a width of
200mm and depth varying from 215 to 315mm. The beams were reinforced with 16 and 18mm
diameter bars and before testing were subjected to acceleration corrosion. The results were
compared to existing analytical models and a new correction factor for the use of existing models
in predicting the residual flexure behavior was proposed.

Mulambela et al. (2010) investigated the variation of steel mass loss to check the reduction in
flexural capacity of corroded beams. RC beams (153×254×3000 mm) were corroded and
subjected to sustained loading under wetting and drying cycles. Following the corrosion some
beams were patch repaired. It was found that that the highest level of corrosion occurred where
there were longer drying cycles, and that the level of sustained load had little effect on the rate of
corrosion. A maximum mass loss of steel of 1% was found to reduce the flexural capacity of
beams by 0.7%.

Xia et al. (2012) tested twenty beams under four point bending load of the size
150x200x1500mm. Two beams were tested without corrosion while other beams were subjected
to accelerated corrosion with a current density of 200µA/cm2 for 25 to 78 days. From the test
results it was found that the corrosion has reduced the flexural capacity of beams by about 15%.

Azam (2016) studied the effect of different longitudinal reinforcement ratios (0.91%, 1.21%, and
1.82%) without stirrups on the rate of corrosion (3% and 10%). For this purpose a total of seven
medium-scale RC beams of the size 150x250x1700 mm were constructed and tested in flexure
under three point bending load. Four beams were subjected to corrosion whereas three beams
acted as control un-corroded. Test results revealed that the beams with higher reinforcement
ratios experienced slower corrosion rate compared to beams with lower reinforcement ratios.
There was a significant reduction in the load carrying capacity (28-44%) of the corroded beams
without stirrups compared to the control beams.

Al-Saidy et al. (2015) conducted experimental tests six RC beams in flexure with and without
shear reinforcement (stirrups). Four of the specimens were exposed to acceleration corrosion to

10
reach a corrosion level of 5-7.5%. From the test results it was found that the flexural strength of
corroded beams with shear reinforcement had reduced but the failure mode was more ductile.

In order to draw a conclusion on the abovementioned experimental results, the ratio of residual
ultimate flexural strength of corroded beams to flexural strength of un-corroded control
specimens of some of the research articles is plotted against corrosion level in figure-1. It can be
seen in that there is less effect of corrosion on flexural strength of RC beams up to a corrosion
level of 5%. But as the corrosion level increase from 5% then it has a greater effect on flexural
strength. Table-1 summarizes the research articles studied.

2.0
Normalized residual flexural strength

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Corrosion level (%)
Castel et al. (2000) Sherwood and Soudki (2000)
El-Maaddawy et al. (2005) Torres-acosta et al. (2006)
Azad et al . (2007) Rose et al. (2009)
Azad et al. (2010) Xia et al. (2012)

Figure-1 Effect of corrosion on the flexural strength of RC beams

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Table-1 Summary of literature on corrosion of longitudinal bars in beams
Properties Reduction
Beam Size (mm) Corrosion Corrosion
Test (MPa) Test Mass loss Cover Reinforcement in Failure
S.No. Authors Year time density
specimens method (%) (mm) ratio (%) strength mode
W H L f’c fy (days) (µA/cm2)
(%)
Yielding and
Castel 45, Sustained,
1 2000 4 150 280 3000 - 20 10 0.5 20 years - 20 fracture of
et.al 65 3-point
bars
Sherwoo Ductile
Monotonic,
2 d and 2000 3 100 150 1200 39 400 10 20 1.0 32 - 21 behavior, loss
3-point
Soudki of bond
Flexural
El
40- Sustained, cracking,
3 Maadda 2005 9 152 254 3200 450 8.9-31.6 25 1.0 50-310 - 6-29
41 4-point yielding of
wy et al.
steel
Torres-
Monotonic,
4 Acosta 2007 11 100 150 1500 27 - 5,10,15 20 0.54 50-180 80 60 -
3-point
et al.
Yielding of
steel, plastic
Yaun et 256- Monotonic,
5 2007 7 100 160 1500 25 1.1-4.4 15 0.78 3-90 10-20 3-12 deformation,
al. 349 4-point
Brittle,
ductile
Azad et 33- Monotonic, 2000, Flexure-shear
6 2007 28 150 150 1100 590 Up to 31 25, 40 0.69, 1.0 4, 6, 8 8-44
al. 51 4-point 3000 type

35- 489, Sustained, 2.4-13.6 Brittle

7 Du et al. 2007 19 150 200 1800 20 0.87-6.2 30-120 250-900 3-20
49.6 529 4-point Ductile

Cairns 1000- 39- 261, Monotonic, Flexure, bond

8 2008 14 150 200 4.4-11.5 20 0.3-0.74 6 60 -
et al. 2000 43 342 3-point slip
Rose et Monotonic,
9 2009 3 150 250 3000 29.7 415 10, 25 - 0.60 - - 27.5, 34.5 -
al. 4-point
Azad et 215- Monotonic,
10 2010 48 200 1100 28 593 2.95-26.29 40 1 - 1740-1860 10.5-45 -
al. 315 4-point
Ductile
Xia et 20- 320- Monotonic, failure,
11 2012 20 150 200 1500 2.91-11.55 25 1.53 25-78 200 15-16
al. 28 574 4-point concrete
crushing
Ductile
Al-
Monotonic, failure, bon
12 Saidy et 2015 6 100 150 2700 35 420 4.2-7.0 20 1.3 14 281 4.1-6.3
4-point failure,
al.
crushing
Monotonic,
13 Azam 2016 7 150 250 1700 42.6 400 3, 10 30 0.91,1.21, 1.82 - - 28-44 -
3-point
Where: W=width; H= Height; L=length; f’c=compressive strength of concrete; fy= yield strength of steel

12
2.2 Effect of corrosion on bond strength

Auyeung et al. (2000) studied the bond strength of corroded reinforcing steel in concrete having
a corrosion level of 0.72-5.91%. Accelerated corrosion method was used to corrode the
reinforcing bars. It was found that corrosion less than 1% improves the bond strength. After 1%
of corrosion the bond strength is significantly reduced.

Lee et al. (2002) investigated the bond properties between concrete and corroded reinforcement
by conducting pullout tests on reinforcements embedded in concrete. An accelerated electric
corrosion method was applied to corrode the bars. It was concluded that the bond strength
increased with the increase in concrete strength. Whereas, the bond strength was observed to be
decreased with the increase of corrosion level.

Fang et al. (2004) carried out pullout tests to investigate effects of corrosion on bond and bond–
slip behavior. Both smooth bars deformed bar with and with stirrups as a confinement were
studied. It was found that the maximum bond strength of smooth bars was less than deformed
bars. Corrosion had no substantial influence on the bond strength of deformed bars with stirrups.

Chung et al. (2008) conducted pullout tests to evaluate the bond strength of corroded reinforcing
bar in concrete. Specimens were prepared with two types of reinforcements, one having
corrosion before casting concrete and one having been corroded after casting of concrete. It was
found that for both types of reinforcements, the bond strength increases after a certain value of
corrosion level and then starts to decrease for greater level of corrosion.

Law et al. (2011) investigated the effect of degree of corrosion and surface crack width on the
bond strength of confined and unconfined small beams. Two types of deformed reinforcing bars
were used 12 and 16 mm mild steel and subjected to accelerated corrosion. They found that there
is a potential relationship between the bond strength and crack width. They also found that high
bond strength was noticed for specimen having initial surface cracking. Confined reinforcement
resulted in higher bond strength compared to unconfined specimens.

Yalciner et al. (2012) performed pullout tests on ninety concrete specimens with two different
w/c ratios of 0.40 and 0.75, different concrete covers: c=15 mm, c=30 mm and c=45 mm, two
concrete strength (23 and 51 MPa) and different mass losses of reinforcement bars after

13
corrosion. Effect of cover to-bar-diameter ratio (c/D ratio) was also considered. From the test
results they found that the degradation of bond strength in the higher-strength concrete was more
noticeable than in the lower-strength concrete because of expansion of corrosion products.

Zhao et al. (2013) performed twenty four pullout tests to investigate the bond strength between
normal concrete aggregate and recycled concrete aggregate with corroded reinforcing bars. Some
specimen were provided with stirrups for confinement. From the test results it was found that
specimens without stirrups had bond strength increased at the beginning of corrosion but was
significantly reduced with the increase in corrosion level.

Tondolo (2015) performed pullout test on corroded specimens with and without stirrups to
investigate the effect of increasing corrosion level on the bond-slip behavior. Corrosion has been
induced by means of an electrochemical process. For the unconfined specimens, the bond
strength increase up to 2% of corrosion level but after that bond efficiency suddenly decrease for
higher corrosion levels. Whereas, confined specimens resulted in an initial increase in bond
efficiency from 0-2% corrosion level, thereafter the bond strength was uniform for higher levels
of corrosion.

Table-2 Summary of literature on bond strength

Concrete Bar Bond Bond

No. of Corrosion
Authors Year strength diameter length Strength
specimens level (%)
(MPa) (mm) (mm) (MPa)
177.8-
Auyeung et al. 2000 11 28 19 0.72-5.91 1.4-8.4
187.8
Lee et al. 2002 6 24-42 13 104 3.2-24 1.5-68.0

Fang et al. 2004 10 52.1 20 80 2.01-9.0 4.0-21.4

Chung et al. 2008 20 28.3 13 36-39.1 0.1-2.5 14-20.6

Law et al. 2011 27 40 12, 16 300 0.2-12 2-8.5

Yalciner et al. 2012 90 23, 51 14 50 0.31-18.75 1.3-31.7

Zhao et al . 2013 24 38, 42 18 150 0.65-6.18 1.18-11.05

Tondolo 2015 19 25 12 60 2-20 2.5-25

Ma et al. 2017 34 20 18, 20 100 1.43-10.41 1.83-9.05

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In order to draw a conclusion on the abovementioned experimental results, the ratio of bond
strength of corroded specimens to bond strength of un-corroded control specimens of some of the
research articles is plotted against corrosion level in figure-2. It can be seen in that the bond
strength increases after start of corrosion up to about 2% corrosion level and then suddenly drops
to about 50% at the corrosion level of about 5%. After that it has a linearly decreasing trend and
at 20% corrosion level it decrease about 75%. Table-2 provides details of experiments
performed.

1.5
Normalised Bond Strength

0.5

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Corrosion level (%)
Auyenga et al. (2000) Lee et al. (2002) Zhao et al . (2013)
Chung et al. (2008) Law et al. (2011) Tondolo (2015)
Yalciner et al. (2012) Fang et al. (2004) Ma et al. (2017)

Figure-2 Effect of corrosion on bond strength

15
2.3 Effect of corrosion on crack width

Coronelli et al. (2013) studied the effect of corrosion level on the cover cracking along the main
bars as well as stirrups. High levels of corrosion were considered, for main bars up to 20% and
for stirrups 34% of corrosion level. An accelerated corrosion method was used to corrode the
reinforcing steel. At a corrosion level of 1% longitudinal cracks parallel to the main
reinforcement were noticed. It was also found that the stirrups either corroded or not, can
significantly reduce the crack widths caused by corrosion of the main reinforcing bars.

Law et al. (2011) investigated the effect surface crack width on the bond strength of confined
and unconfined specimens. Two types of deformed reinforcing bars were used 12 and 16 mm
mild steel and subjected to accelerated corrosion. They found that there is a potential relationship
between the bond strength and crack width. This relationship was better for maximum crack
width than for mean crack width against bond stress.

Khan et al. (2014) examined the development of cracks in 26-year-old corroded reinforced
concrete beam during its corrosion period. Cracks of the beam were drawn and the loss of mass
of steel reinforcement was measured by removing steel bars from the beam. It was observed the
relationship between the corrosion level and crack width of the main bars was not affected by the
cross-sectional loss in the transverse reinforcement.

Torres-Acosta et al. (2007) experimentally investigated the flexure capacity reduction in concrete
beams due to the loss of steel cross-sectional area. Length and widths of the crack were recorded
for all specimens after the accelerated corrosion. They found that the cracks grow more quickly
in dry environment corrosion process than in a humid environment. A maximum crack width of
3.0mm was noticed corresponding to mass loss of 100 grams.

Gu et al. (2010) studied the cracking of reinforced concrete beams subjected to acceleration
corrosion. Twelve specimens were casted and studied. It was found that high impressed current
density can accelerate the deterioration process of the reinforced concrete beams before cover
cracking. The crack width was found to have a direct relationship with increase in the corrosion
level.

16
Xia et al. (2012) tested twenty beams under four point bending load of the size
150x200x1500mm. Two beams were tested without corrosion while other beams were subjected
to accelerated corrosion with a current density of 200µA/cm2 for 25 to 78 days. Maximum and
average cracks widths were measured and compared with the flexural capacity of the beams. It
was found that the average crack width has slightly better correlation with the relative flexural
capacity of the beam compared to the maximum crack width.

In order to draw a conclusion on the effect of corrosion level on cracks widths, the width of
crack were plotted against different corrosion levels as shown figure-3. No cracks were noticed
at the corrosion level of about 1%. After 1% of corrosion level, cracks in concrete appeared
because the rust product developed inside concrete has exerted tensile stress greater than the
tensile strength of concrete. A linearly increasing trend was noticed between the crack widths
and corrosion level.

y=0.08x-0.0227

1.5
crack width (mm)

0.5

0
0 5 10 15 20
Corrosion level (%)
Law et al. (2010) Torres-acosta et al. (2007)
Khan et al . (2014) Gu et al. (2010)
Coronelli et al. (2013)

Figure-3 Effect of corrosion on crack width

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 CHAPTER-3
CASE STUDY AND PERFORMANCE EVALAUTION

3.1 Introduction

For the case study, a reinforced concrete beam was selected from (El-Maaddawy et al. 2005) and
has the dimension of 152 x 254 x 3200 mm shown in figure-4. The main flexural reinforcement
consisted of two No.15 (Grade 60 deformed bars) with a nominal diameter of 16 mm (As = 402
mm2) in the bottom portion of the beam and two 8 mm diameter (A’s = 100.5 mm2) mild steel
plain bars in the top compression zone of the beam. The clear cover to main bars was 33mm and
to the stirrups was 25mm. The shear reinforcement consisted of 8 mm diameter mild steel
stirrups with a 25 mm clear cover spaced at 80 mm o/c in the shear span and at 333 mm o/c in
the constant moment region. The average 28 days concrete compressive strength was 40 MPa.
The yield and ultimate strength of No. 15 reinforcing steel were 450MPa and 585 MPa,
respectively. The yield and ultimate strength of No. 8 reinforcing steel (stirrups) were 340 MPa
and 500 MPa, respectively.

Figure-4 Beam dimensions and reinforcement details (El-Maaddawy et al. 2005)

18
3.2 Finite Element Analysis

In this study, a finite element model was developed using a computer software ATENA 3D
software to simulate the behavior of the reinforced concrete beam tested by (El-Maaddawy et al.
2005) under flexure loading. Half of the beam was modeled because of the symmetry of the
beam and to reduce the analysis time. The 3D model created is shown in figure-5. The load vs
displacement graph of the experimentally tested beam is shown in figure-6. ATENA 3D can
perform nonlinear finite element analysis of civil engineering structures (Cervenka et al. 2002).

Figure-5 3D view of numerical model

80

70

60

50
Load (kN)

40

30

20

10 El-Maaddawy et al. 2005

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Displacement (mm)

Figure-6 Experimental load vs displacement curve (El-Maaddawy 2005)

19
3.2.1 Material Models

Only two materials i.e. concrete and steel were used to model the beams. For modeling of
concrete, material type “3D Nonlinear Cementitious model 2” was selected. Some of the basic
properties provided are: Elastic modulus Es = 3.4x104 MPa; poisson’s ratio =0.2; Tensile
strength (ft)= 2.43 MPa; Compressive strength (fc) = 40MPa. The model is shown in Figure-7a.
For reinforcing bars, material type “CCReinforcement” was used. Two models for steel were
considered, one Bilinear (steel model-A) shown in Figure-7b and another Bilinear with strain
hardening (steel model-B) shown in Figure-7c. Some basic properties of steel were: Elastic
modulus E = 200x103 MPa; Yield strength (σy) =450MPa, Ultimate strength (σy) =585MPa,
Ultimate strain (εlim)= 0.07.

a) Concrete b) Steel_Model-A c) Steel_Model-B

Figure-7 Material models

3.2.2 Results from FEA

The numerical model was accurate to predict the behavior of RC beam tested by (El-Maaddawy
2005). Experimental peak load recorded was 75.03 kN, whereas numerical analysis resulted in a
peak load of 72.94 kN resulting in a ratio of 1.02 was resulted, indicating successful validation of
the experiment. A comparison of the experimental and numerical results is shown in figure-8. It
should be noted that the numerical results in figure-8 are based on selecting a mesh size of 25mm
and bilinear model with strain hardening (steel model-B). Figure -9 shows the crack pattern at
the end of analysis.

20
 80
70
60
50

Load (kN) 40
30
20 Experimental
10 Numerical

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Displacement (mm)

Figure-8 Experimental vs numerical results (using 25mm mesh size)

Figure-9 Crack patterns of RC beam

3.2.3 Parametric study

In order to further understand the numerical modeling, a parametric study was conducted, where
the effect of loss of cross-sectional area, effect of strain hardening and effect of mesh size were
investigated.

Loss of cross-sectional area of steel

After validating the model, three more numerical models with decrease in cross-sectional area
were modeled and run. The results from the analysis are provided in table-3 and presented in
figure-10. It can be seen that with the decrease in cross-sectional area of reinforcing bear the
flexural capacity also decreases.

21
Table-3 Effect of loss of steel area on ultimate flexural load

Models with area Area reduction Area of rebar Maximum load % reduction in
reduction factor (mm2) (kN) load
Model without reduction As 402 72.94 -
Model with 10%
0.9As 362 61.28 16%
reduction
Model with 20%
0.8As 322 49.9 32%
reduction
Model with 30%
0.7As 281 39.74 46%
reduction

80
70
60
50
Load (kN)

40
30 Experimental
Numerical_As
20
Numerical_0.9As
10 Numerical_0.8As
Numerical_0.7As
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Displacement (mm)

Figure-10 Effect of loss of cross-sectional area of steel on flexural strength

Effect of strain hardening

Strain hardening can give RC flexural members some extra load after the steel yield. In order to
investigate this, another model (with steel model-A) was generated by ignoring the strain
hardening effect and then compared with model considering strain hardening (made from steel
model-B). The model without strain hardening resulted in lower ultimate load values (69.04 kN)
then the model with strain hardening effect (72.94 kN) and a decline in load-displacement curve
after the yield strength was noticed as shown in Figure-11.

22
 80
70
60
50

Load (kN)
40
30 Experimental
20 Numerical_steel model (A)
10 Numerical_steel model (B)
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Displacement (mm)

Figure-11 Effect of strain hardening of steel on flexural strength

Mesh sensitivity

ATENA 3D software is very sensitive to change in the mesh sizes. It can result in different
values which can be misleading. A study was conducted to see the effect of the increase in mesh
size on the load-displacement curve. For this purpose, the model was re-analyzed by considering
different mesh sizes i.e. 30, 50 and 100mm shown in figure-12. The mesh which resulted in
accurate readings was 25mm. Ultimate loads noted for 25, 30, 50 and 100mm mesh are 72.94,
73.02, 73.6 and 83.02 kN, respectively. It can be seen that by increasing the mesh size can result
in similar results up to 50mm size but cannot properly predict the experimental results after
yielding (shows limited ductility). Increase of mesh size from 25 to 100mm has resulted in
13.8% increase in load capacity.

23
 90
80
70
60

Load (kN)
50
40
30 Experimental
Numerical-25mm
20 Numerical-30mm
10 Numerical-50mm
Numerical-100mm
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Displacement (mm)

Figure-12 Effect of mesh size on flexural strength

24
 CHAPTER-4
ENVIRONMENTAL, SUSTAINABILITY, ETHICAL, AND
COMMERCIAL ISSUES
Corrosion of reinforcement is one of the main reasons of deterioration of reinforced concrete
structures. Corrosion of RC structures is a serious concern because it can affects both the load
carrying capacity and durability of structures. Stopping or eliminating of corrosion process in
existing RC structures is challenging as it requires major interventions in the structure and thus
needs high budget. However, new buildings, which are yet to be constructed, some cost effective
methods could be adopted to protect the steel inside concrete from corrosion and to increase its
service life. The existing structures which are damaged due to corrosion and are likely to pose
safety hazard to the occupants should be repaired with sustainable materials such as fibre
reinforced polymers (FRP) and fibre reinforced cementitious matric (FRCM) to gain its original
strength.

25
 CHAPTER-5
CONCLUSIONS
A comprehensive literature review on flexural capacity of corroded reinforced concrete beams
was conducted followed by a case study. From the literature it was concluded that the corrosion
has significant effect on the flexural capacity of the beams. Flexural capacity of the reinforced
concrete beams reduces with the increase in level of corrosion (mass or area loss). This reduction
is lower up to a corrosion level of about 5% and after further increase in corrosion level can
drastically lower the flexural capacity of the beams. Some studies were also conducted to check
the bond strength of rebar in concrete at increasing level of corrosion. Bond strength was noticed
to be increased at lower level of corrosion (1-2%) because of the accumulation of corrosion
products helped in increasing the bond properties. The bond strength suddenly drops to about
50% at the corrosion level of about 5%. After that it had a linearly decreasing trend and at 20%
corrosion level it decrease about 75%. From the literature, it was also found that there is a linear
relation between the corrosion level and the crack widths. No cracks were noticed at the low
level of corrosion (1%). After 1% of corrosion level, cracks in concrete appeared because the
rust product developed inside concrete has exerted tensile stress greater than the tensile strength
of concrete.

From the results of numerical analysis, it was found that the decrease in cross-sectional area of
the rebar due to corrosion can significantly reduce the flexural strength of the beams. Care
should be taken in selecting appropriate mesh size for performing numerical modeling of RC
beams using ATENA 3D. A mesh size of 25mm was found to give accurate results. Increase in
mesh size can give higher values of loads which can be misleading. Also the effect of strain
hardening should also be considered while modeling RC beams. A bilinear steel model with
strain hardening was found to predict the experiment behavior after the yield point better than
that bilinear model without strain hardening.

26
 CHAPTER-6
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