Abstract
The study of the influence of concrete crack width on corrosion of steel reinforcement due to exposure to aggressive environments is very important for durability design. Premature failure of structures may eventually occur during their service life. Since cracks in the concrete cover are inevitable due to the stress structures are subjected to, penetration of aggressive substances will occur more rapidly in cracked areas than in areas without cracking. This study addresses the corrosion effects on the reinforcement in cracked areas. Reinforced beams 2 m long and cracked at half-length with widths up to 1 mm were prepared 20 years ago, exposed to carbonation and chlorides and kept outdoors sheltered from rain until present. After 20 years, the carbonation depth in the faces of the cracks, and the reinforcement at the crack region have been examined. The results indicated that flexural cracks in high quality carbonated concrete present only a small additional risk of corrosion which, however, is significant in the presence of chlorides.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Arya C, Ofori-Darko FK (1996) Influence of crack frequency on reinforcement corrosion in concrete. Cem Concr Res 26:345–353
Beeby AW (1978) Corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete and its relation to cracking. Struct Eng 56:77–81
Beeby AW (1983) Cracking, cover and corrosion of reinforcement. Concr Int 5:35–40
Nürnberger U (1984) Chloride corrosion of steel in concrete, part 2. Betonwerk Fertigteil-technik 10:697–704
Otieno MB, Alexander MG, Beushausen HD (2010) Corrosion in cracked and uncracked concrete- influence of crack width, concrete quality and crack reopening. Mag Concr Res 62(6):393–404
Sarría Odiaga JJ (1997) Effect of the environmental parameters on the rate of corrosion of steel embedded in the concrete. Incidence of cover cracking doctoral thesis, Polytechnic University of Madrid
Schiessl P (1988) Cracking of concrete and durability of concrete structures. In: European Conference on cracking of concrete and durability of construction, Paris
Tarek MU et al (2001) Effect of crack width and bar types on corrosion of steel in concrete. J Mater Civil Eng 13(3):194–201
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the grant funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitivity of Spain through the research project INPACTO- EXTREPHOR
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Torres, J., Andrade, C. (2015). Influence of Crack Width on Long Term Degradation of Concrete Structures. In: Andrade, C., Gulikers, J., Polder, R. (eds) Durability of Reinforced Concrete from Composition to Protection. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09921-7_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09921-7_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-09920-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-09921-7
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)