Experimental studies on the effects of corrosion on the flexural strength of RC beams

RC structures are generally very durable and are capable of withstanding a variety of adverse environmental conditions. However, failures of these structures still occur and reinforcement corrosion is one of the major causes. In the present research, corroded Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) beams were tested in the laboratory to evaluate their flexural behavior. Accelerated corrosion technique was adopted to corrode the beams. The corrosion was measured using Applied Corrosion Monitoring (ACM) instrument. From the results, it is seen that, as the rate of corrosion increases, the load carrying capacity decreases. The deflection increases initially and then decreases. It is observed that the stiffness of the beams is reduced when rate of corrosion is increased due to changes in the modulus of elasticity of corroded steel.