ASPS Conference Proceedings 1: 153-158 (2022)

Proceedings of
12th Structural Engineering Convention - An International Event (SEC 2022)

Available at https://asps-journals.com/index.php/acp

Effects
ffects of treated corrosion reinforcement on structural behaviorof
behavior concrete
beams
Ch.Naga Satish Kumar1,*, R.Dilip2
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Professor, Bapatla Engineering College, Bapatla, 522
22 101, India
2
Department of Civil Engineering, PG Student, Bapatla Engineering College, Bapatla, 5522
22 101, India

Paper ID - 020156

Abstract

Structural degradation phenomena like reinforcement corrosion in concrete structures imply a consequent reduction in time of the
safety level. Corrosion causes a reduction of the sectional area, ductility and strength of rebars, bond strength between ste steel and
concrete. The subsequent redistribution of internal stresses induces a reduction in duct
ductility
ility at ultimate limit state and a variation of the
deformational behavior in serviceability conditions. In this paper, an experimental investigation was carried out to study th the effect of
treated corrosion reinforcement on structural behavior of concrete beams. In this investigation, phosphoric acid and vinegar solution
are used to treat the corroded steel bars and compared the bending strength of concrete beams with treated and untreated corr corrosion
reinforcement. A finite element computer software (ANSYS) has been used to compare the experimental results. From the
experimental and analytical results, it was observed that performance of concrete beams with treated corrosion reinforcement is better
than the concrete beams with corrosion reinforcement
Keywords: Corroded Reinforcement , Phosphoric acid, Vinegar , Concrete beams ,ANSYS

1. Introduction

Concrete is one of the most versatile and widely used as elongation properties and fatigue strength .ASTM
construction material throughout the world. Reinforced terminology defines corrosion as “the chemical or
concrete structures have to withstand the environmental electrochemical reaction between a material,
mat usually a
conditions throughout its life-span
span if properly prepared and metal, and its environment that produces a deterioration of
placed. It has been demonstrated
rated by the large number of the material
terial and its properties”. Steel
S embedded in concrete,
concrete structure built over the last 100 years indifferent corrosion results in the formation of rust which has two to
part of the world. In India, the construction of reinforced four times the volume of the original steel and none of its i
concrete structures was taken up during the formative years good mechanical properties. Corrosion also produces pits or
of the 20th century. Such a durable reinforced concrete holes in the surface of reinforcing steel, reducing strength
structure is in Mumbai - the Gateway of India. The steel capacity as a result of the reduced cross-sectional
cross area.
embedded in the concrete structure whether as
reinforcement or pre-stressed
stressed tendon, being ferrous material, Steel in concrete is usually in anon-corroding, passive
is prone to corrosion which cannot be totally eliminated. condition. However, steel--reinforced concrete is often used
Corrosion related distress
ess is not confined to India but have in severe environments
ments where sea water or salts are present.
been experienced all over the world. All developed countries When chloride moves into the concrete, it disrupts the
have carried out necessary preventive measures including passive layer protecting the steel, causing it to rust and pit.
revision of the concrete codes by incorporation of suitable Carbonation of concrete is another cause of steel
st corrosion.
durability practices in seventies and eighties.
ghties. However, this When concrete carbonates to the level of the steel rebar, the
process has been very slow in India, even the basic concrete normally alkaline environment, which protects steel from
code IS: 456-2000,
2000, has not been fully updated for durability corrosion, is replaced by a more neutral environment. Under
requirement. Corrosion of steel results in reduction of cross
cross- these conditions the steel is not passive and rapid corrosion
section area of steel and cracks and splitting of cover beginning. The rate of corrosion due to carbonated concrete
concrete. Due to reduction of cross-section,
section, the load cover is slower than chloride-induced
chloride corrosion.
carrying capacity is reduced, in addition to reduction of Occasionally, a lack of oxygen surrounding the steel rebar
*Corresponding
Corresponding author, Tel: +919440110124; EE-mail address:nagasatish123@gmail.com
Proceedings of the 12th Structural Engineering Convention (SEC 2022), NCDMM, MNIT Jaipur, India | 19 19-22
22 December, 2022
© 2022 The authors. Published by Alwaha Scientific Publishing Services, ASPS. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.
Published online: December 19, 2022
doi:10.38208/acp.v1.488
 Kumar and Dilip / ASPS Conferences proceedings 1: 153-158 (2022)

will cause the metal to dissolve, leav in galow pH liquid. or damaged, allowing corrosion to proceed in damaged
Corrosion is a destruction of material because of its reaction areas. However, in reality the passive environment is not
with the environmental conditions the most predominant always maintained in RC. Most notably, the chloride attack
among various factors of corrosion is the atmospheric mechanism can break down the alkaline condition in
corrosion which causing the rusting of steel. Appreciable concrete, resulting in a corrosion-susceptible environment
corrosion only starts when the relative humidity of the air .
exceeds around 65%. In dry, pure air and below freezing 2.1 Chloride Attack Mechanism:
point of water there is no danger of the corrosion. Corrosion In structures, chloride ions can come from several sources.
may be defined as the involuntary destruction of substances They can be cast into the concrete or they can come from the
such as metals and mineral building materials by deliberate addition of chlorides. Calcium chloride, for
surrounding media. example, was widely used until the mid-1970s as a concrete
Chemical either from environmental or from within the set accelerator. The use of sea water or sea-dredged aggregate
concrete making materials are the main source of can also contaminate the concrete mix with chloride.
deterioration process. Due to the attack of chemicals, the Chlorides can also diffuse into concrete as a result of deicing
concrete. Develops crack which is the first sign of salt application, marine salt spray, and storage of salts.
deterioration. The effect of chemicals is mainly due to The diffusion of chlorides via the application of deicing salts
presence of salt, carbonation, chloride attack and reaction of or marine salt spray is the primary source of chlorides in most
sulphates with tricalcium aluminate (CsA) present in modern RC structures. However, cast-in chloride must not be
cement. Concrete is an intimate mixture of cement, overlooked. Even a low level of cast-in chloride can lead to
aggregate and water which in the green stage is highly the rapid onset of corrosion if additional chlorides become
alkaline. The hydration of cement, develops calcium available from the environment. This often happens in marine
hydroxides which increases the pH values up to 12.5. In conditions, where seawater contaminates the original concrete
such alkaline conditions, the reinforcing steel is covered mix and diffuses into the hardened concrete.4 Chloride ions
with thin film of oxide which protects the steel. penetrate through concrete capillaries and can act as catalysts
to corrosion when ion concentration is sufficient at the
2. Corrosion Process reinforcement surface. This could break down the passive
layer of oxide on the steel, allowing corrosion to initiate.
Both mild and high-strength steel reinforcement corrode Chloride attack is difficult to remedy, as chlorides are
in the presence of oxygen and water. As concrete generally generally hard to eliminate once introduced into a RC
has interconnected pores, air and moisture are ever present structure.
around the reinforcement. Initially, at least, the alkaline 2.2Corrosion Process
nature of the surrounding concrete naturally prevents Corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete can generally
embedded steel reinforcement from corroding. Specifically, be modeled as a two-stage process. The first stage is known as
microscopic pores within the concrete matrix with high the initiation, diffusion, or incubation period, in which
concentrations of soluble calcium, sodium, and potassium chloride ions migrate from the concrete surface to the
oxide form hydroxide when water is present. This process reinforcement level. During this stage, the reinforcing steel
subsequently creates this alkaline condition. The alkaline experiences negligible corrosion. The time required for the
condition leads to the formation of a “passive” layer on the chloride concentration to reach the aforementioned chloride
steel reinforcement surface. This passive layer is a dense, threshold value at the reinforcement level can be determined
impenetrable film that, if fully established and maintained, by the diffusion process of the chloride ion through concrete,
prevents further corrosion of the steel reinforcement. A true following Fick’s Second Law of Diffusion.Once the passive
passive layer is a very dense, thin layer of oxide that leads to layer breaks down the second stage, which is referred to as the
a very slow rate of corrosion. The passive layer formed on active corrosion period of steel reinforcement, occurs and
steel reinforcement in concrete is most likely part metal propagates. The length of the second stage depends on the
oxide-hydroxide and part mineral from the cement paste. speed at which the corroded steel reinforcement deteriorates
There is some discussion as to whether this layer is a true and results in observable distress. Although it is not an easy
passive layer, as it is thick compared to other known passive task to predict the length of the second stage, eventually a RC
layers and consists of more than just metal oxides. However, structure will reach a condition at which some type of
it behaves similarly to a passive layer and, therefore, is maintenance must be performed. When corrosion occurs, the
generally referred to as such. steel reinforcement basically “dissolves” in the pore water,
Corrosion engineers try to stop the corrosion of steel by giving up electrons and forming cations (positively charged
simulating the naturally occurring, yet fragile, passive layer ions). The process of losing electrons is known as oxidation.
with applied protective coatings. Metals such as zinc or The surface of the iron, at which oxidation occurs, serves as
–
polymers such as acrylics and epoxies are sometimes used to an anode. The two free electrons, 2e , created in the anodic
stop corrosive conditions from reaching the steel surfaces. reaction must be consumed elsewhere on the steel surface to
The true passive layer is the ideal protective coating, as it preserve electrical neutrality in the system. In other words, it
will form, maintain, and repair itself as long as the alkaline is not possible for a large amount of electrical charge to build
environment is sustained. This is a far better situation than up at one location. Another chemical reaction must consume
any artificial coating, as artificial coatings can be consumed the electrons. Oxidation and reduction are coupled together as
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specimens, demoulding was carried out with a time gap of

24 hours. All the specimens were water cured for 28 days. In
this experimental investigation a total of ten concrete beams
were casted.

4. Test Setup and Testing Procedure

Loading frame of 100 tone capacity was used for

Fig. 1.Corrosion process the testing of specimens. All the beam specimens were
tested under the three point bending test (fig2). Dial gauge
electrons are transferred between them. This reaction were placed on the centre of the beam to measure the
consumes both water and oxygen.If the iron were simply to deflection. Loading was gradually applied with the help of
dissolve in the pore water, no cracking, delaminating, and hand pump. For every increment of load, the dial gauge
spalling of the surrounding concrete would occur. readings were noted. Loading was continued up to the
failure of the beam. The crack pattern of failure is noted. For
3. Experimental Programme finding the Compressive strength of the cube, stress-strain
curve for corroded bars and treated corroded bars were
Experimental program was designed to study the tested on the UTM. The stress-strain curves for corroded
flexural behavior of RCC beams with treated corroded bars. bars and treated corroded bars are shown in fig.2.
Experimental program consists of five series of beams
namely Plain cement concrete beams, Reinforced cement 5. Test Results and Discussions
concrete beams, RCC beams with corrode steel
reinforcement ,RCC beams with steel reinforcement treated All the beam specimens were tested under the three point
with Ortho-phosphoric acid and RCC beams with steel bending. A photograph of the test setup is shown in fig 3. To
reinforcement treated with Vinegar. understand the flexural behavior of RCC beams with treated
corroded bars, load –deflection graphs were drawn and shown
3.1 Material Details: in fig.5. The failure load and maximum deflection of five
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) of 53 grade series of beams are reported in table 2. From the graph and
conforming to IS 8112:1989 with specific gravity of 3.15 Table it was observed that the performance of RCC beams
was used in Concrete mix. Fine aggregate conforming to with treated with OPA is close to the RCC beam with regular
Zone II of IS 383:1970 was used. Crushed coarse aggregate bars. During the test, the crack propagation of all the
passing through 20mm with specific gravity 2.7 was used. specimens was carefully observed. The failure pattern of
Otho-phosporic acid and Vinegar(acetic acid) were used to beams as shown in fig.4. (A: Conventional reinforcement, B:
treat the corroded bars. The details of mix proportions are Corroded Reinforcement, C: Treated with OPA , D: Treated
listed in Table 1. with vinegar )

3.2 Casting 1000 STRESS VS STRAIN CURVE

Cubes of 150mm size were used to determine the
compressive strength of concrete. Vinegar and Ortho
STRESS IN MPA

phosphoric acid, these both chemicals are used for the

treatment process of corrode steel bars. Before casting the 500
beam specimens, bars immersing in Acid and vinegar
solutions .After 24 hours, remove the bars from solutions
REGULAR
and clean with cloth. Specially prepared wooden moulds
CORROSION BARS
were used for casting the RCC beam specimens. A needle
vibrator was used for compaction. After casting the 0 ACID
0 0,005 0,01
STRAIN 0,015 0,02
Table-1. Details of Mix Proportions
Fig.2.Strain-Strain Curve for steel bars
PROPERTIES DATA
Grade of steel M30
0.45:1:1.43:2.752
Ingredient Quantity kg/m³
Cement 425
Mix proportion Fine aggregate 610
Coarse 1170
Aggregate
Water 191.5
Compressive strngth 42N/mm²
Young’s modulus 27386 N/mm²
Fig.3. Test setup
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6.Analytical Model
Finite Element model of RCC beams using ANSYS
was developed to compare the experimental results. The
Solid65 element was used to model the concrete. This
element has eight nodes with three degrees of freedom at
each node – translations in the nodal x, y, and z directions.
This element is capable of plastic deformation, cracking in
three orthogonal directions, and crushing. A Beam188
element was used to model steel reinforcement. This
element is a 3-D D with six degree of freedom
freed at each node.
translations in the nodal x, y, and z directions and rotations
about x, y and z directions warping of cross section is
assumed to be unrestrained. This element is also capable
capab of
plastic deformation. Fig 6 illustrates the ANSYS model of
(A) (B) RCC C beam. Table 3, Table 4 and Table 5 represents the
material properties of steel bars. Beam deformation and
maximum displacement of fivefiv series of beams shown in fig
6 to fig 10. Table 6 represents the failure load and maximum
deflection off beams observed in ANSYS. Fig 11 represents
load-deflection
eflection curves of beams. Fig 12 illustrate the
comparison of flexural cracks in analytical and
experimental.

(C) (D)
Fig.4. Failures of beams

Table-2.Experimental results of beams

Type Of Beam Ultimate Load Deformation
(kN) (mm) Fig.6. ANSYS model
Regular 92 9.46
Corroded 76.5 5.88
Treated with acid 84.6 9.38 Table-3:: Element details and properties of Corroded
steel reinforcement
Treated with vinegar 77.2 7.877
Material Element Material properties
PCC 17 1.68 no type
Linear isotropic

100
LOAD-DEFLECTION
DEFLECTION CURVE EX(Mpa) 1.09E+05
PRXY 0.3
REGULAR 2 Beam 188
CORROSION Bilinear isotropic
TREATED WITH ACID YIELD STRESS(Mpa) 437
TREATED WITH VINEGIR TANG MOD 20
LOAD IN KN

Table-4:Element
:Element details and properties of steel
50 reinforcement treated by Acid
Material Element Material properties
no type
Linear isotropic
EX(Mpa) 1.52E+05
PRXY 0.3
0 2 Beam 188
Bilinear isotropic
0 2 4 6 8 10 YIELD STRESS(Mpa) 530
DEFLECTION IN MM TANG MOD 20
Fig.5.load deflection curve of beams Table-5:Element
Element details and properties of steel
reinforcement treated by Vinegir.
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Material Element Material properties

no type
Linear isotropic
EX(Mpa) 1.365E05
PRXY 0.3
2 Beam 188
Bilinear isotropic
YIELD STRESS
STRESS(Mpa) 447
TANG MOD 20

Fig.9. Beam deformation and max displacement

( Treated with Vinegar)

Fig.6.Beam deformation and max displacement

( Conventional steel)

Fig.10.Beam
Beam deformation and max displacement
(PCC)

Table-6:Failure
Failure load and maximum deflection of beams
(ANSYS)
TYPE OF BEAM Ultimate Max Deformation
Load(kN) (mm)
Regular 86.13 17.1
Corroded 77.94 9.5
Treated with acid 82.8 13.1
Treated with vinegar 78.93 10.6
Fig.7.Beam
eam deformation and max displacement PCC 16.65 2.011
(Corroded steel)
90000
80000
70000
60000 REGULAR
50000
40000 CORROSIO
LOAD IN KN

30000 N

20000 TREATED
10000 WITH ACID

0
Fig.8.Beam
Beam deformation and max displacement 0 5 10 15
DEFLECTION IN mm
(Treated with acid)
Fig.11:: Load deflection curves (ANSYS)

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 Kumar and Dilip / ASPS Conferences proceedings 1: 153-158 (2022)

Acknowledgements
The authors are highly thankful to the authorities of
Bapatla Engineering College, Bapatla, Bapatla for providing
facilities for carrying out this work.

Disclosures
Free Access to this article is sponsored by
SARL ALPHA CRISTO INDUSTRIAL.

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