Anchorage of Corroded Reinforcement in Existing Concrete Structures: Experimental Study

Abstract: The decrease in bond capacity and its relationship to the crack widths and patterns documented were studied for both the naturally corroded specimens tested in this study and artificial corrosion tests from the literature. A reduction of bond strength with increasingly maximal crack widths was observed in both types of tests. However, the bond strength in the naturally corroded specimens was considerably higher than that of the artificially corroded specimens. Furthermore, the provisions given in Model Code 2010 in terms of the reduction in bond strength compared with crack width remained on the safe side. The knowledge gained in this research contributes to a better understanding of the mechanical effects of reinforcement corrosion in a naturally corrosive environment and can be used as reference data for further calibration and validation of existing models.