Mechano-electrochemical coupling effect on reinforcing steel corrosion

Fiber reinforcement concrete has been used extensively as the commercial construction material due to the high bonding strength and enhancement of the service life. In this report, the author would like to experiment the addition of fiber have any effect to the corrosion behavior of the fiber reinforced concrete. The polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber type was used. The different fiber dosage (0.1%, 0.3%, 0.6% and 1.0%) was added to the cement mix and the various corrosion confinement of the fiber types were compared. Two different specimen types were tested and examined for all fiber type. After 28 days curing, the specimens were submerged in 3.5% NaCl solution and two series of tests were preformed. In the first series, the prism type was used for the accelerated corrosion test, the bending test, the steel bar mass loss measurement and the crack width observation. In the second series, the cylinder specimen was used for the electrochemical measurements, which are half-cell potential test, linear polarization test and tafel test to check the corrosion activity of the fiber reinforced concrete (FRC). The accelerated corrosion tests can be used effectively to reduce the testing of the corrosion time. The addition of PVA fibers showed great resistance to failure time of corrosion and corrosion rate. The corroded time is delayed for the higher fiber dosage and the mass loss of steel bar is relatively severe in the lower fiber dosage. The loading capacity is highly related to the effect of the fiber addition compared to the corrosion of the steel bar. All the electrochemical measurements are linearly proportional to the amount of fiber adding to the concrete matrix.Bachelor of Engineering (Civil