Flexural behavior of concrete slabs with corroded bars

Experimental and analytical evaluations of concrete slabs reinforced with corroded and uncorroded bars are presented. Seventy simply supported slabs reinforced with 10 mm diameter bars were tested in bending using a four-point load setup. The primary variables were the bond length and the corrosion level. The bond lengths varied from 10 to 440 mm and corrosion levels ranged from 0% to 4.6% diameter loss. The moment capacity of the slabs was also predicted using results from pull-out tests conducted on corroded bars in a separate study. The results indicate that the behavior of the slabs with corroded reinforcement can be predicted with good accuracy. As in the case of pull-out tests, a small amount of corrosion increases the flexural capacity of the slab. But the capacity reduces considerably when the loss in bar diameter exceeds 2%. The results confirm the hypothesis that bond deterioration is the major contributor to the reduction of moment capacity.