Mechanical model to evaluate steel reinforcement corrosion effects on σ–ε and fatigue curves. Experimental calibration and validation

• Mechanical model to evaluate the mechanical properties of corroded steel.
• Calibration and validation of a mechanical model to evaluate corrosion effect on tensile and fatigue curves.
• An experimental study on material properties characterisation for not corroded bars produced with TEMPCORE® system.
• Experimental data validates the presented model from 0% up to 60% degree of corrosion.

An experimental study to characterise the annular distribution of the mechanical properties throughout the cross-section of TEMPCORE® steel bars is presented. Thereafter a sectional fibre model, which allows obtaining σ–ε and fatigue curves of corroded steel, is described. The model is calibrated using an extensive experimental study of artificially corroded steel bars tested under cyclic and monotonic loads. Local pitting effects such as stress concentration, local bending or non-uniform material properties distribution are considered. Validation of the model is done using different experimental work in the literature, which encompassed naturally and artificially corroded bars, for both fatigue and tensile tests.