Corrosion-induced reduction in compressive strength of self-compacting concretes containing mineral admixtures

•A study on the corrosion resistance of self-compacting concretes containing mineral admixtures is carried out.•A simulation of rebars corrosion and its effect on compressive strength is applied.•Various corrosion values on cracking templates in the mixtures are evaluated.

In this study, the corrosion resistance of square and rectangular concrete cubes is evaluated and the correlation between the corrosion and the concrete compressive strength reduction is examined. Concrete specimens with different admixtures were prepared and exposed to accelerated corrosion, and the compressive-strength reduction coefficients of the Vecchio-Collins relation were also modified. The concrete-covering effect on compressive-strength reduction was also investigated by applying corrosion to rectangular block samples. The test results revealed that corrosion resistance and compressive strength are not always directly related. The mixtures with lower compressive strength and mineral admixtures demonstrated the highest corrosion resistance. By maintaining and protecting structures, or by increasing the curing duration from 1 to 3 months, it is possible to increase the time before structural corrosion by 2–4 times. When crack width was increased by about 1 mm (which reflects 7–12% corrosion in rebars) compressive strength dropped by about 20%.