Corrosion initiation in cracked fibre reinforced concrete: Influence of crack width, fibre type and loading conditions

This paper reports results from an ongoing project aimed at investigating the influence of fibre reinforcement on corrosion of rebar in chloride environments. Material tests showed that the resistivity of concrete decreased with the addition of fibres, whereas the chloride migration coefficient remained unaffected. Fibres at low dosages (<1.0 vol.%) did not significantly affect the compressive and flexural strength of concrete but greatly enhanced its toughness. The results from corrosion tests showed a tendency of an earlier initiation of corrosion with increasing crack widths, while a small improvement was observed by the addition of fibres in terms of delayed corrosion initiation.