Corrosion in conventional steel reinforced concrete is considered as one of the major threats to the durability of the structures. Hence, alternative reinforcements are attempted to replace steel reinforcement in concrete in the recent times. However, the main steel reinforcement…
Corrosion in conventional steel reinforced concrete is considered as one of the major threats to the durability of the structures. Hence, alternative reinforcements are attempted to replace steel reinforcement in concrete in the recent times. However, the main steel reinforcement cannot be entirely replaced for technical reasons and hence, steel fibers are used as complementary reinforcement in addition to main reinforcements. In this context, the combined influence of steel fibers and steel rebars on corrosion is investigated in this study. Tests are performed on control and steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) lollipop specimens made with two different water to cement ratios (0.45 and 0.5) and corrosion is accelerated using impressed current. Five dosages including control such as 0%, 0.2%, 0.5%, 0.75% and 1% of steel fibers by volume of concrete is used. Parameters such as corrosion current, half-cell potential, electrical resistivity and crack width are obtained and plotted against the time period in order to investigate the influence of fiber dosage and water to cement ratio on corrosion. The accelerated corrosion tests performed in the laboratory scale indicate the usefulness of incorporating steel fibers in addition to steel rebar in mitigating the corrosion and controlling the crack width in real reinforced concrete structures, especially exposed to marine environment.