Strand Corrosion In Prestressed Concrete Structures

This is an open access book. This book focuses on the durability problems of existing prestressed concrete (PC) structures caused by strand corrosion, clarifies the mechanical behavior of corroded prestressing strands, corrosion-induced cracking, bond degradation, prestress loss and structural performance deterioration, and proposes the corresponding prediction models. Its aim is to provide the knowledge, tools, and methods to understand the deterioration phenomena of PC structures. We hope that this text may be useful for those who work in the field of civil engineering. It is suitable for teachers and students majoring in civil engineering in universities, and researchers in the field of civil engineering. It is also suitable for practitioners of design institutes, construction units, supervising units and traffic management departments.

Without doubt, active corrosion protection of prestressing steels by cement grout can be one of the most economic and durable solutions, if properly executed. Numerous other corrosion protection systems which fulfill requirements such as controllability and exchangeability are available. This state-of-the-art report, prepared by a task group and approved by fib Commission 9 Reinforcing and prestressing materials and systems, concentrates exclusively on factory applied corrosion protection that can be produced in controlled processes which should assure a better quality than corrosion protection applied on site. The report is addressed to designers and installers (executing persons) attempting to inform them about the various possibilities for industrially applied corrosion protection and to provide the necessary knowledge for their application.

Steel-reinforced concrete is used ubiquitously as a building material due to its unique combination of the high compressive strength of concrete and the high tensile strength of steel. Therefore, reinforced concrete is an ideal composite material that is used for a wide range of applications in structural engineering such as buildings, bridges, tunnels, harbor quays, foundations, tanks and pipes. To ensure durability of these structures, however, measures must be taken to prevent, diagnose and, if necessary, repair damage to the material especially due to corrosion of the steel reinforcement. The book examines the different aspects of corrosion of steel in concrete, starting from basic and essential mechanisms of the phenomenon, moving up to practical consequences for designers, contractors and owners both for new and existing reinforced and prestressed concrete structures. It covers general aspects of corrosion and protection of reinforcement, forms of attack in the presence of carbonation and chlorides, problems of hydrogen embrittlement as well as techniques of diagnosis, monitoring and repair. This second edition updates the contents with recent findings on the different topics considered and bibliographic references, with particular attention to recent European standards. This book is a self-contained treatment for civil and construction engineers, material scientists, advanced students and architects concerned with the design and maintenance of reinforced concrete structures. Readers will benefit from the knowledge, tools, and methods needed to understand corrosion in reinforced concrete and how to prevent it or keep it within acceptable limits.

Post-tensioning and grouting operations can be dangerous if the required care is not taken in planning, in site preparations and in execution. For prestressed concrete a good working environment is also a prerequisite for high quality. Many accidents in this type of work may be attributed to a lack of training, poor supervision, poor planning or over-familiarity with the process. This guide to good practice highlights important safety measures which are particularly applicable to prestressed concrete, dealing with precautions necessary for post-tensioning and grouting operations on site.

Salt-induced reinforcing steel corrosion in concrete bridges has undoubtedly become a considerable economic burden to many State and local transportation agencies. Since the iron in the steel has a natural tendency to revert eventually to its most stable oxide state, this problem will, unfortunately, still be with us, but to a much lesser degree due to the use of various corrosion protection strategies currently used in new construction. The adoption of corrosion protection measures in new construction, such as the use of good design and construction practices, adequate concrete cover depth, low-permeability concrete, corrosion inhibitors, and coated reinforcing steel is significantly reducing the occurrence of reinforcing steel corrosion in new bridges.