Shear strength behaviour on corrosion damaged stirrups of reinforced concrete beams

Abstract

The present research intends to develop studies on reinforced concrete beams by applying controlled damage corrosion to cross-sectional reinforcements, thus finding relationships between different stirrups corrosion levels and shear strength due to diagonal tensile stress. Two series of eight beam specimens were constructed, each series having a stirrup spacing distance of 150 and 200 mm. The beams are exposed under wetting/drying cycles, with a 3.5% NaCl solution.  In this paper, preliminary results are discussed related to the control of stirrups corrosion potential while the beams are exposed to NaCl. The obtained results will allow understanding the effect of stirrups corrosion level upon beams shear strength behavior, and the corresponding cracking pattern.