PSI - Issue 10

A. Drakakaki et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 10 (2018) 59–65 A. Drakakaki et al. / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2018) 000 – 000

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Table 1. The specimens used for the goals of the current study Steel Category Corrosion Method Number of Specimens

Total length (mm)

Length exposed to corrosion (mm)

Type of mechanical test

S400

Electrochemical corrosion- wet conditions Electrochemical corrosion- wet conditions Electrochemical corrosion- wet conditions Electrochemical corrosion- wet conditions

6

500

250

Tensile Tests

S400

6

170

20

±2.5% strain -controlled Low Cycle Fatigue Tests

S500s

6

500

250

Tensile Tests

S500s

6

170

20

±2.5% strain -controlled Low Cycle Fatigue Tests

Fig. 3. Preparation of the “long” specimens.

Fig. 4. Preparation of the “short” specimens.

The samples were exposed to the corrosion process and they were mechanically tested in Tensile and Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) tests. Artificial corrosion tests were executed with the use of two methods, salt spray fog chamber (according to ASTM B117 specification) and electrochemical corrosion method. The experimental results concerning the salt spray fog chamber method were taken from Papadopoulos’s et al. (2010) study whose tests had been executed a few years ago in the same laboratory. After removal from the corrosive conditions, the specimens were let to dry. The formed oxide layer was then removed from their surface according to ASTM G1 specification. Afterwards, all mechanical tests were conducted at room temperature using an MTS 250 kN servo-hydraulic testing system. Three tests were performed in each case.

3. Results and discussion

Corrosion of steel reinforcement constitutes a major problem for reinforced concrete structures, as far as durability is concerned, as it has also been mentioned by Almusallam (2001). Corrosion degradation is responsible for several issues, such as deterioration of both durability and service life of structures, resulting in premature failure. This scenario becomes even worse when the structures are located in earthquake prone areas. Cyclic loading, which is due to seismic activity, leads to a non- linear response of the structures that face durability issues.