Keywords
C-FRCM; corrosion; impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP); reinforced concrete; sea sand; simply supported beams; structural strengthening
Abstract
Impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) is an efficient method to prevent further corrosion of the re-bars, while strengthening structures (SS) by using carbon fiber mesh can help improve the loading capacity of the degraded sea-sand reinforced concrete (RC) structures. This study proposes a new dual-functional method, ICCP-SS, to retrofit the sea-sand RC structures by using the carbon - fiber reinforced cementitious matrix (C-FRCM). The C-FRCM composite, comprised of carbon fiber mesh and inorganic cementitious material, is both the anodic material in the ICCP process as well as the structural strengthening material. This paper presents an experimental program consisting of 11 simply supported beams, 10 of them casted by simulated sea-sand and subjected to accelerated corrosion process for 130 days. The specimens casted by sea-sand were afterwards bonded with C-FRCM composite, treated by ICCP for 130 days, and finally tested. In this study, the flexure strength of the beams, the deflection and curvature of the specimens, as well as the strain and the open circuit potential of re-bars are obtained and used to assess the performance of the repaired specimens. The proposed technique has been shown to be effective in retarding the corrosion of re-bars and recovering the loading capacity of the corroded specimens, which should be beneficial for the durability of sea-sand RC structures.
Experimental Investigation on the ICCP-SS Technique for Sea-Sand RC Beams
Impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) is an efficient method to prevent further corrosion of the re-bars, while strengthening structures (SS) by using carbon fiber mesh can help improve the loading capacity of the degraded sea-sand reinforced concrete (RC) structures. This study proposes a new dual-functional method, ICCP-SS, to retrofit the sea-sand RC structures by using the carbon - fiber reinforced cementitious matrix (C-FRCM). The C-FRCM composite, comprised of carbon fiber mesh and inorganic cementitious material, is both the anodic material in the ICCP process as well as the structural strengthening material. This paper presents an experimental program consisting of 11 simply supported beams, 10 of them casted by simulated sea-sand and subjected to accelerated corrosion process for 130 days. The specimens casted by sea-sand were afterwards bonded with C-FRCM composite, treated by ICCP for 130 days, and finally tested. In this study, the flexure strength of the beams, the deflection and curvature of the specimens, as well as the strain and the open circuit potential of re-bars are obtained and used to assess the performance of the repaired specimens. The proposed technique has been shown to be effective in retarding the corrosion of re-bars and recovering the loading capacity of the corroded specimens, which should be beneficial for the durability of sea-sand RC structures.
