Rehabilitation of corrosion damaged concrete beams with CFRP laminates—a pilot study

Abstract A study was undertaken to examine the general behaviour of unconfined and partially confined reinforced concrete (RC) beams subjected to rebar corrosion. Three chloride contaminated RC beam specimens were constructed, and one was strengthened with carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates. The tensile reinforcement of the strengthened specimen and one of the unstrengthened specimens was corroded using an impressed current to 10% mass loss. Strain gauges were placed on the laminates to monitor and quantify tensile strains induced by the corrosion process. During the corrosion phase, it was evident that the CFRP laminates did not fully confine the corrosion cracking. After corrosion, the specimens were tested to failure in four-point bending. The strengthened-corroded specimen retained 92% of the control beam strength, while the unstrengthened-corroded beam retained only 79% of the strength. This paper presents experimental results from the test, and reviews the effects of rebar corrosion on the behaviour of CFRP strengthened RC members.