Reinforced concrete elements in crack stage subjected to chloride-rich environment

The durability of reinforced concrete (RC) structures is the main challenge to overcome for global sustainability. Crack width plays an important role through which aggressive agents can penetrate and initiation of corrosion begins. Several researchers have looked into the relationship between crack width and corrosion level, but there has yet to be agreement among the authors. With this aim in mind, 31 tension ties (90 mm x 90 mm x 830 mm) with Ø12 rebar were cast, pre-cracked to different crack widths, subjected to permanent tensile load and exposed to wet and dry cycles of water containing 3.5% NaCl solution for 280 days. The experimental results show that the corrosion initiation began after the first cycle (except for a small delay in the sample with a 0.1 mm crack width). Currently, our focus is on evaluating corrosion propagation. Tension ties are going to be cut to extract rebar, measure pitting corrosion, and analyse the relation between crack width and corrosion.