Corrosion of rebar in carbon fiber reinforced polymer bonded reinforced concrete

Corrosion of rebar in carbon fiber reinforced polymer bonded reinforced concrete

Several reinforced concrete structures that get deteriorated by rebar corrosion are retrofitted using Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP). When rebar comes in direct contact with CFRP, rebar may corrode, as iron is more active than carbon. Progression of corrosion of rebar in strengthened RC structures has been carried out when rebar comes in direct contact with CFRP. The experimentation is carried out in two phases. In phase I, corrosion of bare steel bar is monitored by making its contact with CFRP. In phase II, concrete specimens with surface bonded CFRP were casted and subjected to the realistic exposure conditions keeping direct contact between rebar and CFRP. Progression of corrosion has been monitored by various parameters: Half-cell potential, Tafel extrapolation and Linear Polarisation Resistance. On termination of exposure, to find residual bond stress between rebar and concrete, pull-out test was performed. Rebar in contact with CFRP has shown substantially higher corrosion. The level of corrosion will be more with more area of contact.