ACI MATERIALS JOURNAL TECHNICAL PAPER

Corrosion Protection of Fiber-Reinforced

Polymer-Wrapped Reinforced Concrete
by Sangeeta Gadve, Abhijit Mukherjee, and S. N. Malhotra

Reinforced concrete (RC) flexure members such as bridges, slabs,
and beams that have been damaged due to the corrosion of steel
reinforcement are often rehabilitated with fiber-reinforced polymer
(FRP) composites. This paper investigates passive as well as
active protection of the steel reinforcing bar in RC flexure
members that are treated with surface bonded FRP. Passive
protection is investigated using glass FRP (GFRP) and carbon
FRP (CFRP) sheets that have been adhesively bonded to the beam
specimens. Active protection has been studied using electrically
conductive carbon fiber wraparounds as an anode while the
reinforcing bar is used as a cathode. Accelerated corrosion is
inflicted in RC beams by immersing them in saltwater and passing
anodic current through the reinforcement. For investigating
active protection, the adhesive has been modified to impart
electrical conductivity. Specimens were exposed to a highly
corrosive environment for a specified time. Flexure strength,
mass loss, and half-cell potential are reported as metrics of
performance of the samples. The proposed technique has been very
effective in retarding the corrosion of steel.
Keywords: active protection; anodic current; corrosion; fiber-reinforced
polymer; flexure strength; mass loss; passive protection; reinforced concrete.
INTRODUCTION
Concrete reinforced with steel bars is an extremely
popular construction material. The material system is used in
flexure members in various critical applications such as
bridges, viaducts, and building frames. The corrosion of
steel reinforcement in these members can lead to their
premature failure. In humid conditions, atmospheric
pollutants-particularly chlorides, sulfates, and carbon
dioxide-percolate through the concrete cover or cracks and
cause the corrosion of steel reinforcement. After corrosion
initiation, its progression forms additional corrosion
products that have an increase in volume compared to the
noncorroded metal. Longitudinal corrosion cracks are
formed along the corroding reinforcing bar when the tensile
stress in the concrete surrounding the reinforcing bar
exceeds the tensile strength of the concrete. I The cracking
ultimately results in the delamination and spalling of the
concrete. This exposes the reinforcement to direct environmental
attack and the corrosion is further accelerated. Along with its
unpleasant appearance, it weakens the concrete structure to a
high degree. Moreover, the bond between steel and concrete
is reduced. Pitting corrosion may also reduce the ductility of
the steel bar by introducing notches on the surface of the
steel bars that leads to a premature necking.2
In a tropical country like India that has more than 1864 mi
(3000 km) of coastline and where approximately 80% of the
annual rainfall takes place in the two monsoon months,
corrosion-related problems are alarming. In metropolitan
cities, the carbon and nitrogen oxide emissions aggravate the
situation further by neutralizing the concrete cover. Typically, a
reinforced concrete (RC) structure requires major restoration
work within 15 years of its construction.
Several rehabilitation techniques for concrete flexure
members have been developed during the last three decades.
External prestressing with steel cables has been found to
have problems of lateral stability and cable corrosion.3
Epoxy-bonded steel plates are also susceptible to corrosion
at the steel-concrete interface.4 Special heavy equipment is
also needed to install these systems.
Recent developments in the field of fiber-reinforced polymers
(FRPs) have resulted in a highly efficient construction material.
Due to their natural resistance to corrosion, FRPs are being
used increasingly to rehabilitate corrosion-affected flexure
members. FRP plates can compensate the loss of longitudinal
reinforcement in beams, slabs, and columns. FRP sheets are
wrapped around beams and columns to rehabilitate them from
the loss of shear capacity and confinement due to the
COiTosionof stirrups. The efficiency of FRPs in the enhancement
of bending5 and shear6 capacities of flexure elements and the
enhancement of concrete confinement in compression
elements 7 has been well established. Their durability in the
tropical climate of India is also studied in detail. 8,9 An
important spinoff from the FRP treatment of RC structures
can be their resistance to corrosion. FRPs are unaffected
by electromechanical and electrochemical deterioration
and can resist aggressive corrosive effects of acids, alkalis,
salts, and similar aggregates under a wide range of temperatures.
Therefore, unlike steel reinforcement, they can be applied on
the surface of concrete with little apprehension of environmental
degradation. Moreover, the FRP wraps provide a barrier
layer that may impede the further corrosion of steel. 10
Arguably, the FRP wrap reduces the increase in the
volume of RC members due to corrosion by applying
confinement pressure, thereby resisting the dislodging of
concrete cover. In addition to such passive protection, the
FRP materials that are electrically conductive can be designed
to also offer active protection. The conductive FRP wrap-around
can be used as an anode and the reinforcement can act as a
cathode to impede the corrosion of steel. II This paper reports
a part of an ongoing investigation into the efficacy of FRP
wraps in providing both active and passive protection of steel
reinforcement in flexure members that are damaged by corrosion.
A review of the passive protection of steel reinforcement
with surface-bonded FRP-both in labs and at sites-was
presented by Sen.12 In the field, FRP has been applied to
mainly compensate the lost steel. The barrier layer provided
ACI Marerials Journal. V. 107, No.4, July-August 20 IO.
MS No. M-2008-172.R4 received August 12,2009, and reviewed under Inslilute
publicalion policies. Copyright © 20 I O. American Concrete Institute. All righls
reserved. including the making of copies unless permission is obtained from the copyrighl
proprietors. Pertinent discussion including authors' closure. if any, will be pUblished in the
May-June 2011 ACI Materials Journal if the discussion is received by February 1.201 I.

Sangeeta Gadve is a Research Scholar in the Department of Civil Engineering at the
Indianlnstitate of Technology Bombay. Mumbai. India.
Abhijit Mukherjee is the Director ofT/wpar University. Patiala. Punjab, India. His
research interests include the mechanics of composites, structtlral rehabilitation and
retmjitting, srructural health nwnitoring, and inverse problems of strucwral engineering.
S. N. Malhotra is a Professor in the Departlllelll of Material Science and Metallurgical
Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. His research interests
include corrosion, stress corrosion cracking. weld decay, analysis of failures due to
environmental factors, corrosIOn inhibitors. cathodic protection, and organic and
inorganic coatings.
by the FRP to slow down the corrosion is viewed as a bonus.
No design has been carried out with specific goals for
impeding corrosion; however, there is a near unanimity that
FRP wraps have slowed down the rate of corrosion, albeit in
varying degrees. The experience of the authors on the performance
of glass FRP (GFRP) wraps on RC in coastal Gujarat has been
very good. The FRP wraps in the corrosion-affected areas
have not shown any signs of deterioration in 6 years.
The general procedure of laboratory experiments has been
to accelerate corrosion in steel embedded in concrete and
then applying the FRP to observe its effects on corrosion.13-27
Corrosion has been accelerated through the af.~lication of
impressed potential on the reinforcementl4•1 • 1-23 or bi;;
simulating wet-and-dry cycles in a chloride-rich environment. 6
In the present investigation, laboratory samples of FRP-wrapped
RC beam specimens were prepared and exposed to accelerated
corrosion by impressing an anodic current into the reinforcing bar,
which is considered to be very harsh compared to field conditions.
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
The authors have already reported the efficacy of FRP as
a barrier layer.8 The concept of using FRP as an anode for the
active protection of RC cylindrical samples has also beeI'l
reported by the authors. I I Although the investigations have
established the promise of FRP in resisting corrosion, it is
necessary to extend the investigations to emulate conditions
closer to the field. RC members are often subjected to
bending. Therefore, the elements should also be tested in
flexure. The arrangement of reinforcement in these elements
is also to be reproduced. This paper addresses all of these
issues. The unique advantage of the proposed system is that
with the FRP wraps acting as anodes, no other external anode
would be necessary. Therefore, the cost of acti ve protection
can be brought down significantly.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Representative scale specimens in the form of RC beams
were prepared. To initiate corrosion, the specimens were
23.6 23.6
(600) (600)
3.9 (100) c/c 5.9 (150) c/c
exposed to accelerated corrosion by impressing an anodic
current into the reinforcing bars. After a specific period of
exposure, the cracked RC specimens were treated with
surface-bonded FRP. The beams were protected while
subjecting them to a corrosive environment created in a
laboratory for a specific period. The beams were tested for
bending in two-point loading, as stipulated in IS :516-195928
simulated field loading conditions. The results of the
actively protected samples have been compared with that of
control and passively protected ones.
The experimental program was carried out in the
following steps:
1. Casting RC beam specimens;
2. Inducing corrosion into the reinforcement;
3. Wrapping the precorroded surface-dry specimens with
CFRP and GFRP sheets;
4. Subjecting the wrapped specimens to further corrosion
by exposing them to saltwater drip;
5. Applying active protection to the CFRP-wrapped specimen;
6. Carrying out a flexure test on corroded wrapped
specimens; and
7. Determining the percentage mass loss in reinforcement
after corrosion.
Preparation of test specimens
For this study, 70.87 x 7.09 x 3.54 in. (1800 x 180 x 90 mm)
RC beam specimens were used. Ordinary portland cement of
a nominal strength of 6236.4 psi (43 MPa), fine aggregate
(medium-sized natural/river sand), and crushed stone coarse
aggregate with a maximum size of 0.79 in. (20 mm) was used
in the concrete. The ratio of cement sand:coarse aggregate was
1:2.16:2.44. The water-cement ratio (wlc) was 0.42 and the
aggregate-cement ratio was 4.6. The resulting strength of concrete
was 5800 psi (40 MPa). The concrete cover of 0.79 in. (20 mm)
was maintained on all sides of the beam. The specimens were
water cured for 28 days at ambient temperature (Fig. 1). The
embedded reinforcement consisted of longitudinal bars: two each
at the top and bottom and transverse reinforcement of 0.32 in.
(8 mm) diameter stirrups. Standard reinforcing steel bars
0.47 in (12 mm) in diameter, conforming to Fe415 grade
of Indian Standards, were used as longitudinal reinforcement.
The spacing of the stirrups was maintained at 5.9 in.
(150 mm) center to center in the middle one-third span and
at 3.94 in. (100 mm) center to center in the end spans. The
reinforcing cage was shot blasted to Sa 2.5 surface before
embedding into the concrete. While binding the reinforcing
cage, continuous connectivity between the reinforcement
was ensured. A copper wire was connected to one of the
longitudinal bars at the end for electrical connections.
2 ell
0.47( 12)
23.6---
(600) 0.32(8) <P
3.9 (100) cc Stinups
lnducing corrosion in steel embedded in concrete applied in the form of unidirectional sheets. Glass fiber sheets
The objective of inducing corrosion to the bar is to are thicker than the carbon fiber sheets. In this investigation, two
simulate the corrosion-damaged concrete. The commonly often-used, commercially available unidirectional CFRP and
used methods of inducing corrosion in RC specimens are salt GFRP sheets and compatible epoxy adhesive are used. The
mist,18,21,26 chloride diffusion,25-27 alternate drying and properties of the sheets are presented in Table 1.
wetting in saltwater,21,26 and impressing anodic At the end of the exposure to the anodic current, the
current.17,21-23 Previous studies have shown that test samples were air dried prior to the application of the FRP
specimens kept in a salt spray chamber for more than 100 days wraps. The manufacturer's specifications were followed in
did not show any visible signs of corrosion. This method was
not found suitable considering the time constraint. Adding
chlorides to the concrete artificially during casting is an
effective method of inducing corrosion. This method was not Tensile Tensile
Thickness, strength, modulus, Ultimate
considered because it did not simulate the present condition Material in. (mm) ksi (GPa) ksi (GPa) strain
of interest. Alternate immersion into a sodium chloride
Carbon sheet
(NaCl) solution and drying of the specimens also induces (CS) (net fiber)
0.051(0.13) 550(3.79) 33,380(230) 0.015
corrosion; however, the quickest method of inducing cOlTosion Glass sheet (GS)
0.138(0.35) 334(2.30) 11,030(76) 0.018
is by impressing anodic current. In this method, the specimen is (net fiber)
immersed in an NaCI solution and a direct current is passed Adhesive - 2177(15) 624(4.3) 0.020
through it, making the reinforcement bar an anode and
another metal nobler than steel in electrochemical series a
cathode. This method has been used by a number of
previous investigators. 16,19-20 In this investigation, the
specimens were immersed in a 3.5% NaCI solution for 24 hours
to ensure full saturation. A stainless steel (SS) mesh rolled
into a hollow, open cylinder was used as a cathode (Fig. 2).
The cathode and the specimen were placed in a 3.5% NaCI
solution by weight. The level of the NaCI solution was
slightly below the top surface of the specimen to avail free
oxygen. The DC-regulated power supplier used in the
present study could supply 500 mA DC at 60 V. The reinforcing
steel cage was connected to the positive terminal of the
external DC source through the copper wire and the
negative terminal was connected to the SS mesh. The
300 mA direct electrical constant current (current
density = 516.13:A/in.2 [80:A/cm2]) was impressed
between the reinforcing bar and the SS mesh. It is more
common to maintain a constant voltage between the cathode
and the anode.13-14,16
However, in this investigation, a constant current was
preferred because the aim of this investigation is to examine
the active protection through the maintenance of a cathodic
current. The constant current was impressed for 15 days into
all of the specimens. An everyday anode-to-cathode voltage
corresponding to the constant current of 300 mA was monitored.
Using this method, the concrete was found to develop cracks
within 10 days. There were brown stains of rust on concrete.
The crack widths were measured after 15 days. The cracks
ran parallel to the longitudinal reinforcement on the top
surface as well as the bottom surface (Fig. 3). The voltage
between the reinforcing steel anode and the SS mesh cathode
decreased with time, indicating that the resistance had gone
down with the progression of the crack.

Wrapping of precorroded specimens

Glass and carbon are popular in the rehabilitation of structures
in India. Although carbon scores higher than glass in terms
of strength, stiffness, durability, and fatigue resistance, the
initial cost often compels the use of glass fibers in structural
rehabilitations. The electrical resistance of GFRP is higher
than that of the CFRP, which might be beneficial in the
passive resistance to corrosion; however, electrically
conductive carbon fiber sheets offer a possibility of active
protection of the structure. Therefore, both fiber sheets have
been included in the present investigation. The fibers are mainly
the application of the wraps. One specimen was wrapped
with a GFRP sheet (GPP); two with a CFRP sheet. One of the
CFRP-wrapped specimens was used to investigate passive
protection (CPP) and the other to investigate active protection
(CAP) while one specimen was kept unwrapped.
One layer of FRP sheet was wrapped around the test
specimens on all sides with the fiber along the transverse
direction of the beam cross section. The middle 63 in.
(1600 mm) length of the beam was covered with FRP. A
1.57 in. (40 mm) overlap was provided at the ends of the
sheets. A modified conductive epoxy was used for the
adhesion of the actively protected specimen.29 The CFRP-
wrapped specimen for active protection was additionally
provided with adhesively bonded, 1.57 in. (40 mm) wide,
longitudinally oriented carbon fiber tape (Fig. 4). This
would maintain uniform resistance throughout the specimen
and thus facilitate the effective application of active protection.
Corroding wrapped specimens
The details of the specimens are presented in Table 2.
Three wrapped specimens and one control specimen were
exposed to a severe corrosive environment created in the
laboratory for 1500 hours (62.5 days). A laboratory setup
was developed to create the corrosive environment. It
consisted of five drippers placed equidistant along the length
ofthe beam that were used for the continuous dripping of 5%
NaCI solution at 122°F (50°C) on the surface of the specimens
(Fig. 5). Exposure to saltwater drips lasted for 8 hours with a
break of 16 hours between exposure.
Applying active protection to CFRP-wrapped
specimens
Because carbon is electrically conductive, an attempt was
made to use this property in applying active protection to the'
RC without using any external anode. In this case, the
carbon fiber sheets that were wrapped around the RC beam
specimen themselves were used as anodes and the reinforcing
steel bar was used as a cathode. To achieve this, the
wrapping system had to be modified in two ways.
Fig. 6-Schematic diagram of actively protected specimens
exposed to saltwater drip.
One of the requirements of the system was to make its
electric conductivity uniform. A ribbon of carbon fibers was
stitched through the CFRP sheet in the perpendicular direction
of the fibers. The ribbon was extended beyond the sheet by
approximately 100 mm (3.94 in.). It was used as the anode
terminal for supplying electricity to the CFRP sheet. The
ribbon pressed against the fibers of the sheet and thus
ensured proper contact and uniform conductivity.29 The only
nonconductive part in the system was the epoxy adhesive
used to bond the carbon sheets onto the concrete. In this
study, the epoxy was made conductive by mixing conductive
particulates into the epoxy. An experiment was carried out to
find out the optimum amount of the particulate to be mixed
into the epoxy, such that the epoxy becomes sufficiently
conductive without losing the required consistency for
proper coverage of the concrete surface. The workability and
conductivity were studied by adding 2 to 20% of conductive
particulates by weight of epoxy.
An external DC power supplier was used to impress the
constant current required for the active protection. The positive
terminal of the DC power supply was connected to the piece
of projected carbon ribbon and the negative terminal was
connected to the reinforcing cage to be protected from corrosion.
A constant current of 150 mA was impressed between the
carbon fiber, anode and reinforced steel cage, and cathode.
To simulate the practical condition of applying active protection
to the RC structures in a corrosive environment, the specimens
were kept exposed to saltwater drips with all necessary
electrical connections for active protection for 1500 hours
(62.5 days) (Fig. 6).
Corrosion monitoring
Four parameters were monitored during the entire process.
Two of these were nondestructive, such as half-cell potential
and cell voltages. These studies were carried out simultaneously
on all specimens. The half-cell potential was noted every day
at nine points on the surface of the beam along the length of
the beam. The variation of half-cell potential with time of
exposure is presented in Fig. 7. Cell voltages were recorded
everyday during the induction of initial corrosion by
impressing an anodic current into the reinforcing cage
embedded in concrete. Unlike small-scale cylindrical specimens,
potentiodynamic scans were impossible to obtain due to
practical difficulty. The other two parameters were destructive
in nature, such as flexure and mass loss tests. These were
carried out at the termination of saltwater exposure. The
results of the tests are discussed in the following section. The
half-cell potential of reinforcing steel bars in all the specimens
was recorded every 24 hours throughout the duration of the
experiment. A standard silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCI)
electrode was used as a reference electrode.
An "instant-off' practice of monitoring potential was used for
the specimens subjected to the active protection. Takewaka30
suggests that if some corrosion had been taking place on steel in
concrete, subsequent corrosion can be stopped by setting the
reinforcing bar potential to less than -550 mV (sat.Ag/ AgCI).
Wrap material Type of protection Nomenclature
Unwrapped No protection Control
Glass Passive GPP
Carbon Passive CPP
Carbon Active CAP
An "instantaneous off' (lR-free) steel potential (measured
between 0.1 and Is after switching off the DC source) more
negative than -720 mV with respect to an Ag/AgCl/0.5M
KCI electrode is recommended for the prevention of steel from
corrosion.3! The corrosion protection potential maintained at a
level less negative than 900 mV with respect to an Ag/AgCl/
0.5M KCI electrode is proposed for prestressing steel in
the European Draft Standard.32 In addition, it is specified
that no "instantaneous off' (lR-free) steel potential may be
more negative than -1100 m V (for reinforcing steel) or
-900 mV (for prestressing steel) with respect to an Ag/AgCI/
0.5M KCl electrode.
In this study, the corrosion protection potential was
obtained from the potentiodynamic scan of cylindrical
specimens.l! A tangent to the cathodic polarization curve
was drawn. Its intercept with the voltage axis was determined
(Fig. 8). This voltage was maintained for active protection.
The maximum value of the voltage was -750mV. The
required voltage was maintained throughout the period of
exposure by supplying a constant cathodic current of
150mA. The instant-off potential of an actively protected
specimen was observed every day and confirmed that it was
equal to or more negative than -750 mV with respect to the
standard Ag/AgCI electrode. After 1500 hours (62.5 days) of
exposure to saltwater drips at 122°F (50°C), flexure tests
were carried out on all of the specimens. Two-point flexure
tests were performed by placing the beam specimens in a
universal testing machine (UTM) (Fig. 9). During the
flexure test, it was observed that the corrosion was uniform.
Contrary to the cylindrical samples,10 the reinforcement in
the beams did not undergo pitting. In the case of the
unwrapped control specimen, spalling of concrete took place
in the bending zone, whereas concrete in the compression
zone was crushed (Fig. 10). The bending cracks developed
during this test ultimately merged with the corrosion cracks.
The flexural cracking was not as vigorous as in the case of
the fresh beam failure. This may be due to the disbondment
of reinforcement from concrete or the slippage of reinforcement
from concrete because of corrosion. When corrosion products
oozed out of the concrete due to a reduction in reinforcement area,
the resulting annular space allowed the reinforcement to slip. The
sample CPP showed delamination of the wrap at the top surface

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 Log i (mNin')
1.55039E-8 1.55039E-7 1.55039E-6 1.55039E-5 1.55039E-4
2

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polarization curve

Anodic
polarization curve

1E-5 1E-4

Log i (mNcm')

Central Deflection (in)

0.39 0.59 0.79 0.98
22.47
CAP
cpp

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(550) 13.48
a:
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8.99 ...J0
(1650)

Fig. 9-Two-point flexure test of beam. (Note: dimensions in· 4.49

in. [mm). I in. = 25.4 mm.)

After the completion of the flexure test, concrete was

removed from the beams. It was observed that on removal,
concrete remained adhered to the CFRP wrap. During the
removal of concrete from the beams, it was noted that the
beam with the GFRP wrap had large voids in the concrete.
This may be the reason for the rather strange results of this
specimen. Corrosion products were removed by the method
of pickling as per ASTM A694, from the surface of the
corroded specimens. The cleaned reinforcement cages were
weighed to determine the mass loss. Table 3 presents the
results of the flexure test and mass loss.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

(compression zone) and no cracks in the shear zone. All specimens
revealed uniformly spaced flexural cracks in a constant bending
moment zone and a maximum crack width under the load. Load-
deformation diagrams obtained from the flexure test are presented
in Fig. 11.
The half-cell potential of the steel reinforcement cage in
the specimens was recorded every 24 hours throughout the
duration of exposure to saltwater drip. The standard Ag/AgCI
electrode was used as a reference electrode. The measurement
was carried out at nine equidistant points along the length of
the beam (Fig. 1). There was a large scatter in observed half-
cell potentials. Therefore, a linear fit was obtained after
neglecting the extreme values of half-cell potentials. Figure 7
shows the variation of a half-cell potential with time. In all of the
specimens, the potential went down, inclicating activation;
however, the rate of the downward movement of potential was
different in different samples. The average slope of the linear
fit for the control samples was marginally higher in compari son to
that of the passively protected samples. In the case of the
actively protected samples, the scatter in the data was
significantly lower. The variation in the potential with
time was also lower. As a result, the linear fit remains
almost horizontal. This indicates that the active protection is
effective and that the corrosion did not accelerate during the
entire period of exposure.
After the exposure of the beam was complete, a two-point
bending test was carried out. Figure II presents the load and
corresponding deflection at the center of the beam. The
curves follow the classical nature and remain linear until the
yield point of the longitudinal reinforcement is reached and,
beyond that point, they show ductile behavior. During this
process, the concrete cover also developed flexural cracks,
and when they coalesce with the longitudinal cracks due to
the corrosion of reinforcement in the beam, the lumps
spalled (Fig. 10). Thus, the tension reinforcement was
exposed and considerable bar slippage was observed. The
wrapping on the specimens would not allow spalling or
delamination to take place. Therefore, they impede the
acceleration of corrosion. The carbon-wrapped specimens
exhibited dramatically higher capacities than the control
specimen. This illustrates that the proposed corrosion
protection system is efficient in maintaining the strength and
stiffness of corroded RC flexure members. The higher
capacity of CFRP protected beams is due to a better confinement
that FRP offers to concrete. Surprisingly, the GFRP protected
beam clidnot perform as weU. In fact, its performance was quite
similar to that of the control beam. It may be recalled that
after the experiment, the concrete of this beam was removed
and it was observed that there were a few large voids in the
concrete. The voids retained moisture and they were wet
even at the time of the removal of concrete. It was also noted
that corrosion products continuously oozed out of this beam.
It is most likely that the saltwater seeped into the voids of the
concrete at the time of the initial corrosion itself. This water
was not removed through the drying process adopted in this
experiment. Therefore, the corrosion of the reinforcement
went unabated regardless of the application of the GFRP
wrap. As a result, the performance of this beam was similar
to that of the control samples. Therefore, the results of the
GPP beam can be disregarded in the present context.
However, this demonstrates the necessity offilling voids that
might be there at the time of rehabilitation; otherwise, the
advantage of protection may not be achieved.
After observing the load-deflection behavior of the beams,
the wraps were removed and the surfaces of the beams were
observed. The same patterns of cracks were observed over
the wrap. The cover concrete on the tension face came off
readily along with the wraps. This demonstrates that the
wraps have been effective in minimizing the spalling of
cover concrete and, as a result, have improved the load
deflection behavior of the beam. In the case of the GFRP-
wrapped beam, the presence of moisture was noticed in
voids left in the concrete. The longitudinal bar had local
thinning, indicating pitting corrosion. At the time of testing,
the bars had yielded at those points. Finally, concrete was
removed from the reinforcement cage and it was cleaned of
all corrosion products. The longitudinal bars and the stirrups
were separated to determine the percentage loss of mass
Central Mass loss, %
Ultimate load. dellection,
Specimen kip (KN) ill. (mm) Main bars Stirrups
Control 11.46 (5\) 0.41 (10.35) 7.5 13.0
GPP 11.83 (52.66) 0.26 (14.29) 10.6 15.2
CPP 20.42 (90.90) 1.39 (35.29) 6.1 10.5
CAP 21.52 (95.76) 0.80 (20.4) 1.1 5.0
(Table 3). It is noted that the stin'ups had lost a much higher
percentage of mass than the longitudinal bar. This is,
however, expected because of lower concrete cover to the
stirrups in comparison to that of the longitudinal bars.
This result highlights the imp0I1ance of compensating the
shear capacity and confinement in corrosion-affected flexure
members. FRP wrapping is effective in all these aspects.
The CAP specimen had a much lower loss of mass in
comparison to all other specimens. This demonstrates the
efficacy of active protection. The CPP specimen had
approximately 20% lower mass loss than the control specimen.
This also shows that FRP offers passive protection to RC flexure
members. In the case of GPP specimen, the mass loss was
relatively higher than the control specimen. The defect in
this specimen was elaborated previously.
The comparison between the loss of mass of the main bars
and the ultimate load taken by the beam reveals that they
have an inverse relationship. The beams were under-reinforced
and, therefore, they failed due to the yielcling of steel. Corrosion
had reduced the cross-sectional area of the bars and, as a
result, hastened the yielding of the steel leading to the failure
at a lower load. The similar investigation involving concrete
cylinders with embedded steel bars has been reported
elsewhere. I I This experiment gives us an opportunity to
compare the corrosion-affected structure of flexure and
tension. The loss of mass in tension specimens was
comparable to that of the flexure specimens. The pullout
strengths of the tension specimens were reported in a
previous investigation. I I Like the flexure members, the pull
out strengths of the protected specimens was generally
higher. In the actively protected specimen, however, a lower
pullout strength was reported. It was also observed that the
ribs in the actively protected bars diminished with time. This
phenomenon was not observed in the flexure specimen.
There was a marginal loss of mass of the longitudinal bars of
the beams. It may be noted that the current density applied to
the tension specimens for protection was much higher in
comparison to that in the case of the flexure specimens. It has
been reported by other investigators33 as well that
"overprotection" can lead to the loss of bond between steel
and concrete. Based on the experience of the tension
specimens. the current density for the protection of the
flexure specimen was adjusted to a lower value. This seems
to have avoided the loss of bond and thus has improved the
capacity of the flexure members.
CONCLUSIONS
This paper investigates the passive as well as active
protection of the steel reinforcement in FRP-wrapped
flexure members. Passive protection is achieved in creating
a barrier layer by refuting the ingress of corrosive elements
to the reinforcement by the FRP wraps. Active protection has
been successfully achieved using electrically conductive
CFRP wrap as an anode. In the present active protection
system, certain design parameters, such as number of anodes
and their location and cathodic protection zoning, are not
required to be designed. This is because of where the CFRP
sheets can be wrapped around the structural element that
ensures the uniform distribution of cathodic current density.
This has a very favorable impact on the cost because the
requirement of any external anodes is eliminated. It also
reduces the maintenance requirement of the system
except monitoring current density and ensuring the
necessary electrical connections.
The efficacy of the system is established through a set of
experiments and performance metrics-both nondestructive
and destructive are reported. The flexure capacity of the
protected samples is much higher than the control samples.
The actively protected sample exhibited maximum capacity
and the lowest mass loss. The loss of bond between steel and
concrete that was observed in the tension specimens in the
previous investigation is overcome by avoiding overprotection by
selecting the appropriate protection current density.
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